THE GUN CLUB IN CALIFORNIA 



The last twenty years has seen a great change in the attitude of man 

 towards wild game. In the early days game was so plentiful that no 

 thought was taken for its preservation. As a result it was slaughtered 

 without restriction. Two instances are typical. One is the well known 

 case of the Passenger Pigeon in the East ; the other a less known and 

 much more recent one relating to geese in California. Here more 

 than two hundred geese have been killed within a few hours by a 

 single hunter using a large-bore gun. 



Now tliat game birds have become so scarce that they cannot be 

 secured with ease in large numbers, a reaction has set in, and the public 

 at large does not countenance such wholesale slaughter. In consequence 

 restrictive laws have been enacted. A further, less formal, step has 

 been taken locally in attempts to attract birds in various ways. These 

 efforts are at present chiefly confined to so-called gun clubs, and much 

 ingenuity, as well as considerable sums of money, is used to bring 

 about the desired results. The process of game extermination is being 

 succeeded on a small scale by game conservation. 



There are many problems which must be. carefully worked out in 

 determining methods of game conservation. Of first importance are 

 those whicli bear directly on the survival of the species : market hunt- 

 ing, natural enemies, disease, safety of breeding places, and native 

 food supply. Other problems must be considered from the standpoint 

 of the citizen — public rights to wild game, equable legislation, and the 

 like. There is one important problem that must be looked at from 

 both points of view, for it intimately concerns both the bird and the 

 citizen. This is the problem of the private and club game preserve, 

 best illustrated at the present time by the familiar "duck club." For 

 a long time the duck preserve has been an object of contention among 

 sportsmen, the outsider maintaining that the preserve curtails his 

 liberties by usurping all the available shooting grounds and hence the 

 birds, and the clubman defending his point of view by pointing out 

 the advantages to the duck population afforded by his preserve. In 

 fact, the gun-club question must take first rank, if the importance of 

 the problem be judged by the amount of protest raised against such 

 preserves. 



Every one of the conditions which assail the native game popula- 

 tion and which are due to the settlement of the country by man, such 

 as the effacement of breeding, feeding, and loafing grounds for ducks, 

 the replacement of native vegetation by introduced plants, the destrue- 



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