REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF GAME 

 CONSERVATION 



Each year California's unattached hunters are finding fewer areas 

 on which to hunt, because trespass without permission and damage to 

 crops, livestock, fences and other property by a minority of unsports- 

 manlike hunters have created an unfriendly situation between sportsmen 

 and landowners. This hostile relationship between landowaiers and 

 hunters was especially prevalent in the rice-growing region of the Sac- 

 ramento Valley where most of the State's pheasant population is found. 

 Opening these areas to controlled pheasant hunting has been one of the 

 most urgent problems confronting the bureau. 



An experimental pheasant study area, the Sartain Eancli, initiated 

 by bureau game biologists, w^as instrumental in the development of regu- 

 lated hunting on private lands in California. Hunting on this ranch was 

 successfully controlled in 1947 and 1948 by the bureau in cooperation 

 with the landowner. The experience gained during these two years led 

 to the development of a cooperative hunting plan in 1949. In this year 

 Senate Bill No. 677 establishing cooperative hunting areas was passed 

 by the State Legislature and was included in the Fish and Game Code 

 as Section 1159. Rules and regulations for the management and control 

 of these areas were then drawn up by bureau employees and enacted by 

 the Fish and Game Commission. 



In order to minimize the problem of supervision and control, and 

 at the same time to accommodate a large number of hunters, it was 

 required that on any prospective area a minimum of 5,000 acres in a 

 continuous tract be open to public hunting. A provision was made to 

 allow the landowner to collect a daily fee not to exceed $2 per hunter 

 if he so desired, with the stipulation that 25 percent of the total collected 

 was to be used for wildlife maintenance and habitat improvement. 

 Three types of zones were provided for in 1949: Closed zones (for 

 protection of crops, buildings and livestock) on which no hunting was 

 permitted ; restricted zones, on which permission to hunt was granted 

 solely by landowners; and open zones, which were open to public hunt- 

 ing by permit. Restricted zones were limited in size to 20 percent of the 

 total area ; open zones had to be either a 5,000-acre tract or 50 percent 

 of the entire cooperative hunting area, whichever was larger. The maxi- 

 mum number of hunters allowed at any one time was one per five acres 

 of open land, with the stipulation that the number of hunters could be 

 decreased as conditions warranted. 



During the 1949 pheasant hunting season, six cooperative hunting 

 areas were established by the bureau. On only one area (Sartain) was 

 a fee charged for hunting privileges. By maintaining checking stations 

 on each area, bureau personnel were able to control hunting, issue per- 

 mits, and gather pertinent information regarding the pheasant kill. 

 Reactions to this hunting plan were recorded and favorable responses 

 to this type of controlled shooting far exceeded unfavorable remarks. 

 On the Sartain area some criticism was directed toward the fee for 

 hunting. However, most of this censure was voiced by unsuccessful 



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