Duck clubs well realize the benefits derived from refuge or rest grounds. Through 

 experience, they have found that rest areas allow concentrations to build up, so that a large 

 body of ducks Is always present from which they can secure a certain percentage of wanderers. 

 Were It not for clubs with rest grounds, probably most of the Illinois malleird shooting would 

 occur only when flights of birds pass down the valley. Nearly every large club In the Illinois 

 River valley has set aside a rest or refuge area on Its grounds. 



From evidence heretofore presented, the writer Is of the opinion that all public 

 shooting grounds should either be adjacent to a refuge or have at least 50 per cent of their 

 areas set aside where no hunting or trespassing Is permitted. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service considers a 50-50 ratio as Ideal for many of Its combination refuge and public shoot- 

 ing grounds. 



Limitation of Number of Hunters 



One big question that confronts game administrators and sportsmen Is whether or not 

 the number of hunters on public shooting grounds should be limited In order to Insure a higher 

 bag per hunter. Fig. 15 conclusively shows for the Liverpool Areas and Spring Lake that the 

 fewer the hunters the greater was the Individual success. However, these areas were not con- 

 trolled by the state, and therefore could not be managed by the state. On the state-owned 

 Sparland area, conditions present In 1941 and 1942 did not warrant limiting the number of 

 hunters. On the Woodford County Ground, fig. 15 shows, the Individual bag was so low, even 

 when there were few hunters on the area, that little would have been gained by limiting the 

 number of hunters. 



Nevertheless, if additional public shooting grounds are acquired by the state, this 

 management phase should be given serious consideration. Hunters interviewed on public shooting 

 grounds expressed the opinion that they would prefer to hunt seldom and be successful than 

 hunt frequently and have little success. 



It appears advisable to limit the nimiber of hunters on most areas in most years so 

 that an average satisfactory Individual bag will be harvested. Obviously, a public shooting 

 ground can 111 afford Its shooters the highest Individual success, for then too few would be 

 accommodated. Let us look Into the bag made by public shooters elsewhere in the United States 

 to determine what the average take per hunter Is In other regions. 



The U. S. Biological Survey (1939) once reported that dally bags of four to six 

 birds per hunter were better than average for the country as a whole. This agency foxuid that, 

 on an excellent waterfowl area In Texas, the average kill was 4.4 ducks and 0.23 goose per 

 hunter-day. According to Wilson (1938), the average duck kill per hunter-day on the 12,000- 

 acre public shooting ground on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge In Utah was 4.8 In 1932, 

 3.2 m 1933, 3.3 In 1934, 3.0 In 1935, 4.2 In 1936 and 3.1 In 1937. (Wilson's figures are 



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