RAISING DEER AND OTHER LARGE GAME ANIMALS IN THE 



UNITED STATES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Under present conditions in the United States, game animals of 

 most kinds are rapidly diminishing in numbers. As game becomes 

 scarcer, legal restrictions upon its pursuit and capture are of neces- 

 sity increased to avoid complete extermination. Even after game 

 is legally killed, the laws of some States make it impossible for the 

 nonresident hunter either to carry the meat home to his family or 

 to sell it. In the zeal for protecting our fast vanishing game ani- 

 mals, laws have been enacted which, unless modified, will hinder or 

 permanently prevent the most important movement for game preser- 

 vation yet tried in this country; namely, the propagation of game 

 animals, not by the State alone, but by private enterprise as well. 



A few States have recently modified their game laws so as to 

 permit, under limitations, the sale of game from private preserves; 

 but in many States restrictive laws still prevent the grower of such 

 game from marketing it outside the State in which it is produced, 

 or within the State except sometimes during a short open season. 

 Complaint is made that our game laws favor sportsmen of means 

 and are unfavorable to the farmer and to those citizens who, while 

 themselves debarred from the pleasures of the chase, would like 

 occasionally to have game on their own tables. If they could pur- 

 chase venison grown in preserves, it would remove cause for com- 

 plaint, and the traffic could be so regulated as not to hinder but to 

 aid the protection of wild game. 



It is here urged that if the natural resources of the country are 

 the heritage of the people, they should be conserved for the benefit 

 of all. If private enterprise can help in game preservation, it should 

 be allowed to profit from investments. The propagation of game is 

 as legitimate a business as the growing of beef or mutton; and the 

 producer should be permitted, under reasonable regulations, to dis- 

 pose of his product at any time, either for breeding purposes or for 

 food. 



The present bulletin discusses briefly the importance of domesti- 

 cating wild mammals and the economic objects to be gained by the 

 process. It calls attention to the species, especially those of the deer 



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