26 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



Wooden decoys are always employed. Sometimes they are placed 

 on the ponds previously to the day's shoot, at other times put out 

 by the hunter himself when he goes to his blind. The decoys are put 

 out in groups, each species by itself, and each individual decoy is 

 anchored by a leaded string. About half a dozen each of Green- 

 winged Teal, Sprig, and Widgeon are sufficient to attract ducks of 

 these species, but for Canvasbacks a larger number of decoys is used. 



The storm of protest which arises from the unattached hunter tends 

 to place gun clubs in a position which our own investigations fail to 

 substantiate. It is true that the very best hunting grounds are pre- 

 empted by the gun clubs. And, in light of the fact that the game of 

 the state belongs to the people as a whole and not to any one individual 

 or group of individuals, this would seem radically opposed to the prin- 

 ciple of democracy. Yet there is something to be said even on this 

 score in defense of the gun club. One stock argument, and a valid one, 

 that is repeatedly propounded at the present time in connection with 

 other natural resources, is applicable here as well. It concerns a 

 fundamental economic relationship. The expenditure of large sums 

 of money for any sort of commodity (commercial or recreative) is 

 considered helpful to the whole social body. The establishment and 

 the upkeep of the preserves requires the employment of large sums 

 of money which would not otherwise be spent in the same field of 

 labor. Invested capital is increased thereby. For instance, on one 

 preserve of which we know, the cost of the bait used in a single year 

 was greater than would have been the cash value that could have been 

 realized if all the ducks shot had been sold at current prices on the 

 market ! There is a statement current on the Suisun marshes that the 

 ducks there shot cost their weight in silver. In other words, a duck 

 shot on a preserve is worth vastly more than one shot on open ground, 

 because of the expense incident to its killing. Surely this is a point 

 that must in all fairness be considered. 



If we stop to think, it seems remarkable that tliis adverse point 

 of view should be entertained regarding the duck club, when the same 

 arguments are seldom applied to the roughly analogous case of the 

 automobile. We hear little complaint against the man who is able to 

 own an automobile and therefore able to get a disproportionate amount 

 of use out of the good roads which are supported by every taxpayer. 

 Nor do we find people criticising the national government for main- 

 taining Yosemite Valley as part of a national park in spite of the fact 

 that comparatively few persons can afford to visit it. We simply have 

 to admit the general truth that some men have superior advantages 

 in many things — access to game included. 



The following are the factors which are detrimental to, and favor- 

 able for, the duck population, and which are concerned with the pre- 



