and released in the Union County State Forest 
near Jonesboro. 
In a letter dated April 21, 1953, Conrad W. 
Carlson, then acting supervisor of the Shawnee 
National Forest, wrote, “As to the success of 
the early plantings, it appears that deer were 
observed on rare occasions beginning in 1936. 
The animals were listed as rare in our annual 
teports from 1936-41.” 
No other releases are known to have been 
made until the winter of 1942-43, when the re- 
moval, by live trapping, of deer from the island of 
the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge to various 
southern and central [Illinois counties was initi- 
ated. Therefore, it appears that the early develop- 
ment of the present southern Illinois herds came 
about principally from the three releases described 
above, and possibly in addition from an ingress 
of wild deer from Missouri. 
The program of live trapping and redis- 
tributing deer, undertaken by the Department of 
Conservation during the winter of 1942-43, has 
contributed greatly to the present wide distribu- 
Table 1. - Summary of deer trapping on the is- 
land of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, Alexander 
County, [Hinois, 1942-1953. (Weight in pounds.) 
Total Average Trapping 
Year Catch Weight Losses 
1942-43 0% -- =< 
1943-44 fees == == 
1944-45 62 -- = 
1945-46 24 = == 
1946-47 25 == = 
1947-48 59 96.2 1 
1948-49 9 -- 0 
1949-50 0 -- 0 
1950-51 72 103.8 4 
NOS 1-52 46 107.6 1 
1952-53 17 113.9 0 
Total 439 6 
* Estimated number. 
tion of deer in Illinois, figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. From 
the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1953, approx- 
imately 439 deer were trapped on the island of 
the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge and about 433 
were redistributed to various Illinois counties, 
table 1. From the fall of 1946 to the spring of 
1953, 158 deer were trapped on the Rock River 
tange and 153 were relocated, principally in 
southern Illinois, table 2. In addition, in the 
winter of 1952, 11 deer were removed from the 
Springfield Game Farm and released in three cen- 
tral Illinois counties. Thus, about 600 Illinois 
deer have been introduced into new surroundings 
through redistribution. 
Records of the Illinois Department of Conser- 
vation on the redistribution of deer prior to 1947 
have been lost. C.E. Laughery, who was in charge 
of deer trapping at the Horseshoe Lake Game 
Refuge from the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1944, 
reported that releases were made in many counties 
of the state in that period. Complete records, most 
of them summarized in tables 3 and 4, were main- 
tained from the fall of 1947 to the spring of 1953. 
During that time, 347 deer from all sources were 
released in 18 counties, fig. 9. 
In addition to animals represented by the 
redistribution records listed in tables 3 and 4, two 
deer that were obtained along the Rock River near 
Byron were released in Cook County in the spring 
of 1950. As fawns, these animals had been injured 
by farming operations, nursed to health by farmers, 
and subsequently tumed over to the Department of 
Conservation for disposition. Also, 11 deer, 
trapped on the Springfield Game Farm in February 
and March of 1952, were released in four counties 
as follows: 2 in Cook, 3 in Clark, 3 in Piatt, and 
3 in Sangamon. 
There probably has been some recent migra - 
tion into Illinois from adjacent states. Although 
verified observations are lacking, this influx may 
have taken place from Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouti, 
and Indiana. 
Table 2. - Summary of deer trapping on the Rock River range in Ogle and Winnebago counties, 
Illinois, 1946-1953. (Weight in pounds.) 
1946-47 
1947-48 19 Heri 
1948-49 26 1:0.81 
1949-50 5 1:1.60 
1950-51 20 1:1.05 
1951-52 0 -- 
1952-53 0 -- 
Total | 78 1203 
Average Weight Trapping Losses 
15 =- 0 
42 96.0 0 
47 84.3 4 
1S 12a 0 
41 84.9 1 
158 == 5 
