where the habitat is favorable and where there 

 are under-populations. With proper management 

 it should be possible to enter the post-war period 

 with more and better fishing and hunting than 

 Montana has had since the pioneer days. 



SUN RIVER GAME RANGE AREA 



(Continued from page 62) 



elk were using it heavily. It is thought that a 

 better distribution of elk is being achieved by 

 this carefully planned salting program. 



(c) It is recommended that a further check 

 be made to gain additional information on the 

 extent of the interchange of elk between the Flat- 

 head and Sun River ranges, this work to be car- 

 ried out during the fall and spring of the year. 



It is recommended that every effort be made 

 to minimize the use of the large natural licks 

 on important winter ranges. Fencing of these licks 

 may be necessary to achieve this objective. 



TRAPPING AND TRANSPLANTING OF BEAVER 



(Continued from page 75) 

 It was possible for the crew during the past 

 summer to check several representative areas in 

 which beaver had been planted the previous sea- 

 son. In all cases the beaver were found to have 

 established themselves. 



Detailed figures on expenditures indicated 

 that during the first season the total cost per 

 beaver planted was $12.11, and for the second 

 season it was $11.32. 



The long distances between trapping and 

 liberating sites has been an important factor in 

 raising the cost per beaver in this program. In a 

 state as large as Montana this presents a diffi- 

 cult problem to overcome. It is felt, however, 

 that the experience gained during the past two 

 seasons, plus a more complete fund of informa- 

 tion concerning the localities where this work 

 may most economically be carried on, will sub- 

 stantially reduce the cost of any future work of 

 this kind. 



UPLAND GAME BIRD SURVEY 



(Continued from page 85) 



made on the average a little later than the 

 sharptail. Most of the counts on the other species 

 were made later in the summer. For these reasons 

 the figures on sharptail broods show a higher 

 average than do those of the "hun," yet we know 

 that if the figures were entirely comparable, the 

 number of young per brood of "huns" would be 

 considerably larger than in the sharptail. 



It is easy to see, however, that the rate of 

 reproduction of the sharptail is greater than that 

 of the sage hen. This accounts, we believe, for 

 the fact that the sharptail has recovered so much 

 better than the sage grouse. We have no figures 

 from former years to compare with our brood 

 counts on the mountain type grouse, so we can- 

 not tell whether they are typical of an average 

 season or not. However, local residents tell us 

 that the wet cold spring was very destructive to 

 young grouse and that brood counts taken in 

 normal years would be much higher than our 

 1942 figures. It is hoped that we will have oppor- 

 tunity to take similar counts in the future for 

 comparison. 



In the pheasant areas we encountered the 

 belief that many hen pheasants commonly and 

 regularly produce two or even three broods of 

 young per year. When the untrained observer 

 travels through a pheasant breeding area during 

 late summer, he sees young birds ranging from 

 those the size of a meadowlark to those nearly 

 full grown. He naturally believes that these two 

 general sizes of young birds were produced by 

 the same hens. It is well known that nearly 50 

 per cent of all pheasants' first nesting attempts 

 are unsuccessful. These hens which have had 

 their nests destroyed by predators, stock, or man, 

 will almost invariably nest again in their effort 

 to produce young. When very small young birds 

 are seen in late summer it is believed these may 

 represent the results of a third attempt to bring 

 off young. This persistent effort of pheasants to 

 produce young undoubtedly results in a much 

 more rapid rate of increase than is found in na- 

 tive grouse, which do not so readily renest, and 

 is one of the most important reasons why pheas- 



[96] 



