A lot of factors helped create the decline in wildlife populations: the Civil War, Reconstruction, market hunting, the Depression and until the early 1900s no wildlife laws or regulations.

The same helped a decline in bird populations, too, especially market hunting and the fashion industry in the U.S. and Europe. Not just waterfowl, either. Songbirds were sold in markets in the Northeast and elsewhere. Christmas holiday shoots were big deals for families and towns, a sort of celebration. The annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts were begun as a way to inventory birds but also try to stem the tide of the excessive shooting.

The restoration of deer, turkey and other wildlife in the Southeast is pretty amazing.