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Breeder & Sportsman 



FOUNDED 1912 
By 
DWIGHT T. HUNTINGTON 
FEBRUARY, 1945 
Team Work 
HE history of game conservation in 
America has been a chronicle of 
changing and conflicting ideas and 
policies. Asa matter of fact, there was 
little recognition of the need for steps 
to conserve our wildlife at all until 
near the end of the 19th century, when 
the noticeable decrease in numbers of 
many species of native game made it 
clear that action of some sort was nec- 
essary, or hunting would eventually 
become a thing of the past. 


The early steps to reverse the trend 
were entirely restrictive in character. 
It was reasoned that game was being 
killed too rapidly, therefore the solu- 
tion was simple—all we had to do was 
to cut down on the killing. Battling 
against public indifference and human 
selfishness, pioneering conservationists 
succeeded in obtaining the enactment 
of game laws limiting seasons and bag 
limits, and otherwise restricting the 
legal kill. 

This was helpful in slowing down 
the rate of decrease, and some species 
of game showed temporary increases in 
some localities. But the trend con- 
tinued downward. This, in time, caused 
the application of added restrictions on 
shooting. 
It was at this point that some stu- 
dents of game conditions began to ques- 
tion the wisdom of constantly growing 
restrictions on hunting which had failed 
to achieve their purpose. Outstanding 
in this group was Dwight W. Hunt- 
ington, founder of the Game Conser- 
vation Society and first editor of this 
publication, who was to earn for himself 
the designation “Father of the More 
Game Movement.” 
These men believed the shooting of 
game was only one of several reasons 
for its disappearance; and that by far 
the greatest factor was loss of natural 
range, food and cover due to the en- 
croachment of civilization itself. Break- 
ing up of the plains by fences, plus 
extensive grazing by cattle, which 
spelled the doom of the thundering 
buffalo herds, and clean farming and 
drainage, which ruined the habitat of 
upland game birds and waterfowl, are 
typical examples. 
18 
Breeder 
& pportsman. efor 
These men urged game management 
and game production. As the impor- 
tance of game lies chiefly in its recrea- 
tional value, they soon recognized that 
laws which restricted its utilization 
discouraged the interest of the hunter 
in its production. “Thus was born a 
direct conflict between those who pinned 
their faith on restrictive laws alone and 
those who believed that the laws should 
be modified to encourage game man- 
egement and production. 
From its first issue as “The Game 
Breeder” in 1912, Game Breeder and 
Sportsman has stressed game restora- 
tion. It has noted with increasing sat- 
isfaction the gradual acceptance of its 
own ideas on the importance of game 
management and restocking. It has 
been delighted to note bitterness and 
controversy giving way to increasing 
agreement by sportsmen and conserva- 
tionists with the policies it has ad- 
vocated. 
During the past ten years, sports- 
men have been more united than ever 
before on the need for game produc- 
tion and restocking, game management 
and legislation to encourage these prac- 
tices, while all have come to realize the 
necessity for reasonable restrictions on 
bags and seasons. What is more, we 
have seen the birth of teamwork by 
sportsmen, through the instrumentality 
of their national and local organiza- 
tions, with the several State Game 
Departments and the Fish and Wildlife 
Service. 
It is essential that this teamwork 
continue—that it grow. Sportsmen 
must join their local sportsmen’s or- 
ganizations, sponsor local winter feed- 
ing programs, and cooperate with state 
and federal wardens. “They must sup- 
port national organizations like Ducks 
Unlimited, that are striving to give 
them better sport. They must remain 
alert to such perils as pollution, co- 
operating whole-heartedly and aggres- 
sively with such organizations as the 
Izaak Walton League of America in 
safeguarding their waters and their 
public land. 
To the sportsmen and their organi- 
zations—to the state and federal game 
agencies—to all interested in more 
game and _ better shooting—Game 
Breeder and Sportsman pledges its 
cooperation. Teamwork has done much; 
it can do more! 

BACK THE ATTACK 
BUY WAR BONDS 

February, 

1945 
SOME WIRE NOW IN STOCK! 
Looking for fencing for game birds? 
Crown has wires available to meet 
most needs. Write, outlining your 
problem. Either you get your wire 
now—or you get preference on future 
supplies. 
CROWN 
Cs x ie 
Minneapolis 13, Minn. 






ADVICE 
in the planning, development and 
management of Game Preserves, 
Shooting and Fishing Clubs, Game 
Farms and private Estates. 
Service Department 
THE GAME CONSERVATION 
SOCIETY, INC. 
1819 Broadway, N. Y. 23, N. Y. 

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