546 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the number of elk that perished were investigated ; the possibility of 

 securing hay next year was given special attention; the region was 

 searched for sites available tor winter refuges for the elk, and the 

 possibility of transferring a number of elk to other localities was con- 

 sidered. Two small herds were transferred to the National Bison 

 Range in Montana and the Wichita Game Refuge in Oklahoma. 

 Careful attention was given to the feasibility of transferring elk to 

 the iNIedicine Bow Mountains and the Big Horn Range next winter. 

 In short, the Survey has undertaken a thorough study of the elk 

 problem in all its phases, and a preliminary report will soon be 

 published. 



INFORMATION CONCERNING GAME. 



Advantage was taken of the presence in northern Michigan of a 

 representative of this bureau to secure information of the com- 

 parative abundance of deer now and during the past five years, the 

 relative number of hunters in the woods during the hunting season, 

 methods of hunting, character of the warden service employed, the 

 number of deer shipped, the weight of deer, and the comparative 

 condition of the fur market. In June, 1911, Mr. D. C. Nowlin was 

 employed to obtain definite information concerning the antelope in 

 Idaho and Oregon and to find localities in eastern Oregon suitable for 

 elk. On June 1 Mr. A. C. Cooper visited Texas to report upon the 

 location, size, and condition of the bands of antelope in that State 

 and the present efforts to preserve them. The bureau has secured for 

 the first time statistics of the deer killed in Missouri, Montana, and 

 Wyoming during the hunting season and has m;i(le important prog- 

 ress in ascertaining the distribution of big game in the National 

 Forests. 



The index of game legislation has made notable progress. The in- 

 dexing of the laws of Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, South Caro- 

 lina, Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio 

 was completed during the year, and the bureau now has a full index 

 of game legislation of all the States except five of the New England 

 States, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina. 



Data were collected, as usual, concerning the number and details 

 of fatal hunting accidents. 



The customary annual game publications were issued, including 

 the directory of game officials and organizations, the compilation of 

 the game laws in force in 1910, and the summary of progress in game 

 protection in 1910. 



COOPERATIVE WORK IN GAME PROTECTION, 



One of the most important features of the work of the Section of 

 Game Preservation consists of cooperation with State game officials 

 and private organizations in the protection of game. During the 

 past fiscal year the bureau has cooperated with New York, Virginia, 

 and Missouri in checking illegalities under the game laws; with 

 Louisiana, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana in furnishing 

 information needed; with New Jersey and Wisconsin in conducting 

 civil-service examinations for candidates for deputy wardenships; 

 with New Jersey, also, in introducing quail and deer into its game 

 covers ; with Wyoming in solving the problem presented by the con- 



