THIRTIETH BIENNIAL REPORT 97 



REPORT ON GAME STATUS AND GAME PROTECTION 



By J. S. Hunter, Assistant Executive Officer 



Though California does not bear the same reputation as a hunting- 

 state that other sections of the country have, yet everything considered, 

 California sportsmen have very little cause for complaint regarding 

 the number of species and abundance of game. 



The successful settlement of California in the early days was largely 

 due to the fact that there was an abundance of game in practically 

 all sections. In those olden days there were species that occupied 

 territory that as time went by became more valuable for agriculture 

 and other industries. Game, like the Indians, had to give way to 

 industrial development. The elk, like the buffalo in the middle west, 

 ranged over the rich valley land that under the changed conditions 

 would produce tons of meat and agricultural crops where pounds were 

 produced before. 



Fortunately for the lover of wild life and the great outdoors, all 

 of California's 100,000,000 acres is not agricultural land. In fact, 

 the major part of it remains much the same as in the days of gold 

 in spite of our 5,000,000 population and our thousands of miles of 

 modern roads. 



However, more and m,ore careful conservation work must be carried 

 on and more stringent laws must be adopted from time to time in 

 order that we may not draw too heavily on the supply. 



Serious game protection in California did not commence until about 

 twenty years ago when the hunting license act was first adopted. 

 Previous to that time there was very little money for the employment 

 of deputies and as a result there was a very slack observance of the 

 laws creating closed seasons and adding other restrictions. 



With the added money coming in from license sales, patrol officers 

 were employed in nearly every county and there gradually came about 

 better conditions. Today, game protection and conservation is a very 

 important problem in California. With the population four times 

 what it was twenty years ago and with modern transportation reaching 

 the most out-of-the-way places within a few 1 hours, it is more and more 

 necessary to have the cooperation of everyone interested in conser- 

 vation. 



California has a population practically equal to that of the ten 

 other western states, with an area approximately one-sixth of those 

 states. With a large population there are more potential violators and 

 there is also a greater drain on nature's storehouse. This is somewhat 

 offset by the greater revenue derived from hunting and angling licenses 

 allowing the employment of more men in the field and providing 

 generally for better conservation conditions. 



DEER 



At the last session of the legislature a deer tag license law was 

 adopted. This act requires all deer hunters to provide themselves with a 

 deer tag license in addition to the regular hunting license: The licenses, 

 as the name implies, are in the form of a tag that must be tied imme- 

 diately onto the horns of any deer killed. A post card that is attached 



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