THE SHOOTING OF TOMORROW
Nilo hunting ranges progressively from ”soff to ing into deep timbered ravines. Above, hunters
"tough” with varying heights of vegetation merg- move through wheat stubble toward food patch.
After a year’s operation of The Nilo Farms con
trolled shooting area, John M. Olin, president of
Olin Industries, Inc., is more convinced than ever
that it is "the shooting of tomorrow”.
The project has two immediate objectives. One
is to reduce the annual "crippling loss” in water
fowl and other feathered game by encouraging the
use of retrieving dogs. The other is to increase the
game supply available to sportsmen by showing
farmers how they can produce an additional an
nual cash crop through the release of pen-raised
birds for controlled shooting on Anierican farms.
Using farm land that was intensely cultivated
for agricultural purposes, the project showed how
pen-reared game birds could be released by farm
ers into roatation strips during the fall and early
winter months.
Fees for hunting privileges will enable farmers
to profit during seasons when little or no income
from their acreages can be realized through farm
ing.
The perusal of facts and figures and critical
scrutiny of nearly 150 skilled observers leads to
the definite conclusion that controlled shooting
can b-2 both attractive to sportsmen and practical
financially to farmers.
Mr. Olin is the guilding spirit of the Nilo dem
onstration program. He has personally analyzed
the field reports submitted by many Nilo guests,
as well as checked the recommendations of wild
life technicians.
Nilo Farms is a demonstration wildlife conser
vation project launched by the company a year
ago on a 520 acre site 12 miles from East Alton,
company headquarters.
Nik) is Olin spelled backwards.
We are going to take the reader backstage at
Nilo for a description of actual operations. The
figures given in this report are conservative. They
were compiled to show what can be done by
farmers.
All shooting at Nilo this past season was con
ducted on a demonstration basis, but as nearly as
possible, shooting conformed to the same general
pattern—a two-man operation, with the number
of hunters never exceeding eight on a single day.
The total number of hunters participating in reg
ular shoots was 132, while 16 others took part in
special shoots for demonstration and photographic
purposes.
Use of top-flight dogs from the Nilo Kennels
assisted the 148 shooters to harvest 6l6 pheasants
out of 1019 released, for a performance percent
age of approximately 60 V2 per cent. This figure
is about 10 per cent higher than the average per-