108 REPORT OP THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



Forest refuges in particular is so great as to be unwieldy aud virtually 

 impossible to pati'ol efficiently, the forest rangers have cooperated to- 

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

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

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

 sportsmen appears to have gained them more game than it has cost. 

 Deer hunting has been more productive around the borders of these 

 refuges than elsewhere, due to increased game overflowing into the 

 adjacent country. 'I'lie very material stimulus given to trapping by the 

 unpreeedentedly high i)rices of furs cannot be overlooked as a con- 

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

 min eam])aigiis upon the part of tlie state conservation forces. Prior to 

 rile last legislature, the Fish aud Game ('ounnission 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 offense, paid some of the biggest 

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

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

 oughly outraged public sentiment still awaits the chief offender for 

 furthei' ])unishment, despite the large fine he paid. 



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

 lated warfare upon predatory animals as the high prices of furs. Since 

 virtually all the fur-bearing species are predaceous upon game, several 

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

 suppl\' of tlic state is enormous, (iixxl 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 si)eak, that there is good reason to hope for a continuance 

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

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

 year through, without respect for season or bag limit, one cannot but 

 feel considerably encouraged over the game outlook. Obviously, the 

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



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