66 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



present set-up in order that all agencies dealing witli upland game birds 

 will pursue a unified policy. 



Several game farm units, authorized by the Legislature during the 

 war years but uncompleted due to material shortages, were put into 

 production. Among these were units at Marysville, Chico, Los Banos, 

 Porterville, and Brawley. 



During the years January 1, 1946, to December 31, 1947, the state 

 units and sportsmen's pens raised and liberated 115,632 upland game 

 birds. Of this number, 102,233 were ring-necked pheasants (38,697 

 were raised in sportsmen's pens), 1,278 were Reeves pheasants, 11,066 

 Chukar partridges, 702 valley quail and 353 wild stock turkeys. A 

 summary of the liberation of game birds will be found in the appendix, 

 page 106. Of the above pheasants, 30,546 w^ere banded. Bands returned 

 by hunters totaled 1,842, or 6.03 percent. About the same number of 

 females were banded to facilitate the field study of this species. 



As directed by the Fish and Game Commission, all Chukar par- 

 tridges in Northern California game farm units were taken to Southern 

 California in the early spring of 1947, and Chukar raising discontinued 

 north of the Tehachapi Mountains. Several Chukar coveys are well 

 established in Owens Valley, Inyo County. 



In the spring of 1947 we sent to the State of Arizona 500 pheasant 

 eggs and 200 Chukar partridge eggs for which we hope to get wild 

 turkeys. 



In the fall of 1946 a number of changes were made in the personnel 

 of the production farms. The superintendent at Yountville was trans- 

 ferred to the division's headquarters in San Francisco, the superin- 

 t^ ,^7.tendent at Chino was moved to Yountville, the superintendent at Fresno 

 (>^' moved to Chino (the superintendent position being abolished at Fresno), 

 1^ ^ ^ and the foreman at Chino moved to Fresno. These necessary changes 

 \'^' adversely affected our production temporarily in that the experienced 

 fjf" men arriving at their new positions had to learn their districts, the men 



under them, and the peculiarities of the equipment they had to handle. 



GAME MANAGEMENT AREAS 



The game management area plan, initiated in California by the 

 1939 State Legislature, was an effort to stimulate the landowner's 

 interest in the game crop. It was intended to foster and increase the 

 supply of upland game through private management of the land for 

 game production, and by restocking with pi'ivately raised birds. This 

 production of additional shooting is made economically possible by 

 hunters of sufficient means paying extra for a longer season taking both 

 sexes, and a bigger legal bag than it is possible to supply to the general 

 hunting public. 



During the 1946 season there were 10 operators who controlled 

 23,263 acres. These operators liberated 2,918 pheasants and 85 valley 

 quail and killed 1,820 pheasants (927 males and 893 females) and 99 

 valley quail (61 males and 38 females). 



