252 Game Survey of the North Central States 



per cent of the region is posted against hunting. In other words, charges for 

 hunting are made on not over five per cent of the posted lands, and more likeiy 

 on less than one per cent of the posted lands. That is to say, charging is prevalent 

 on an almost negligible acreage, although it is undoubtedly on the increase. 



It is very clear that charging is more prevalent for migratory than for up- 

 land game. This is exactly the reverse of what the economic logic of game man- 

 agement would call for. Migratory game is ordinarily a fluid crop, in the pro- 

 duction of which the individual landowner, on whose lands it may be found dur- 

 ing migration, has taken no part. He is charging, not for something he has pro- 

 duced, but for a chance to compete in the harvesting of what somebody else has 

 produced. The logical justification for charging for migratory bird hunting is 

 that as long as marshlands bring their owners an income, they are less likely to be 

 extinguished by drainage, and their owner has an incentive for improving them 

 and making them more attractive. 



Charging for upland game, on the other hand, might presumably develop 

 an incentive for the owner of each farm to improve its condition, and thus enhance 

 its production. 



Viewing the country as a whole, it is clear that the custom of charging for 

 upland game hunting has become established more readily in the South than in 

 the North. This trend is possibly perceptible within the south edge of the north 

 central region. The leasing of land for quail preserves in Missouri is somewhat 

 more extensive than leases for pheasants, prairie chickens, or other upland game 

 in the northern tier of States, although both are rare. 



Posting and Management. Even in those rare cases where posting has 

 been followed by charging for the hunting privilege, charging is as yet seldom 

 accompanied by management. The only deliberate private measures found during 

 the survey for enhancing the wild game crop by improving its environment were 

 on the Missouri private preserves, and here the management was practiced by the 

 leasee more often than by the owner. One instance of collective practice of man- 

 agement by farmers is proposed for pheasants in Ingham County, Michigan, and 

 is described under the pheasant chapter. 



The situation may be summed up by saying that the small amount of private 

 management so far being practiced in the north central region is confined to 

 private game preserves, and even there it is usually rudimentary. The almost uni- 

 versal condition is that: 



(1) Lands are being posted against public hunting. 



(2) Sometimes a charge is made for hunting on such lands. 



(3) ^Management to justify the charge is as yet practically non-existent. 



Attitude Toward Posting and Charging. All State game depart- 

 ments in the region either discourage both posting and charging in their official 

 reports and publicity releases, or else they avoid commitment. They make no 

 distinction between posting as a preparation for management, and posting for the 



