Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
SUPPLY IS
RUNNING LOW IN
SUNSHINE STATE
Estimate Shows That Only
One Buck a Year Is Pro-
duCed for Each Town
ship of Range
ny ALDO LEOPOLD
SecretnrY Y. NJ. g. u, 4.

Secretary y. Nj. Os II ~
For the past ten years it has
been apparent to observant sports
men that the deer supply of New
Mexico was getting low ana THAI
the breeding stock which remains
is not as productive as 1t ought, to
he. 500 bucks per year is pro badly
a ronph average of what New Mex
ico has been producing on lo,OOu'-
00O acres of country suitable for
producing deer. This is less thanl
one buck per year per township OF
deer range.
AS compared with this record,
lPeunsylvania has been producing
around 5000 bucks per year on
very much smaller area OF deer
range. While all of these figures
are approximations, they are close
enough to demonstrate conclusively
that our deer, considered as a nat
ural resource, are not in thrifty
and productive condition.
Remedies Proposed
Two general remedies have been
proposed for this situation. The
first is the closed season. The Sec
ond is the establishment Of a sys-
tenn of permanently closed areas or
game refugees, The latter is the
line of action now being. tried py
the state game commission.
Each of the alternative remedies
has it's strong and weak points. Ihe
strong point of the proposed closed
season is that it is conservative
and, to superficial appearances,
thorough-going. It's weak points
are the difficulty of enforcement
the curtallment OF revenue
from enforcement, and the
danger that when the sea-
son is opened again the deer will
have become tame and may be
easily slaughtered in large quan-
titles. It's greatest weakness. how
ever, Is that it is negative in its ma
ture. To protect a natural re-
source by refraining from using It
may be preservation, but it is not
conservation.
The strong points Of the game
refuge system are that it is prob
ably easily enforced, does not in
terfere with revenues and keeps
the deer wild. but at the same time
| insures against depletion of the
breeding stock. Its weak points
are that It may not be sufficiently
/ thorough-going to offset the con-
stantly increasing drain on the deer
supply and that the refugees may
/ not be sufficiently well enforced
| to actually function as safeguard
against the depletion of breeding
stock.
| Generally speaking. the New
| Mexico Game Protective associa-
ton has favored giving the refuge
I system a trial 1t will take two or
three years more TO complete this
trial. If. after that time, it still
appears that the deer are going
down hill, it may be necessary TO
close the season entirely as last
resort. 1t is probably the attitude
of the average good sportsman that
he would rather cease hunting than
to have the deer eXterminated. but
that he would prefer not to cease
hunting if there is any other way
I to conserve the deer. He looks
upon the game refuge system as a
possible other way. holding out
good promise Of success.
What are the factors which will
determine the success or failure of
game refugees as q device for deer
production? An analysis of the
experience of this and other states
throws a good deal Of light on this
question.
1t is obvious in the first place
that unless the refugees are en-
forced thev will be & failure. TIC
1. 80
shell, New Mexico has more area
to patrol and less money for patro
than almost any other state in the
union. 1t follows, therefore, that
even with the most careful flnan-
cial management on the part of the
state game department, it car
never hope to adequately patrol 8
system of big game refugees bJ
purely police methods.
Public sentiment can, however
secure a substantial observance oi
the refuge system. If the average
sportsman will make It plain to hi,
fellows that he considers II an un-
derhanded practice to trespass or
refugees, then his fellows will grad
ually come to look at 1t in the same
way Also, il the average either
will decline to accept gifts OF veni.
son from parties known to be Law
breakers, the average law breaker
will soon fall in line with the prev.
alent public opinion.
Predatory Animals
It Is obvious. in the second place
that refugees cannot function sue
cessfully unless kept fairly clean
of predatory animals destructive tC
deer. There is grave danger that
unless additional finances can be
secured the present predatory ami.
NAL campaign will not make suf.
ficient headway to keep the refuges
clean. This is ore OF the unsolved
problems facing the sportsmen and
stockmen Of the state. There il
very strong evidence that IL the
refugees can be enforced and the
predatory animals cleaned out, a
large increase of deer is almost
bound to follow.
The meat of the matter seems tc
! be that a refuge is an enormously
effective device for game produc.
ton in "clean" country. This &,
the big lesson which the history Of
Pennsylvania has taught. Preda.
tory animals were practically ex.
terminated in Pennsylvania dec.
ades ago, but no increase of deel
| took place until the refuge system
was established and well patrolled
The minute this was done, how.
ever the phenomenal increase OF
| deer occurred. and this accounts
for the present heavy annual kill
One of the perplexing problems
! I'm rOOnarfion xUffh olir daer aitila,
ton today is the buck shortage
parts of the state. 1t is obvious
Of course, that no breeding stool
can be productive If there is al
actual shortage Of males.
There is good reason to believe
however, that the buck shortage Il
not always so serious as it appears