Most Americans are unaware of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 and the successful management of wildlife in the United States. No other group of people has contributed more to keep game population thriving than the hunters of America. Over $11 billion has been collected via excise taxes on firearms and ammunition and allocated to the states for conservation purposes. In addition to the efforts of Safari Club specie specific organizations like Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey Federation, and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, as well as many others have been at the forefront of championing sustainable practices for healthy wild game populations.

Here are some facts regarding the health of our wild game populations.

Our deer population of the United States in the 1930s was estimated at 300,000 total. Today estimates are around 30,000,000 for deer populations. A hundredfold increase.

As late as the 1970’s wild turkeys were almost gone. Today estimates are between 6 million to 7 million wild turkeys which are spread over the states with the exception of Alaska. Reintroduction programs served to help reestablish turkeys throughout the country.

In the 1800s pronghorn were in the multiple millions in the U.S.  Post World War II pronghorns only numbered around 50,000 animals. Today through habitat restoration and reintroduction practices there are over 1,000,000 pronghorns in their core traditional ranges.

In the early 1900s the elk population was around 41,000. Today our elk population is estimated to be over 1.1 million increasing in some areas and decreasing in others. Over 25% of elk are found in Colorado.