T he Game Breeder 



VOLUME XV 



APRIL, J919 



NUMBER 1 



Co} 



SURVEY OF THE FIELD. 



Game in Wyoming. 



The State Game Warden has issued a 

 handsome illustrated report labeled 

 "Wyoming's Wild Game." It is an able, 

 truthful document and properly suggests 

 an end to field sports until 1925. We 

 are told that "the game of our State has 

 not been holding its own the past year 

 and that it is certain some changes must 

 be mjade in our laws. * * * We 

 must appropriate more funds for hay ; 

 we must provide more range for the elk, 

 although this will meet with strong op- 

 position from the cattlemen, especially in 

 Lincoln County." 



Here, as everywhere, the question of 

 land ownership must be considered. If 

 the elk lands are owned by the State and 

 the State decides to make a public shoot- 

 ing ground, like the Adirondack Park 

 in New York, well and good the cattle- 

 men must herd their cattle on other pub- 

 lic lands or on their own ranges. The 

 great Yellowstone Park is an excellent 

 ground for elk during part of the year. 

 When the animals go out of the park, if 

 they visit and damage farmers or ranch- 

 men the owners of the land should have 

 the right to destroy them. As soon as 

 the State provides public parks for public 

 shooting and grants the owners of farms 

 the right to have elk and other game for 

 sport or for profit or not to have them 

 because they wish to have something else, 

 either farm crops or domestic animals, 

 the whole subject will be settled for all 

 time, a simple statute regulating the tak- 

 ing of wild game can be enacted and it 

 will not be necessary to change the game 

 laws every season. 



Restocking Ranges. 



The Wyoming warden well says: 

 "From our experience in past years it is 



foolish to try to restock ranges with elk. 

 They invariably become a nuisance to the 

 farmers in the re-stocked areas, and the 

 State will find the claims for damages 

 against it entirely too much to justify the 

 income. This year we have been com- 

 pelled to order seven head of elk killed 

 in Crook County, and are disposing of 

 the entire Careyhurst herd. It is very 

 seldom that any of these herds increase 

 to any extent owing to the fact that we 

 cannot afford to keep a warden with 

 them. Let a man steal a cow and it is 

 reported to the authorities at once, but 

 an elk — that's different; that's State 

 property and it doesn't make any differ- 

 ence about the value." 



Fish Losses. 



The warden says at present we are 

 loosing a great percentage of our fish in 

 the irrigation ditches which are taken out 

 of trout streams. Some screen must be 

 adopted. 



Antelope and Deer. 



"Antelope are not increasing in any 

 district. Therefore there should be no 

 open season on them, and as under the 

 present law the season would open at the 

 time of the big game season this year, I 

 would advise that this law be continued 

 in effect until 1925." 



At the date named it surely will be nec- 

 essary to recommend an extension of the 

 closed season. Since the antelope is a 

 plains animal easily seen and shot by 

 those who destroy the elk, the in- 

 creasing population soon will put an end 

 to the antelope except on big ranches 

 where they will be properly looked after 

 when it pays to do so. 



