DEPARTMENT OF LAXDS AXD FORESTS FOR 1948 23 



Wildlife Propagaliou 



Pheasants were raised under contract at the Department's farms at Xorman- 

 dale and Codrington. In addition, deficiencies in our requirements were made 

 up by purchase from private breeders. 22,000 pheasants were distributed. 



Wildlife Harvest 



Records returned b\' 161 hunters in the central "deer block" of Ontario 

 show a kill of 69 deer, or 1 per 2.2 hunters, about the same as last year. The 

 number of da\"s hunted was 1,201, so that 17 da\s were required to kill a deer, 

 on the average, or one more da\' than the length of the season. In Bruce Count>", 

 -47 hunters killed 27 deer in 237 da\s, which indicates somewhat better hunting. 

 Other records not tabulated show that deer hunting was best in Manitoulin 

 Island and near the Manitoba border. In some parts of the latter area an over- 

 population of deer is indicated. Detailed tabulation of voluntary returns for 

 biological anah'sis is deferred until their \-olume is great enough to give statisti- 

 cally useful figures. 



There were 1,500 deer and 101 moose exported in 1947 through the port of 

 Sault Ste. Marie. Through ports in the Rain\- River District there were exported 

 304 moose, 3,860 deer, 188 bear and 2 caribou. The two caribou and an unknown 

 proportion of the other game originated west of Ontario. 



On Xo. 11 Highway officers of the Department checked 9,570 returning 

 hunters from X'ovember 12 to 25th, including 1,359 non-residents. The\" had 

 killed 3,277 deer, 4 moose, 112 bears and 3 wolves. This makes 1 deer per 2.9 

 hunters, probabh' more accurate a figure than that obtained from the small 

 voluntar\- return sample, although it covers a smaller area. 



Road patrols in the Haliburton and Peterborough county areas checked 

 1,478 hunters who had killed 787 deer, 27 bears and 1 wolf. This works out to 

 1 deer per 1.9 hunters. The voluntary return previoush' cited covers all the 

 areas touched by road checks, and the figures of 1 deer per 2.2 hunters and 1 per 

 2.7 hunters may be compared. The latter is certainly more accurate. 



On Pelee Island there were 4,800 cock pheasants taken. Using the method 

 of estimation by the sex-ratio before and after the shoot, the total population of 

 pheasants on the island at the time of the shoot was 5,500 cock and 6,500 hen 

 pheasants, a total of 12,000. 



The take of pheasants in the Toronto and Hamilton areas was extremeh' 

 light, probably as low as it has ever been, but the kill in the Lake Erie region 

 was higher than in years immediately preceding. The kill of ruffed grouse in 

 the Province was evidenth' much greater than 1946, so that the low period of 

 the grouse c\'cle ma\' be said to lia\e been [)assed. 



Wildlife Surveys 



During the summer two field parties carried out wildlife inventories of the 

 counties of Lambton and Durham. These were for the purpose of obtaining 

 accurate records of the condition of streams, j)onds, marshes, forests and fields 

 with respect to wildlife, and the local interrelationships of physiography and 

 land use with wildlife management. 



Fur Fiirniing 



During the calendar \ear 1947, 1,768 Fur Farmers' Licences were issued; 



