RAISING ELK AND DEER 



yy^UCH interest has been manifested 

 ill by readers of American For- 

 ^^^ ESTRY in an article on Raising 

 Deer on Forest Preserves and a num- 

 ber of inquiries have been received re- 

 garding cost, method of feeding, etc. 



The following extracts from a let- 

 ter by Howard Eaton, a dealer in wild 

 animals, of Wolf, Wyoming, to Wm. 

 M. Ellicott, of Baltimore, who worked 

 for the passage of the l)ill by the Mary- 

 land legislature allowing the raising 

 of deer for the market, gives many in- 

 teresting details in reference to elk and 

 deer raising. 



Mr. Eaton says : 



"You have done the right thing for 

 Maryland in this deer and elk breed- 

 ing matter, and it solves the question 

 of how to use the cut over and bushy 

 country which is not suitable for farm- 

 ing and hardly carries enough feed to 

 fatten cattle, etc. 



"I have shipped elk all ov«r the U. 

 S. and delivered a lot to Mrs. T. M. 

 Carnegie. Cumberland Island, Fla. 

 These elk did well as far as climate 

 and altitude went, but were killed by 

 some poison plant. Near N. O. I sold 

 a lot and five years later heard that 

 they had done very well. 



"Mosquitos w^ould not injure the elk 

 or deer, as they have served their time 

 with skeeters in Montana, Wyoming, 

 etc. 



"I can't remember altitude of Lake 

 Superior, but a large lot of deer and 

 elk are right along the shore, virtually 

 at water level. 



"Elk will browse and also graze. 

 I've never known elk subject to any 

 disease, except that in the Yellow^stone 

 Park some years since and many elk 

 died of mange, much like the old buf- 

 falo mange, but I've not heard of any 

 mange there since winter of 1902-3. 



"I'd advise 8 ft. fence, although 

 lower ones might answer, but the 8 ft. 

 fences (Page woven wire is O. K.), 

 would hold the elk and by stretching 

 a wire 1 ft. above it would hold deer 

 as well. The 8 ft. fence would hold 

 antelope, elk, moose and buffalo. 



"In Maryland, I'd consider shelter 

 unnecessary, although you would or 

 should have feed corrals or pastures, 

 where game could be fed some in win- 

 ter, making it tamer and allowing a 

 count and view of the animals. 



"Let the buffalo run all the year with 

 the cows. 



"Elk will kill dogs or run them out 

 of pasture, especially when the elk 

 calves are around. I saw a bunch of 

 them corner a big Canada lynx and he 

 was one of the worst scared animals I 

 ever saw, — only saved his life by 

 climbing a tree. 



"You would not need goats with the 

 elk. 



"No special training is required to 

 handle elk, — just good wild hog sense. 

 If feeding hay at any time remember 

 that elk and deer prefer weedy hay to 

 clear timothy or alfalfa. 



"In a small enclosure during rutting 

 season, the bulls are dangerous — same 

 as male deer at that season, but in a 

 large park the elk will keep away from 

 a man. 



"A man on a horse would be im- 

 mune from bulls, unless during the 

 rut, he would corner an old fellow. 



"The meat of the bulls is best out 

 here up to about October 1st. although 

 at times a bull will rut in September, 

 by 15th to 20th. 



"Cows are good at any time when in 

 flesh — same as our domestic cattle. 

 Bulls are good meat when they regain 

 flesh after their horns are shed (usual- 

 ly in March tKis happens). 



"I've never hesitated to go among 

 the elk freely, afoot or in saddle, at 

 any time except rutting season, but 

 while it might be and is as a rule, safe 

 to feed them salt from the hand, yet 

 it is unwise to trust any mature wild 

 animal- — he seems to get locoed at 

 times. I'll write Mr. Knorr and urge 

 that the Agricultural Department co- 

 operate with the Maryland Agricultural 

 Station and try game raising, but you 

 know that the Government is mighty 

 slow^ at times. I have urged many times 

 that the game be placed on cut over 



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