Districts. Deer management problems in this area relate mainly to under-harvest. 

 In recent years winters have been moderate, with little snow; it is feared that 

 mortality in the western deer herd will be heavy if severe winter weather occurs. 

 Across the eastern deer range, south and east of Sault St. Marie, Sudbury 

 and Timiskaming, deer are slowly recovering from the heavy losses incurred 

 during the winters of 1958-59 and 1959-60. Although the main eastern range 

 south of the French and Mattawa rivers does not support as many deer as in 

 years past, reasonably good hunting is still available to a greatly increased number 

 of hunters. 



The 1963 Deer Hunt in Ontario 



The white-tailed deer continues to be one of the most popular game species 

 sought by hunters in Ontario. In 1963, 114,248 resident and 6,351 non-resident 

 deer licences were sold, and an estimated 29,400 deer were harvested. 



Although most of the Province's deer habitat is situated on the northern- 

 most fringe of the continent's deer range, success rates have been reasonably 

 good. Only along the very northern margin of Ontario's deer range have 

 success rates declined significantly in recent years. In the late 1950's and early 

 1960's, severe winters caused heavy mortality in Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, 

 North Bay and Parry Sound Districts and recovery of the herd in some of these 

 areas has been slow. During an average year about one in four hunters in 

 Ontario is 'successful in bagging a deer but the annual kill varies depending 

 upon success rates and the number of licences sold. Table 2 shows average 

 Provincial deer hunter success rates since 1955. Only broad trends are indicated 

 since figures for all years are not exactly comparable due to improved methods 

 of data collection. The decline in success rates in the early 1960's, caused 

 by the mortality occurring during the disastrous winters of 1958-59 and 1959-60, 

 is clearly shown in Table 2. 



DEER HUNTER SUCCESS — ONTARIO 1955-1963 



Table 2 



In the Western Region, Kenora, Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout and Port 

 Arthur Districts all offer good to excellent deer hunting. For the past few 

 years winters have been mild and very high deer populations prevail. 



In the Central Region, along the northermost fringe of the main eastern 

 deer range, from Sault Ste. Marie through Sudbury and North Bay, success 

 rates were still low although somewhat improved in 1963. Manitoulin Island, 

 unlike the less fertile mainland, had a banner season with a success rate of 

 28.8-per-cent. 



Across most of the main eastern deer range, south of the French and 

 Mattawa Rivers, the weather which prevailed throughout the 1963 season long 

 will be remembered. Rain fell every day of the two-week deer season in some 

 areas and many oldtimers could not remember worse hunting weather. Success 

 rates fell across most of southern Ontario and the decline is particularly pro- 

 nounced when success is compared to the previous year. In 1962, snow cover 

 during the open season was the principal contributing factor to a very successful 

 hunt. For many hunters in the eastern part of the Province, the 1963 deer 



46 



