SOME THOUGHTS ON SPORT.

Forest and Bird, Issue 29, 1 April 1933, Page 4

SOME THOUGHTS ON SPORT.

(By Leo Fanning.)

HAVOC OF BLUNDERING GUNMEN.

Who has not heard that old British saying: “It’s a fine day. Let’s go out and kill something”? Alas, there is another saying which can apply to New Zealand and many other countries: “It’s any kind of a day. Let’s go out and wound something.” Now that the season for the licensed firing at certain wild birds in this Dominion is drawing near, it is well to make a plea to shooters that they should act honourably, humanely—fairly and squarely —on the principles of true sport. After all, unless the attack on game is made with such a code which gives birds some measure of fair play against well-armed men, it ceases to be sport, and comes under the contempt of conscientious sportsmen.

The worst enemy of sport is the person who feels that the payment of a comparatively small license fee entitles him to go his own way, however callous or careless it may be, in his blazing at the birds. He stupidly takes a long shot which hits a duck, but has not shock enough to bring it down at once. It manages to escape, but its wound

saps its strength, and it becomes easy food for a hawk or a weasel. On another occasion, the stupid shooter, who is really an anti-sport, will fire into a flock of birds. He may not kill one outright, but he may wound several. He fails to bag them—and the birds are doomed to lingering death if they miss the merciful attention of a hawk or other enemy. An indication of the havoc wrought by blundering hit-or-miss sportsmen and sportswomen is given by Darel McConkey in a contribution to “American Forests.” He vividly describes how

Mr. H. M. Worcester, Reservation Protector of the Tule Lake Federal Bird Refuge, found thousands of birds which shooters had wounded in the game country just beyond the borders of the sanctuary. When hit, but not knocked out, the birds instinctively made for the Refuge, just as their relatives do in New Zealand in similar circumstances. In two hours Mr. Worcester’s clever retrieving spaniel, “Goldie,” brought in 100 live birds and many dead ones —and this salvage work continued briskly throughout the season. From 24th November, 1931, to sth January, 1932, the total of retrieved birds reached 3,224, of which 1,359 were mortally wounded. The remaining birds, 1,865, had been crippled. These were given hospital treatment, which included amputation of a wing in some cases. Many of these minor casualties recovered sufficiently for release in due course. Every one of the wounded birds would have perished from cold or the onsets of eagles and hawks if Mr. Worcester had not intervened to save them. Even with the quick rescue activities of the retriever “Goldie,” the birds of prey and coyotes had seized thousands of ducks and geese. “Thousands of skeletons on ice and land testified to the grim competition the saviours of the water-fowl encountered daily,” remarked Mr. McConkey. Well now ! Is that kind of shooting any good for the conservation of sport? Does it help to maintain the supply of birds for future shooting seasons? Could that destructive peppering hope to command the approval of true sportsmen? Even a worse offence than careless or clumsy marksmanship is the working of mean confidence tricks against game-birds. Some persons —who no doubt regard themselves as “good sports” —have the habit of setting food regularly for a period near the haunts of waterfowl before the opening of the shooting season. Then they will be ready in a hiding-place for their victims, and from their cunning cover their modern fire-arms will wreak easy slaughter. That kind of cruel killing is a breach of all the principles of sport. Indeed, it does as much for the killing of sport as it does for the butchery of the tricked ducks. That practice has been fairly termed “trickery and treachery.” In articles on game conservation by expert American writers one sees the term “game crop.” It means that the only commonsense policy for sportsmen to have for game is one which will maintain the supply of birds. Such a policy must necessarily

provide tor a severe checking of practices which do not give the wild birds a fair chance of survival. Maoris of olden times had a good understanding of “game cropping.” - Birds which they desired to take for food they killed quickly. They wounded none, and they were careful to avoid excessive killing. Danger of extermination of birds did not come until Europeans arrived with their weapons and their lack of Commonsense for the conservation of game. Working for that “game crop,” Federal and State authorities of the U.S.A. and public-spirited private owners of estates have established many permanent sanctuaries where the birds will have suitable cover. That good example should be followed in New Zealand by folk who desire the survival of game birds.