GAME AS A NATIONAL RESOURCE. 



19 



the methods of collecting such information vary as widely as the 

 methods for determining the value of game resources. 



Two States — Maine and New York — for several years kept records 

 of the big game transported by rail : Maine, by checking shipments 

 at Bangor and Portland since 1894, and New York, by enlisting the 

 aid of the transportation companies which bring deer from the 

 Adirondacks. These returns, of course, do not include the large num- 

 bers of animals consumed on the ground and never brought out of 

 the woods. During the 20 years from 1894 to 1913, 3,434 moose and 

 65,305 deer were transported by rail in Maine. This source of in- 

 formation is less valuable than formerly, since it is now possible for 

 private individuals to transport large numbers of deer in auto- 

 mobiles. 



Vermont is a pioneer in recording the total number of deer actually 

 killed, having made annual counts ever since the opening of the deer 

 season in 1897 (see p. 38). This is probably one of the most accurate 

 records in the country and is made by collecting data from wardens, 

 postmasters, and from hunters themselves, not only as to numbers 

 but as to the weights of the heavier animals. 



Massachusetts has for 11 years recorded the number of deer, and 

 since 1914 the number of pheasants killed. 



Number of deer and pheasants killed in Massachusetts during the open seasons 



since 1910} 



Year. 



Deer. 



Pheasants. 



Year. 



Deer. 



Pheasants. 



1910 



1,382 

 1,268 

 1,231 

 1,587 

 1,312 

 1,102 

 1,051 





1917 



1,017 

 832 

 833 



1,466 



2,772 



1911 





1918 



1,923 



1912 





1919 



2,506 



1913 





1920 



1,977 



1914 



8,943 

 5,841 

 3,133 



Total 





1915 



13,081 



27, 095 



1916 











i Ann. Rept. Div. Fish and Game, Mass., 1920 pp. 40-46. 



New Jersey (see p. 37) annually records the number of deer killed 

 during the four or five days of the open season, and Minnesota and 

 Wisconsin recorded the number killed during 1919-20. The Fish 

 and Game Commission of California has published in some detail 

 the figures regarding the number of deer annually killed since 1911, 

 and has estimated on the basis of shipments received at San Fran- 

 cisco and other points the number of ducks killed during the open 

 season in 1911. In Oregon, also, the commission has published some 

 figures regarding the number of deer killed. 



For most of the Western States the Forest Service has for several 

 years collected figures as to the numbers of big game killed on the 

 various national forests, and as these reservations include most of 



