MAMMALS AND THE HUNTER 85 



In 1927 New York headed the list, with 620,414 licenses, for which 

 the fees paid totalled $822,415. 



Although the value of the meat obtained by this army of hunters 

 aggregates a very large sum, making wild game a real addition to the 

 nation's resources, yet the cost of procuring it is probably much greater 

 than its monetary value. Though not measurable in dollars, the recrea- 

 tional value of game is very much greater. It serves to get many men 

 and some women out of their dingy, poorly-ventilated offices for a 

 few days, into the open spaces, away from the cares and turmoil 

 of modern civilization, and sends them back to their work refreshed 

 in body, rested in mind and sweeter in disposition. The total amount of 

 money represented by the activities of hunters is difficult to estimate. 

 It includes such items as the original cost of the equipment (guns, 

 hunting garments, hunting dogs, boats, etc.), the interest upon which 

 would be a considerable sum ; ammunition, transportation to and from 

 the hunting grounds, hotel bills, guides and many other items of the 

 sort. The nation's hunting bill also includes a considerable part of 

 the support of manufacturers of and dealers in hunters' equipment and 

 supplies, hunting resort hotels, sportsmen's clubs and the taxidermists 

 who mount the hunters' trophies. However, if such recreations as at- 

 tending the opera, visiting seaside resorts, going on camping trips and 

 the like, with their attendant expenses, are justified, then also is the 

 nation's hunting bill justified, regardless of the value of the meat ob- 

 tained thereby. 



It is estimated that 75,000 deer are killed in the United States an- 

 nually, the flesh of which, at twenty cents a pound, would be worth 

 $2,250,000^ in addition to the value of the skins. In about one-third 

 of the states there is now no open season on deer, as they have been 

 locally exterminated or have become very scarce, while in some states 

 where adequately protected they are increasing in numbers. So few, 

 relatively, of the other large mammals of the United States are killed 

 that their meat is a negligible item in the national bill of fare, though 

 affording considerable recreation. It is said that the game and fur- 

 bearing mammals of New York bring to the state an annual income of 

 $3,200,000, and if capitalized, would be worth $53,000,000 to the state, 

 while game protection costs but $182,000.* It has been estimated that 

 the game and other wild life of the whole United States, if capitalized 



3 Palmer, Game as a national resource, U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull. No. 1049, 1922. 

 The value of game as a meat resource is more fully considered in another chapter. 

 * California Fish and Game, vn, 185, 1921. 



