The rapidly rising incomes of the 1920s and the increase in leisure time combined with the new mobility provided by the automobile created explosive growth in the numbers of hunters and a corresponding concern among sportsmen that there would soon be few places left to hunt and that game populations would be depleted by over-hunting. The genius of the Pittman-Robertson Act is that, in reality, it is more of a user fee than a tax. And like all the really beneficial wildlife laws, it was not designed merely to restrict the taking of wildlife but to increase the supply of natural resources. It was set up to expand opportunities for public hunting by having hunters pay for scientific wildlife management programs that create a harvestable surplus of game. In many ways, it is the first supply-side approach to conservation.
Game laws go back to the colonial era.
But the early game laws simply sought to ration dwindling stocks of wildlife. That approach does not work. What works are conservation programs that recognize that renewable natural resources such as wildlife are resilient and dynamic and respond positively when managed wisely. In 1937, the wild turkey was endangered. Most state fish and wildlife departments get their budgets almost entirely from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.