Big Game 



195 



State 



TABLE 40. Deer census 



Year Number Deer 



Missouri 1926 



Indiana 



Illinois 1929 



Iowa 1928 



564 



p 



42+ 



75 + 



Number ot counties 



24 



1 



3 



2 



In Missouri, the census of 1926 is probably now too low. Since 1925 at least 

 300 deer (mostly Negaunee, Michigan, stock) have been planted by the State on 

 five State parks, and the general impression is that the species is increasing and 

 gaining a new foothold. (Missouri deer are still only about 1/500 as thick, how- 

 ever, as the Morgan County, Indiana, deer of 1820.) 



There are no records of the kill for States or other large areas except those 

 compiled by Minnesota from hunters' reports. Wisconsin and Michigan make 

 estimates of the kill, which may however be wide of the mark. The best available 

 figures are: 



TABLE 41. Deer kill 



The best that can be said for the accuracy of Table 41 is that it is better than 

 nothing. Both the kill and the area are uncertain within limits of possibly 25 

 per cent. 



The known data on the success ratio for this region show: 



Place Date Hunters Legal bucks 



Minnesota 1919-26 176,192 53,154 



Wisconsin 32 17 



(see Kilp study) 



Michigan 1927 54,311 20,000 



Hunters per 

 legal buck 



3.3 

 1.9 



2.7 



Doe Killing. There is a perennial controversy in States having buck laws 

 on the question of whether the does illegally killed and abandoned in the woods 

 constitute a substantial offset against the benefits of the law. 



Debates on this subject are usually characterized by more heat than light. 



F. G. Kilp, forester for the Negoosa Edwards Paper Company, Port Edwards, 

 in conjunction with the forest planting operations of the company, made a com- 

 plete survey of the illegal does found after the hunting season of 1928 on a single 



