Mother always said that I think different than most people, so here's my question;

Who, what, where and when was it determined as to what critters are considered game animals and game birds?

I've never read or heard that anywhere and often wondered why some are considered game and others are not.

For example, whenever I've hunted quail there seems to be as many meadow larks as there are quail. Flush a covey of quail and meadow larks often flush with them. At least where I've hunted them. They share habitat and apparently food sources, so why is it illegal to take meadow larks. I have seen meadow larks taken by accident when they flush with quail. (Not by me of course) I'd guess they would probably taste like quail. Seems to be a wasted resource.

Anyhow, I'm sure there is a good reason, just like to know what that reason is.

Could be population numbers for some things, other critters are probably judged on taste...

State bird here in Montana. Definitely a no-no.

It's rather arbitrary, actually. In Italy they regularly hunt a bunch of birds that we'd call songbirds.

For years mourning doves were considered songbirds in many states (including here in Montana) and were illegal to hunt. But that's changing.

A century or so ago almost all "shorebirds" were considered gamebirds in the U.S., including some that rarely went anywhere near a shore, such as curlews. Now about the only shorebird you can hunt is common snipe.

Mountain lions were considered varmints in just about every state half a century ago. Now they're game animals.

Does sound rather arbitrary. I've heard stories about what some people ate during the depression and bluejays and robins were on that list. Gotta think that a meadow lark would taste better than an old blue jay. Game laws will not be a major concern if we have another depression I guess.
Got any recipes for the neighbors cat?

As for doves, they are considered migratory in Texas, but they don't migrate much anymore. I've got them year round and in higher numbers than most other birds.

I had a friend who helped a friend during a depradation hunt for robins in Florida years ago. Apparently they can cause real problems in fruit groves.

My friend was a real game eater and tried some of the robins. He said they tasted a lot like woodcock, which makes sense as both robins and woodcock are worm eaters.

My wife teaches ESL, & ran into an interesting situation recently.

She was holding up pictures, & the kids had to say the name of the group of things that the picture belonged to. For instance:

A picture of a shirt = "clothes"
A picutre of an orange = "food"
A picture of a car = "transportation"

When she held up a picture of a snake, a Fillipino girl eagerly shouted, "Food!". Kids from 7 other countries were just as mortified as my wife.

FC

S H - In Arkansas, Meadow Larks (field larks) are considered 'song birds', and are ILLEGAL to hunt, shoot, etc. They certainly are melodic.

I knew a fellow who moved here from California and he had a recipe for 'lark pie'. We talked about it, he loved it but never got around to making any before he moved back to KAL I FOR NIA.

State Bird for Wyoming too. Meadowlarks are a big no-no.

Reminds me of one of my family's stories. My Dad was given a .22 rifle when he was a kid...probably circa 1940. They all lived in the country and a kid carrying around a .22 was no big deal. Anyway Dad went on a bit of a killing spree with his new rifle, shooting up a bunch of robins. My Granddaddy asked him "what are you going to do with all those robins"? Dad says "I don't know". Grandaddy replies "I do. You are going to clean them, your Mama's going to cook them and you are going to eat them!" Grandma was not to happy about all this so I was told, but back in those days what the man said went....I guess.

I asked Dad how the robins were and he said "not bad but not as good as dove".

I try hard to kill a few of our state birds each year. The state bird of PA is the Ruffed Grouse! It is interesting the arbitrary distinction between game and nongame. I remember when turkeys were small game in PA. They are now big game. Hawks and owls used to be varmints or predators and legal game with bounties.
Some of the old English shooters shot a lot of what we consider song birds as part of their bags. I would think the distinction came into being at the end of market hunting, when the conservation movement really got going.
Bfly

Each state decides. What may be a song bird in one state could be game in another (mourning doves, sandhill cranes).

For decades in California there was a $50 bounty on Mountain Lions, when $50 would buy a new rifle. A few hardy souls made a living hunting them.

Then the liberals took over and decided that hunting was a bad thing, and fishing, and cutting down trees, and lots of other things. It's apparently ok if little Johnny smokes pot, and little Suzy is on the pill, as long as they don't want to learn about guns or hunting. And Johnny can stay inside all the time, where it is safe, and play video games for hours and look at porn on the computer. But don't let him hike in the hills or go into the woods, because it might be dangerous.

And today in California the Mountain Lion is protected, and is treated like a Sacred Cow. In many areas they are over-populated and take a heavy toll on deer and small livestock. Instead of a bounty, now one may recieve a heavy fine and lose his gun for shooting one. And hides from Mountain Lions legally taken in other states may not be brought into California. Heaven forbid!

I once saw the official answer from a CA state official to the question: Is it legal to kill a rattlesnake in California? The answer was a page and a half long all about when it was and when it wasn't, and where it was and where it wasn't. And how it could be and how it might be and when it might not be. I never saw such a crock of hooey in my life.

Pigs can be shot day or night all year round, no limit. Must be vermin. Except you have to have tags, and tag them. And you get the tags five at a time. Sounds like game.

Scrub Jays are vermin; Crested Jays are songbirds. Jack rabbits are vermin; cottontails are game. Gray foxes are vermin; red foxes are game.

So don't bother asking California what is a game animal and what is not, and why. It is not surprising that dozens of county sheriffs signed a letter to the CA Dept of Justice complaining that the state's assault weapons laws were totally incomprehensible.

I guess game is game when it is, except when it is not.

Many years ago black bears were considered vermin in lots
of states and were almost hunted to extinction. PA was one
of these states, and they worked a long time to bring the
bear population to were it is today.

Any truth to he rumor that Meadow Larks taste like Spotted Owl?

No that's not true. They taste like bald eagles.





Just kidding! I really don't know how any of them taste.

When I was a kid, growing up in Oregon, we had a small orchard with cherry trees, filberts, etc.

To "save" the cherries, my brothers and I shot all the robins we could with our BB guns and slingshots,

Fast forward to our early 20's and my brother was out plinking with his 22.

A game warden comes along and asks what he's shooting...O, just some robins he says....So the Officer writes him out a ticket.

That's when he learned they were illegal to shoot...(grin!)

Virgil B.

I got dinged once by a game warden for having a couple of wing feathers off of a Blue Heron I found dead along the creek I was fly fishing in. I thought they would make great fly tying material. At least he only issued a warning and confiscated the feathers. I didn't bother telling him about the feathers I had plucked the week previously out of a dead owl.

It is all about access.
If you have access to thousands of them, they are not game in your mind, though another hunter may pay to hunt a single animal.

John

Game is defined by most DNR departments. I think the term "game" is associated with something that is killed for recreation as opposed to something killed out of necessity. It has to do with leisure rather than a profession.

But, does not the quota increase when additional animals are deemed necessary to kill out of necessity?

John

Not sure I know what you're asking.

Its a no no to shoot morning doves here is CT, you can in RI. When I was very young and an new hunter, I hunted birds with a Italian Fellow that was one of the fastest wing shots I ever seen. He would have birds hit and on the way down, when we were still getting our guns to shoulder. He would shoot Robins, also a no no. Said that a couple of Robins in the tomato sauce makes all the difference. Till around 1975 White Tail Deer were not considered Game, land owners could hunt 365 days a year if you wanted to. Now its just Nov and Dec and we have a lot of Deer.