The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-01-04

OF
HE OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
forests in pursuit of game; this is
especially true of the non resident
hunters; such have paid SIS for a
license, emitting them to two deer,
one of which must be a buck with
antlers. Such men see a running deer
and shoot at it, perchance they kill it;
it proves to be minus antlers; they
now have a buck to secure to fill
their license. Not one in fifty ever
see the antlers of the deer they shoot
at until after it is down. They con-
tinue to shoot at every fleeing deer
and If the second kill proves to have
antlers we'll and good, If not they
leave 1t and try again. While my
party were in the woods we saw no
less than four deer dead and left, sup
posedly because they had no horns.
Who the guilty parties were we could
not know; we do know it is being
done. Presumably what we saw
could be duplicated many times else
where. Antlerless deer in all stages
of corruption are reported in many
places. 1t is TO be supposed that
had the hunter been allowed two deer,
regardless of antlers, they would have
been satisfied with the first shot and
not tried to secure those with ant
lers at the expense of leaving others
to decay where they fell. | am con-
WINGED that the law as at present
standing is causing the destruction of
our game much more rapidly than as
previously written.
| will add that most of the hunt
ers of which | had knowledge camp
ing in the section where we were To-
Gated were from out of our state. One
party of nine were reported to have
taken out Is deer. just previous to
our arrival. Another party of three
secured their antlered deer but were
doing great amount of shooting
daily; what they fired at 1 have no
means of knowing. They reported
to me plenty of non-antlered deer,
but antlers very scarce; they were
from Massachusetts and / did not
learn their names.
| visited several logging camps and
saw no signs of illegal shooting
among their crews. No signs of ven
ison in or about their camps.
| am intensely interested in this
matter. | have hunted our big game
for quarter century; have had a
guides license for a great part of
that time; have believed in and tried
to strictly obey our game laws. Have
usually secured two deer for my fam
lily and friends. Have never sold a
deer, but have given away much meat
to a multitude of friends. Last year
in the same section | easily secured
a buck and a doe. This year | only
fired once as my one doe was the only
deer that | felt justified in shooting
at, as | was not once certain that the
ether deer seen had antlers. We're
other hunters equally conscientious
the law would be all right, but | have
ocular evidence that some are not
Let us repeal that one buck law, or
one doe law as it may be termed
Note: The Department of Inland
Fisheries and Game is now invcstigat-
ing the complaints mentioned in this
letter which has only very recently
come 10 hand.
Tho evidence Is conclusive that
deer arc fast decreasing. The TING
has come when an aggressive warden
service in the woods will check in a
large measure this alarming decrease
People living in or near the woods
and transportation companies know
beyond doubt that deer are unlaw-
fully killed and shipped out through
the present tag system that should be
abolished few years to get the deer
on the increase again.
am not criticizing the present tag
system only the way it is abused by
those who try to hog game.
| wish to be understood | am for
no shipment of deer unless accom-
panied by the owner; that would stop
those who buy deer to ship to friends,
also it would stop those who go into
the woods and shoot five or six deer
and have friends meet them with tags
and claim they were legally killed.
There arc many places it would be
done and----region is one of them;
to stop all shipments from lumber
camps until a Game Warden acknow-
lodged them o. X.
have lived many years in the
wlds of Maine and feel as many 9TH
ers do, that the deer are the last of
our big game to draw sporting peo-
pie here, which means so much to
Maine and those who are in close
touch with the game.
1t appeals to me that a good game
law enforcement in open season would
be by giving q certain district to COW
CT and points to be reached on GER
tain dates which would cover all lum-
bering operations and points where
shipments of deer started. There
are hunters and trappers who take
dogs in the woods; some have two
dogs; it takes two or three deer each
to winter those dogs Fifty dogs is
small estimate of the number now
in the woods and that means loss
of one hundred to one hundred and
fifty deer without any return to owner
or State
(The Department Is already investi
eating conditions referred to in above