108 REPORT OF THE PISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



Forest refuges in particular is so great as to Ix' unwieldy and virtually 

 impossible to patrol effieiently, the forest raugei's have cooperated to- 

 ward this end more generally during the biennial period than ever be- 

 fore. As a result of a number of rather unusually favorable conditions, 

 it may now be said that the withdrawal of these vast areas from the 

 sportsmen appears to have gained Iheiii iiioi-e Lzame than it has cost. 

 Deer hunting has l)een more productive around the borders of these 

 refuges than elsewhere, due to increased game overflowing into the 

 adjacent lounti'v. The vei'y nuiterial stimulus given to trapping by the 

 luipret edentedly liigli prices of furs cannot be overlooked as a con- 

 tributing factor. For years, sportsmen have urged energetic anti-ver- 

 min campaigns ui)on the part of the state conservation forces. Prior to 

 file last legislature, the Fish and Game Commission entered upon an 

 experiment to determine what could be expected from putting expert 

 hunters into the refuges to thin out species predatory upon game. 

 AVhile the experiment was entirely successful, and gave good reason to 

 believe that substantial results could be attained in that way, the "war 

 prices"' on furs relieved the conservation authorities of any greater 

 responsibility along this line than that involved in licensing trappers 

 and keeping a certain surveillance upon them. There are always a few 

 who need watching, but in this matter, so far as the south is concerned, 

 the exception appears to have proved the rule. One gang of trappers in 

 the southern Sierra of Tulare County, after a systematic campaign 

 wherein the southern patrol force united to collect and link up the 

 evidence necessary to prove up the otfense, paid some of the biggest 

 fines ever collected in fish and game annals, for winter slaughter of 

 deer. The .]ob was successful in securing pleas of guilty, and a thor- 

 oughly outraged public sentiment still awaits the chief offender for 

 further punishment, despite the large fine he paid. 



No bounties within the state's power coiihl possibly have so stimu- 

 lated warfare upon predatory aninuils as the higii jti'ices of furs. Since 

 virtually all the I iir-l)earing species ai'e predaceous upon game, several 

 being in fact so classed, the aggregate benefit to the mountain game 

 supply of the state is enormous. Good figures for skunks and other 

 small pelts have caused many a farmer's boy to turn his spare time 

 into good service for the sportsman as well. While fur prices are on the 

 decline now they are still high, and so many have formed the "trapping 

 habit,'' so to speak, that there is good reason to liope for a continuance 

 of this general campaign against the so-called "varmints" of the old 

 time Nimrod. Remendiering that these vermin work day and night the 

 year througli. witlioiit respect for season or bag limit, one cannot but 

 feel considerably encouraged over the game outlook. Obviously, the 

 logical wav to meet the situation is to substitute man for the vermin- 



