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MONTANA STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



GOOD HUNTING— GOOD REARING 



By J. F. HENDRICKS 



SUPERINTENDENT, STATE GAME FARM 



& 



WITH tlio help of the Civil Worlis Administration 

 and the Federal Emergency Relief association, groat 

 improvement and repair work has been done during 

 the last biennium at the state game farm. In addition to 

 improvements on the general grounds, several quail pens 

 have been constructed so that in the near 

 future this sporty bird will be reared 

 and raised from the farm in greater 

 numbers than in the past. 



We liberated more than 20,000 birds 

 during IIKW and 1934, and as a result. 'I 



have had the best hunting this fall than 

 ever in the State of Montana, accord- 

 ing to the reports that I have received from siiortsmen 

 over the state. From ammunition and sporting goods 

 dealers corner the word that they have enjoyed the best 

 business in many years. That means that the service 

 stations, the garages, and other business houses have 

 derived considerable benefit from the sportsmen during 

 the open season this year. It was inevitable that busi- 

 ness would lie aided — and it .speaks well for the state 

 game farm. 



Last summer we tried out the grasshopper and gopher 

 poisoning on the pheasants. We gave it a very good 

 test by placing one pair of pheasants in a small pen 

 and spreading the poison on th(> ground. The birds 

 would not eat it. We did not give them anything else 

 for four days and still the birds refused to touch it. 

 On the fourth day. we mixed some wheat with the poison. 

 The birds carefully picked out the wheat and let the 



poison remain untouched. We left the birds in the pen for four weeks and did 

 not lose a bird. We feel certain the sportsmen will feel better towards the 

 farmer for trying to save his crops by grasshopper and rodent poisoning. The 

 farmer has no intention of harming the birds. 



I wish to say a few words in connection with the "no hunting or trespassing" 

 signs that are numerous in our hunting regions. In most of the investigations 

 I have made, I have found that nine times out of ten the hunter has been the 

 cause — and no other. The careless luniter will enter a place without regard 

 to property, leaving the gates oik>ii. and snnit'timcs cutting tlie fence. Without 

 taking time to .see what is moving — a calf, hog, or even cow — will shoot, hoping 

 it is a cock Chinese pheasant. 



