GAME MANAGEMENT 



Good hunting for game birds and animals is the 

 prime objective of game management. The art and 

 science of game management is directed toward 



continuing opportunity for an annual harvest of 

 game birds and animals in a sporting manner. This 

 opportunity is the license buyer's return on his in- 

 vestment. In addition, most sportsmen expect some 

 degree of success in tangible results in the bag. This 

 responsibility cannot be successfully met unless the 

 foundation for bird and animal life — the soil and 

 growing plants — is protected from deterioration. If 

 game habitat is maintained in good condition and 

 if game populations exist in reasonable harmony 

 with other uses of the land, then it is relatively easy 

 to perpetuate annual crops of game birds and ani- 

 mals. 



Successful discharge of the responsibilities of 

 game management depends upon many accurate 

 decisions by Department administrators and by the 

 Fish and Game Commission. Accurate decisions are 

 guided by facts; thus, it follows that the Department 

 must employ skilled personnel and the most appro- 

 priate techniques in fact-finding. Scientific discipline 

 demands that the results of fact-finding be expressed 

 quantitatively and that these figures be subjected to 

 modern mathematical testing. Electronic data-proc- 

 essing by computers and other high speed equip- 

 ment has become a routine part of modern game 

 management. This has added greatly to the effici- 

 ency and accuracy with which information is 

 handled. 



Facts sought in game management are concerned 

 primarily with three areas of investigation — harvest, 

 population trends and habitat conditions. This is 

 emphasized in the following formal Department 

 policy governing season recommendations made by 

 field personnel: 



"To the fullest possible extent, fish and game 

 season recommendations are to be based upon 

 biological data such as annual measurements of 

 harvest, population trends and, in the case of big 

 game, range condition trends and forage utilization. 

 This information shall be obtained by standardized 

 methods and procedures as outlined by the respec- 



