34 



DEPARTiMENT OF FISH AND GAME 



Nesiing mourning dove. 



— Fish and Game Photo 



stallation was closed and production transferred to 

 Los Seranos at Chino. These moves had the effect of 

 reducing costs by cutting down manpower needs and 

 reducing other expenses. 



Production of game farm pheasants has been sta- 

 bilized at around 75,000 birds per year— 50,000 of them 

 raised by the state and the balance by sportsmen's 

 organizations. The liberation of these birds by county 

 is shown in Table 51. 



Co-operative Hunting 



California's co-op pheasant hunting program peaked 

 in 1954 when nearly 190,000 acres were available to 

 the sportsmen. Since then there has been a steady 

 reduction in the amount of land included in the pro- 

 gram to 96,000 acres in 1957 (Table 50). 



The reasons for the decline of the co-op program 

 are involved in economics. The good pheasant areas in 

 California are limited and competition for pheasant 

 hunting lands between the state, private individuals 

 and community organizations is keen. 



X'irtuallv all pheasant hunting is to be found on 

 private lands, state and federal waterfo^\•l management 

 areas being the f)nl\' exceptions. Landowners are be- 



coming aware of the possibilities of supplementing 

 their income through the sale of hunting privileges. 

 As a result, there has been a steady increase in licensed 

 pheasant clubs. In 1957, there were 91 "Zone A" clubs 

 totaling 85,537 acres. These clubs are located in the 

 better pheasant habitat. The club pays the landowners 

 for the shooting rights. An idea as to the value of these 

 hunting privileges can be gleaned from the report that 

 one club paid a landowner S5,000 for a single season's 

 hunting on 500 acres. 



The growth of community hunting areas is another 

 factor in the pheasant hunting picture. The commu- 

 nity areas secure lands and sell hunting privileges as 

 money-raising activities for various community proj- 

 ects. In 1957, there were 12 of these projects which 

 involved 269,000 acres of land. Membership in these 

 clubs run from |6 to |10 per season per adult hunter. 



The trend to more licensed pheasant clubs and com- 

 munity areas is showing no signs of abating. 



Hunting on Waterfowl Areas 



Hunting on state and federal areas in 1957 produced 

 9,975 man-days of hunting for a bag of 4,053 birds 

 (Table 49). The Gray Lodge unit produced excep- 

 tional hunting. 



DOVES 



Dove populations throughout the state have been 

 at a high level in the last two years and hunters have 

 enjoyed excellent sport. 



Mail questionnaire results placed the bag at 3,233,900 

 birds in 1957, the highest reported take of doves since 

 regular mail questionnaires were initiated in 1948. The 

 1956 bag was also above average (Table 49). 



The department's upland game study project has 

 been concerned during the last two years mainly with 

 gathering data on doves. Probably the most significant 

 result of the study to date has been derived from the 

 banding program. During the biennium, 7,061 doves 

 were banded. The bands were placed on nestlings and 

 wild trapped birds. Only about 3.5 percent of the 

 bands have been recovered. This is a very low rate of 

 return and certainly indicates that the hunter take is 

 low, compared to the total population of the species. 

 .As a comparison, first year band returns from water- 

 fowl run commonly from 12 to 18 percent. 



Banding studies have shown that both resident and 

 migratory populations of doves exist. The migratory 

 birds sometimes cover considerable distances, a few 

 example of which are listed below. 



Area Banded 



Fort Rock, Lake Co., Oregon 



F.dinburg, Texas 



Wenatchcc, Washington 



Oiso .Mtns., Inyo Co., California 



Mather, Sacramento Co., California 



Date Area of Return Date 



8/21/57 Indio, Riverside Co., California ._ _- 9/12/57 



4/14/55 Winton, Merced Co., California 9/ 1/57 



7/15/57 Verona, Sutter Co., California _ - 9/ 1/57 



8/24/56 Green River, Utah 9/ 6/57 



8/ 3/57 Aguililla, Michoacan, Mexico _ 12/ 8/57 



