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Show Beware Poor Land Experience hai taught the veteran quail hunter, regardless of the lack of thought he may have given the matter, to go along with Louis Bromfield'i observation, "Poor land produces poor crops, poor stock, and poor people," wight well be amended to include "poor game." Given the opportunity he will, almost al-most instinctively, select as his hunting hunt-ing territory a fertile farm, offering ample food and a diversity of game habitat. We believe it was Dr. R. W. Esch-meyer, Esch-meyer, the noted fish biologist, who jokingly said the way to spot a farm pond that is full of fish is to notice how well the farm-houses and barns are painted. The better the paint Job, the better the fishing. His reasoning rea-soning was that if the buildings are well maintained, it is because the farmer is prosperous.. If the farmer is prosperous, it is because h land Is fertile. If the land is fertile, the pond also will be fertile, and the fertile pond will support the most fish. We can't report on how his theory works out in practice, but it sounds logical Weeds Not Enough It Is self-evident that non-fertile land cannot produce the luxuriant growths and abundant loo supply requisite for carrying a large quantity quan-tity of game through the critical winter and breeding seasons. Foot land, especially if it has been overgrazed, over-grazed, is highly productive oi weeds, but weeds alone are nol enough to satisfy fully the needs oi game birds and animals. They are fine for mice, but who wants to go mouse hunting? Less self-evident is the fact that foods grown on neglected worn-oul land are deficient in minerals and vitamins that are as important to animals as they are to man. Their degree of importance is indicated by the fact that some animals can detect their pre'sence, or note their absence, in the food they eat Foi instance, a hog given free choice will eat from a pile of -orn raised from good soil in preference to an equally sized pile raised on a pool farm. Of further importance is the possibility that living in poor habitat habi-tat and under general adverse con ditions alters breeding habits- and reduces the reproductive capacity of animals. Leopold suspected this; later observations lend credance to his suspicions. Quite possibly the two phenomena are related. AAA About Predators Predator control may help to pro tect our small game but if we concentrate con-centrate our attention on killing the predators we should not overlook the fact that our quail or grouse may be suffering most from lack ol proper food or cover the biologist might say that the habitat is Inadequate. Inade-quate. Such measures as bounties, artificial artifi-cial propagation, closed seasons, game sanctuaries have not provided the answers to proper maragement of our game and fish, though they may continue to be useful tools oi the wildlife manager for special situations. Any useful tool for land or wildlife management should not be overlooked, nor should the bunting bunt-ing and trapping of foxes and other predators by farmers and others te discouraged where overpopulations exist. The problem is a big one and all interested people can do their part. Nearly everyone who enjoys getting get-ting out-of-doors has the urge to do something for, the wildlife. Some feed songbirds, some attend conservation conser-vation classes or help with projects, others belong to sportsmen's clubs, while many find their biggest thrillj in listening to barbership stories. Nevertheless, the Interest is there. When we are interested and enthused en-thused we want action and it is human hu-man nature to act upon tl-" obvioul first. Too often, we tackle the symptoms symp-toms rather than the disease, and in our haste, we are too humin t realize, or admit, that man himsell is often responsible for his own mis fortune on this earth. AAA Spoon Hooks When using a spoon book as a casting lure it is well s'"ect one not too large as the air and watei resistance hampers accurate and easy casting, and retrieving is difficult. dif-ficult. Spoons size 3 to 5 are generally general-ly fine for pickerel and northern pike, or large wall-eyed pike. The spoon for muskellunge should be 1 or 8. Larger sizes are better adapted for trolling. A line that Is too light will cause additional twisting, so ii Is well to employ a line of from It pound to 20 pound test when casting. AAA Changing Plugs This tip is particularly for bast fishermen who like to angle foi these wary fellows after dark. Make a double loop in the end of your line about six inches long and then tic another knot in the end of the loot so as to leave a small loop about i quarter inch long. To attach th plug, pass the smill loop througt the eye of the plug, then lift thi large loop over the plug and pul tight. To remove the plug mereli pull the small loop. |