oda Eek, 
= Se Pe 
a Sates 
Fig. 3. -- Reproduction of photograph, now faded, taken of doe, Fanny, and buck, Sam, probably in 
the late 1890’s. These deer and their offspring, two of which are shown here, were owned by the late 
George Stevens of Kishwaukee. 
They are believed to have provided the nucleus for a herd that contrib- 
uted to the repopulation of the Rock River deer range in northern Illinois. 
population of 15 and 17 wild deer, respectively, 
in 1925 and 1926 in Ste. Genevieve County, 
Missouri, across the Mississippi River from 
Randolph County, Illinois. A legal kill of 18 deer 
was reported for Ste. Genevieve County by hunters 
during four open seasons, 1933-1936. There was no 
open season in the period 1925-1930 (Bennitt & 
Nagel 1937:79). Some of these Missouri deer, 
possibly stimulated by hunting pressure, may have 
made their way across the river into such Illinois 
counties as Union, Jackson, and Randolph. The 
late Ernest L. Mills, in an unpublished report 
written in 1935 while he was with the Civilian 
Conservation Corps in southern Illinois, recorded 
that a friend of one of the men he interviewed had 
seen a deer in Union County about 1932; in the 
opinion of the observer, the deer had come in from 
Missouri. 
The deliberate release of deer in southern 
Illinois was begun by the Illinois Department of 
Conservation in the 1930’s. So far as is known, 
the first release in southern Illinois was that 
made on the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge in 
1933 and reported by Leopold, Sowls, & Spencer 
(1947:166). One buck and three does were tre- 
leased on this occasion. 
The next recorded southern Illinois release 
was made by the United States Forest Service in 
the Shawnee National Forest. In this instance, 
five deer, two bucks and three does, were turned 
out near Belle Smith Springs in Pope County in 
December, 1935. These animals were sent from 
Augusta, Michigan, by H. D. Ruhl of the Michigan 
Department of Conservation. In addition, records 
teveal, four deer, sex unknown, were obtained in 
March, 1936, from the Mount Vernon Game Farm 
if 
