268 SADDLE AND CAMP 



the annual increase among the elk of north- 

 western Wyoming should be considerably 

 greater than at present, it is, conservatively 

 estimated, about five thousand. The total num- 

 ber of elk killed annually in the State averages 

 one thousand. If the cost of present non-resi- 

 dent licenses was reduced from fifty dollars to 

 twenty-five dollars, allowing the hunter to kill 

 one elk, with an additional charge of twenty- 

 five dollars for a second elk, it is probable that 

 many more non-resident hunters would upon 

 these reduced terms visit the State, with the re- 

 sult that an additional thousand elk would be 

 killed. 



This would in no case tend to reduce the size 

 of present herds, but it would prevent an an- 

 nual increase too large to control, which would 

 result if wholesale starvation were stopped 

 through feeding. It would produce to the 

 State a revenue so considerable that even in her 

 stingiest mood Wyoming might be moved to 

 apply a small proportion of it to the purchase 

 of sufficient hay to keep the elk in good con- 

 dition through any ordinary, or, for that mat- 

 ter, extraordinary winter. 



This proposition, I am aware, will be hailed 

 with horror by those who object under any con- 

 ditions to killing wild animals, but it is better 



