XI 

 MAMMALS AND THE HUNTER 



Hunting, as both a business and a pastime, is a very ancient form of 

 sport or recreation. Primitive men lived largely upon the flesh of wild 

 mammals long before they began to develop agricultural pursuits or to 

 domesticate cattle and sheep. They still do in some parts of the world. 

 As may be seen in another chapter, early white explorers and pioneer 

 settlers of North America were often dependent for food and raiment 

 upon their skill as hunters. A large army of Americans still get out for 

 a season of hunting each year, but most of them not, as in case of their 

 ancestors, because they are in need of meat, but because of the recrea- 

 tional urge possibly in some cases because of a lust for blood. 



Nearly everywhere in the United States market hunting is now 

 prohibited. This meets with the approval of most hunters, as other- 

 wise there would be very little game left. It was market hunting that 

 exterminated the passenger pigeon and nearly led to the extinction of 

 the American bison. As an additional protective measure, and also in 

 order to obtain from the hunters and fishermen themselves part or all 

 of the funds necessary for the propagation and protection of fish and 

 game and the enforcement of the laws relating thereto, hunting licenses 

 are required in most states and hunting without license is prohibited. 

 About 4,000,000 such licenses were issued in the United States in 1921, 

 5,000,000 in 1924-1925 (fees $6,400,000), but as some states require 

 no license, others require none for boys below a certain age or for 

 owners of land who hunt only on their own premises, the total num- 

 ber of hunters afield each year is estimated at 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 

 or about 5 per cent of the population. 1 



The increase in the number of hunting licenses issued and fees there- 

 for in the United States and Canada is shown by the following fig- 

 ures: 2 



Licenses Fees 



! 924 4,395,038 $5,594,982 



1925 4,904,740 6,190,863 



1926 5,i68,353 6,872,812 



1927 5,75o,ooo 7,800,000 



1 Journ. Mammalogy, m, 235, 1922. California Fish and Game, xn, 95-96, 1926. 

 Compare Statistics of hunting licenses, U. S. Biol. Surv. Circular 54, 1906, 



2 American Forests and Forest Life, xxxiv, 511, 1928. 



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