Hunting and Wildlife Conservation 



Sport hunting is recognized as a legitimate use of surplus wildlife by 

 state and federal laws traceable in origin to the Magna Carta. These 

 same laws establish the rights of the states to control the activities of 

 hunters. Hunting is now regulated under comprehensive laws in every 

 state. These are supplemented by federal laws applying to certain 

 species, including migratory birds, and to the interstate shipment of wild 

 animals and their products. 



This was not always the case. Before the turn of the century, restric- 

 tions on shooters were few, and those laws that existed were poorly 

 enforced, when enforced at all. In the early days, when the pioneer 

 philosophy prevailed and many Americans lived off the land, nearly all 

 edible or useful forms of wildlife were taken almost without restrictions 

 at any time. "Useful" meant any bird or mammal that could be eaten or 

 sold for its meat, feathers, fur, or other parts. 



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The brutalities historically attributed to hunters — the slaughter of the 

 buffalo, the decimation of the sea otter, the extermination of the pas- 

 senger pigeon, and others — involved mainly paid butchers who had no 

 relationship at all with the modern sport hunter. The common use of bird 

 plumage to decorate ladies' hats in the Gay Nineties and early 1900's 

 nearly doomed the egrets and other plume-bearing birds before state and 

 federal laws backed by firm enforcement checked their slaughter. Until 

 comparatively recent times, any birds or mammals that eat meat — from 

 sparrow hawks to grizzly bears — were considered enemies of the 

 farmer or rancher and subject to killing on sight. Massive poisoning and 

 trapping campaigns, largely by federal agents and professional hunters 



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