were observed to be in winter pelage, which, at 
such a late date, is recognized as an indication 
of poor physical condition. 
Latham (1950:22) found that the average body 
weight of Pennsylvania deer “has been retrogres- 
sing steadily for the past 20 or 30 years.” This 
process occurred as the quantity of available deer 
food declined and its quality deteriorated. 
The inaccuracies and shortcomings inherent 
in an attempt to judge the relative size of deer in 
the field are admitted. Nevertheless, with respect 
to the size of deer seen, it seems worthy of noting 
the opinion registered by the persons who were 
involved in the April 22, 1950, deer drive on the 
island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. 
These persons, 19 college students and 2 supervi- 
sors, William D. Carter, the project’s assistant at 
the time, and Dr. Willard D. Klimstra, Southern 
Illinois University zoologist, had an excellent 
opportunity to observe the 168 deer that passed 
through the driving line, because no two adjacent 
drivers were ever more than 50 yards apart and 
the cover was relatively open. The observation 
that a considerable number of “very small deer” 
had passed through the driving line was unan- 
imous at the conclusion of the drive. 
Management 
The increasing numbers of white-tailed deer 
in Illinois have brought about problems requiring 
management in areas where deer are unwanted or 
are in excess of the carrying capacity of the land. 
In an attempt to relieve an impending food 
shortage on the Severson and Funderburg estates, 
the late Paul B. Riis, in 1940, planned an extensive 
planting program under the direction of the late 
Aldo Leopold. About 9,000 conifers, 37,500 
hardwoods, 10,090 shrubs, and 284 pounds of tree 
and shrub seeds were to be planted. Just how 
completely these plans were carried out is not 
known; however, William I. Boetcher, who farmed, 
and still farms, parts of both estates, attested 
that a considerable amount of planting was done 
and that the plants survived “several years.” He 
contended that excessive deer browsing was 
chiefly responsible for the failure of the planting; 
however, he indicated that some of the plants 
were plowed up. 
Live trapping, attempted as a means of 
relieving overpopulation, reduced the deer popu- 
lation by about 439 head in 11 years on the island 
of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge and by 158 
20 
head in 5 years on the Rock River range. Con- 
tinued high deer populations on both areas pro- 
vided evidence that the trapping program did not 
constitute a satisfactory solution. It had the 
disadvantage of being costly. However, it tended 
to satisfy landowners that some effort was being 
made to resolve their deer problems. 
The use of deer repellents offers a possible 
means of reducing the amount of damage done by 
deer to field and garden crops. Many different 
kinds of deer repellents have been tried by a 
number of workers in recent years with varying 
degrees of success. Two well-known brands were 
given summer and winter tests on the Severson 
and Funderburg estates. 
In the summer of 1949, three applications of 
Good-rite z.i.p. were applied to a one-tenth acre 
plot of field corn, and three applications of Di- 
amond “L” Brand Deer-Repellent were applied to 
a similar plot. One application was made when 
the corn was 2 feet high, one when it was 4 feet 
high, and one when it was in the milk, Deer were 
tepelled from the com sprayed with the repellents, 
but only until new growth appeared. 
Because it was noted that deer damaged corn 
in the outside rows first, and then proceeded to 
the inside of each field, a new experiment was 
set up in the summer of 1950. When the corn was 
about 3 feet high, the four outside rows of a 
30-acre cornfield were sprayed with Good-rite z.i.p. 
Damage ceased along these rows, but it was 
evident on the cern deeper in the field. 
These experiments indicate that, to give a 
plot of growing corn adequate protection from deer, 
more than three applications of the repellent must 
be made, the applications must be made throughout 
the growing season, and they must be applied to 
all of the plants. A large amount of spray com- 
pound must be used, special equipment must be 
used to apply it, and considerable labor must be 
involved. Therefore, it is thought that the appli- 
cation of repellents such as those tested is an 
impractical way of reducing deer damage to grow- 
ing corn. 
Another experiment carried on in February, 
1950, showed how little effect these repellents 
had in preventing deer use of a preferred winter 
food. Eight piles of slash of basswood, Tilia 
americana, were set out in a deer concentration 
area in Winnebago County on February 23. Three 
piles were sprayed with Good-rite z.i.p., three 
with Diamond “L” Brand Deer-Repellent, and two 
were left as controls. On examination of the 
