to 72,770 in 1945; increased kills beginning in’ 1939, partic- 
ularly in the region of Horseshoe Lake; a disproportionate kill 
of juvenile birds and an apparent decreased productivity in 
1945, as indicated by research at Horseshoe Lake. Tables l, 2, 
and 3 present detailed figures on this situation. 
The number of geese wintering at Horseshoe Lake dropped 
from about 50,000 in 1943-44 to 26,000 in 1945-46. That this 
decrease represented a real decrease in the flyway population 
and was not due to by-passing of the area by flocks is shown 
not only by flyway censuses but by band recovery records; these 
records indicate that since 1932 many of the geese that formerly 
used the Mississippi from Cairo, Illinois, to Baton Rouge, Louisi- 
ana, have concentrated in a much smaller area centering on Horse- 
shoe Lake, because of the refuge there and the large anount of 
grain made available to them. f 
Calculated total kill figures indicate that in each 
of the recent hunting seasons between 23 and 46 per cent of the 
available Canada goose population in the Mississippi Flyway was 
shot. In view of the known relatively low productivity potential 
of the Canada goose, it was obvious that the birds could not 
stand a high kill. Recent population declines in the Mississippi 
Flyway showed that flock mortality from all causes combined had 
been excessive, and, as hunting losses are one type of mortality 
that can be controlled, it was evident that closing the flyway 
to shooting was the most effective management measure that could 
have been employed. ; 
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