MONTANA STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



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BENEFITS OF THE BUCK LAW 



By RAY G. LOWE 



MEMBER. STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



Waiting for ma. 



Sportsment over the state disagree somewhat regarding the 

 benefit tlmt is derived from the buck law, but all that is neces- 

 sary is to study the conditions and the situations in other states 

 where the deer were almost extinct — and in many sections of 

 our own state — to determine the practicability of the law. 



In some parts of Montana a few years ago, it was a rare 

 sight to catch a glimpse of a deer, but the buck law has worked 

 out to such a degree that not one of the locations I have in 

 mind shows anything but a healthy increase. In many regions 

 you are allowed to enpoy your hunt through the benefits of 

 the buck law alone. 



At one time the state of Pennsylvania was almost devoid 



of deer. Some right-thinking man or men decided to place the 



buck law in oiieration and today that state has more deer than 



any other. This condition, no matter how hard it is to believe, 



was brought about by the buck law in a state that has more 



people to the area than any other game-producing state in the nation. The 



publi.shed articles of the state pertaining to the matter give full credit to the 



buck law. 



These astonishing facts or results have been brought about by the protec- 

 tion of the brood stock. You must protect the brood stock to enable the increase 

 to come to be of sufficient proportions to take care of the extra kill — coming 

 each year through new roads into game teriitories, more sportsmen, inci-easing 

 use of high-powered rifles, and easy transportation by automobile, train and bus. 



A stockman who is trying to take care of his herd or is building it up, does 

 not butcher or dispose of the cows and heifers, but he keeps and holds them 

 back in oi-der that his herd will increase each year. The record shows that 

 there is approximately an equal number of does and bucks raised annually. By 

 saving the does we will soon have as many bucks each year as we formerly 

 had added together. 



Protect the does, save them, and they will furnish you with good hunting 

 in the years to come. While thinking of this, do not forget the boy gi-owing 

 up with the same instincts and love of the out-of-doors as you, the same red 

 blood that leads him into the hills, and the same desii-e to be a good sportsman 

 and a proud hunter. Give him a chance to enjoy the same things you did and 

 never be it your lot to say to him : 



"Well, son, we had the game, lots of it. but we didn't think of you. We 

 just killed it ourselves. I am .sorry that .you cannot enjoy the sport I did, the 

 good times in the fields and .streams. It is my fault, I killed the mothers, the 

 does, the hens, and now there are none left. If the buck law and its benefits 

 had been explained to me there would he plenty of game for you * * * It is 

 too late now." 



