The Game Market of To-Day

Report conclusion: From the foregoing considerations it will be perceived that the game market of the United States has constantly decreased in importance as game has become less and population has increased. From a time when bounties were paid for ruffed grouse and apprentices appealed from a diet of prairie chicken, we have reached the time when ruffed grouse are within reach only of the rich and prairie chickens are not to be had at any price. The meat of all big game except deer has been withdrawn from the market, and in many large cities even deer are not in the market, either because of nonsale laws or owing to the limited supply. Rabbits and waterfowl are still offered in some numbers, and quail are on sale every open season in a number of cities; but wild turkeys, once so abundant that colonists shot them from their doorways, are rare in northern markets and are found in very limited quantities in the South; while native woodcock and other shore birds are sold only in small numbers, if at all. The period has arrived when European pheasants, grouse, and plover are rapidly replacing corresponding American birds; and unless suitable measures be adopted for preserving and increasing our own game, we shall doubtless have to depend more and more on imported game for our market supply.