
weekly pick-ups is recommended to insure close contact with the cooperator 
and impress the cooperators with the fact that the refuge is interested in 
these data. Too long an interval between pick-ups may well lull the coop- 
erator into thinking the reports are really not important, and this will 
tend to lessen reliability. Weekly pick-ups, on the other hand, remind the 
cooperator that the refuge is interested in the kill and tend to maintain 
his interest in the effort of preparing reports. 
When @ quota system is involved, the frequency of both sampling and 
pick-up of reports will necessarily have to be increased, as will the number 
of sectors. No sector should be so large that the man assigned to cover it 
will not be able to perform all the tasks assigned; and as frequency of 
sampling or pick-up of reports is increased, the size of the area which can 
be handled by one man will correspondingly decrease. 
The following sample system has proven workable at Horicon and is sug- 
gested as a standard which may be adjusted according to the needs and exper- 
fence of the individual area: 
Survey Coverage Within the Zones at Horicon 
Zone 1: Contact ALL farmers, if possible. Pick up forms 
daily in short season or toward closing; every 
third day otherwise. 
Zone 2; Contact every 5th farm. Pick up at least once a 
week, oftener as season closing approaches. 
Zone 3: Contact every 10th farm. Pick up at least once a 
week, oftener as closing approaches. 
Zone 4: (if set up) Contact every 20th farm, or more in- 
tensely if local "hot spots” develop. Pick up 
weekly if necessary. 
Further study needs to be given to the use of questionnaires in deter- 
mining goose kill in the vicinity of concentration areas, particularly when 
it is necessary to obtain a daily cumulative kill figure. 
SUMMARY 
A brief history is presented on the growth of the Mississippi Valley 
population of Canada geese, previous harvest problems encountered, develop- 
ment of the goose flock associated with the Horicon and Necedah National 
Wildlife Refuges, establishment of the public hunting program administered 
by the Wisconsin Conservation Department on the Horicon Refuge, and recent 
changes in hunting activities and Canada goose kill in Wisconsin and south- 
ern Illinois. 
Increasing Canada goose population and excessive kills in the vicinity 
of major concentration areas during recent years has focused attention on the 
need for controlling annual harvest of specific goose flocks. The initiation 
of the kill quota system in 1959 as applied to the States of Wisconsin and 
Tllinois, where the greatest harvest of Canada geese from the Mississippi 
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