The International Encyclopedia of Shooting [antikvár]

PrefaceThis encyclopedia has been compiled with the primary intention of gathering together concisely the more important information available about the fauna which may be hunted in each country, the conditions of terrain and climate likely to be encountered, the laws concerning game licences and import of guns, and details of the sporting methods employed by the hunters of that country. Apart from the intrinsic interest this must have for sportsmen the world over wishing to know how sport is conducted elsewhere, the sportsman in one country wishing to visit another country can quickly extract the salient features of interest to him. In each case addresses are given so that anyone wishing to do so may write for information on intended seasons, bag limits, licence fees and similar constantly changing data, although the most recent available figures have been included as a guide.The season dates given for the United States and the Canadian provinces must only be taken as approximate, since seasons are set for each year, depending on the biologists' reports on game populations, split seasons, holidays (United States' seasons practically never start on Sundays and, indeed, Sunday shooting is illegal in several states) and other considerations. In the case of migratory birds, which come under Federal regulations, the states are annually given the choice of one relatively long season, or two seasons with a combined total of fewer days, but presumably a greater abundance of waterfowl, and the state's decision on which is preferred is sometimes not made until a few weeks beforehand. In these cases, as in other countries where dates of seasons, bag limits and licence fees are variable factors, the latest available figures have been given as a guide to the future, but the hunter should check with the competent authorities listed before embarking on a trip.Among the many difficulties inherent in compiling an international work of this nature, the first of its kind, the worst problem of all is possibly that of language and meaning. For instance, between the English-speaking people on each side of the Atlantic there is a very considerable difference in the meaning of even such basic words as 'Hunting' and 'Shooting'. It must be made clear that this is a book on 'Hunting' in the broadest sense of the term as used in North America to describe hunting with dog and gun, including the pursuit of all birds and beasts hunted with firearms. Where there is any such distinction between meanings, as far as possible a 'mid-Atlantic' usage has been employed.Technical language has been used only so far as it is intelligible to the average reader. In no sense is this a work of taxonomy or zoology. The matter of language apart, there is still enormous disagreement on even