

Perhaps as many as 12 million pheasants are harvested each year. 



Seventy-one percent of all small game hunting 

 occurs on private lands (table 4.10). These lands pro- 

 vide most hunting opportunities even in the West, 

 where Federal ownerships are most extensive (table 

 4.11). 



Table 4.10 — Percentage distribution of days 

 hunting in tlie United States, by land owner- 

 ship and major activity, 1975 



Ownership 



All 

 hunting 



Big 



game 

 hunting 



Small 



game 



hunting 



Migratory 



bird 

 hunting' 



Private 

 Federal 

 State 

 Public, 



unspecified 

 Unknown 



67 

 10 

 10 



8 

 5 



57 

 17 

 17 



8 

 3 



71 



7 

 7 



9 

 6 



69 

 8 

 8 



8 

 4 



Total 



100 



100 



100 



100 



' Includes cJucks, geese, doves, woodcock, rails, coots, and gallinules. 

 Source: See source note table 4.3. 



As the numbers of hunters have increased over 

 time, greater pressures have been placed on animal 

 populations. A measure of changes in this pressure is 

 provided by the ratios of numbers of animals to 

 numbers of hunters. Such ratios for small mammals 

 and upland game birds are presented in figure 4.4. 

 Any ratio greater than 1.0 represents a time when 

 there were more animals per hunter than was true in 

 the mid-1970's, which is the base period for these 

 data.2' 



For all parts of the Nation, pressures on popula- 

 tions of upland game birds have increased substan- 

 tially during the past 20 years. By contrast, at least in 

 the Northeast, North Central, and Pacific Coast 

 regions, there has been little increase in pressures on 

 small mammal populations, which seems to be due to 

 a combination of actual increases in those popula- 

 tions and changes in the way the populations are 

 estimated. The extraordinary changes in pressures in 

 the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains sections reflect 

 the fact that until recently small game species were 

 hunted by relatively few recreationists. 



^1 Data on the numbers of hunters and animals at the mid-point 

 of each decade were provided by the individual States and are 

 included in the data base cited in footnote 2. Because these data are 

 incomplete, it was necessary to exercise considerable professional 

 judgment to construct the ratios for groups of species and groups 

 of States shown in figures 4.4 and 4.5. Tables 4.-1 and 4.13 were 

 developed in a similar fashion. 



Supply of Large Mammals and Turkeys 



This discussion includes the big game species and, 

 for convenience, turkeys. By far, the most widely 

 hunted big game species in the United States is the 

 white-tailed deer. Mule deer, turkey, elk, bear, ante- 

 lope, moose, mountain sheep, mountain goat, and 

 javelina are all regionally important species. The pro- 

 portion of hunters seeking each of these species and 

 national trends in harvest since the mid-1950's is 

 shown in table 4.12. 



With a few exceptions, these data show increasing 

 harvests over time. Both turkey and javelina are spe- 

 cies that have become more popular as game recently. 

 The exceptions to these increases are generally those 

 species that have relatively specialized habitat require- 

 ments that either are not capable of sustaining large 

 numbers of animals or that are particularly sensitive 

 to intrusions by man. 



Changes in pressures on big game animal popula- 

 tions are expressed by ratios of numbers of animals to 

 numbers of hunters in figure 4.5. Pressures have 

 increased substantially over the past 20 years in most 

 parts of the country. It is noteworthy that, with the 

 exception of the South Central and Great Plains sec- 

 tions, State wildlife experts expect that big game 

 populations will increase at least as fast as the 

 number of hunters over the next 5 to 10 years. In 

 some areas, these judgments are based on the belief 

 that animal populations will increase substantially as 

 the result of management and protection activities. 



123 



