the average productivity bf He flyway population mizht be cal- 
culated on the basis of four young (brought to flying stage) 
per adult female. | | 
If the flock population has been fairly stable for 
several years, a 10 per cent kill in the Horseshoe Lake area 
might prove to be within the limits of what the flock could 
stand without decreasing in size. Even this kill might be too 
high if kills north of Horseshoe Lake were unusually large in 
a given autumn, if nesting success was low the previous spring, 
or if sex and age ratios were seriously unbalanced. The kill 
of a single pihae*hewavet, when the population is very low con- 
stitutes évershooting. 
A reduction in the crippling loss would increase the 
permissible retrieved kill in the Horseshoe Lake area. The 
number of geese crippled and lost to hunters each year in the 
area is needlessly high. An estimate of cripples not retrieved, 
and later dying, is placed at 30 per cent of the retrieved kill. 
Certain SGnintstrative measures can be taken to reduce the per 
cent of cripples not retrieved, but the larger share of the re- 
sponsibility rests with the hunter himself, who must restrain 
the natural desire to "give a high one a ride." Greater spacing 
of pits to reduce competition among hunters micht aid in re- 
ducing crippling losses. Many hunters hope to bag geese with 
greater ease by using magnum shotguns. Yowever, it is debatable 
whether more geese are bagged than crippled by such guns because 
of the out-of-range shooting their possession encourages. 
= gt: ee 
