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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



place under the protection aflforded by 

 a close season but under the "buck 

 law." In proportion to its hunting 

 area more deer are killed under a buck 

 law in Vermont at the present time than 

 in any other state under any kind of law. 

 The deer are also the heaviest and finest 

 specimens of the Virginia deer to be 

 found in the United States. The future 

 of the species is thus assured for all time. 



The theoretical increase of deer under 

 a law protecting does and fawns has been 

 very interestingly presented in a table 

 prepared by Dr. A. K. Fisher and Prof. 

 F. E. L. Beale, of the United States Bio- 

 logical Survey, from suggestions made by 

 George Shiras, 3d. For purposes of the 

 comparison it was assumed that a breed- 

 ing stock of twenty-four bucks and 

 twenty-four does, aged two years, was 

 available, and that the increase annually 

 thereafter was one and one-half fawns 

 a pair. The ratio would not, of course, 

 be affected if fewer or more were taken 

 as the original stock or as the increase. 

 Under a law permitting indiscriminate 

 killing, and assuming that fifty per cent 

 of the deer were shot annually, extermi- 

 nation would result at the end of ten 

 years during which period one hundred 

 and fifty-five deer would have been 

 killed. 



Under exactly the same conditions, 

 with the single exception of limiting the 

 killing to bucks more than one year old, 

 at the end of the ten-year period 781 

 would have been bagged and there would 

 remain a breeding herd of 781 bucks and 

 15G2 does, or a total of 2343 live deer in 

 the woods. Thus is demonstrated that 

 with a Ijuck law good shooting is afforded 

 and the supply of deer is simultaneously 

 increased. 



It seems incredil)le, in view of these 

 facts, that any sensible persons still 

 desire a law permitting the killing of 

 does and fawns; and yet there is an even 



more important reason than the economic 

 one for the buck law: that is the saving 

 of human lives. 



The buck law, as commonly found on 

 the statute books, prohibits the killing 

 of all deer, except deer having horns in 

 excess of a certain minimum length, 

 three or four inches usually. This pro- 

 vision requires the hunter to exercise 

 caution before shooting. If he waits long 

 enough to ascertain that a deer has horns 

 of legal length he is not likely to shoot 

 anything else by mistake. Incredible 

 as it may seem, there are hundreds of 

 men in this country who, under a law 

 permitting the killing of any kind of 

 deer, will shoot at almost anything that 

 moves in the woods. The writer of 

 this article, who is an ardent deer hunter, 

 has twice narrowly escaped death by 

 reason of criminal carelessness of this 

 character. Instances are common un- 

 der the old form of law, of shots being 

 fired at dead deer which were being 

 carried on men's backs or were being 

 hung up, and of horses and cattle killed, 

 as well as of men losing their lives, be- 

 cause the pseudo hunter did not take 

 the chance of losing a possible advan- 

 tage by waiting long enough to ascertain 

 definitely what it was he saw over the 

 sights of his rifle. In the seasons of 1909 

 and 1910, in five states not having a buck 

 law, forty men were killed. In the three 

 seasons, 1910 to 1912, in nine states 

 haA'ing a buck law, no lives were lost 

 from this cause. 



Today in the greater portion of the 

 big game territory of this country and 

 Canada only horned game can legally 

 be killed. It is hoped that the rule will 

 soon become universal. In the sections 

 where the law is in force the practical 

 benefits are immediately apparent. Only 

 when the supply becomes too large is 

 there any excuse for even a temporary 

 abandonment of the principle. 



