the Sudbury District. Dry leaves and lack of snow made both stalking and tracking 

 impossible. If there had been better hunting weather, they would probably have 

 had a small improvement such as was found in the North Bay District, where 

 hunter success increased from 7.0% in 1960 to 8.3% in 1961. 



In Sault Ste. Marie District, the hunter success, as indicated by hunter 

 questionnaires, rose from 13.3% in 1960 to 17.1% in 1961. These figures are 

 not comparable with those presented for the other districts of this area because 

 of the different method of collecting data. They are comparable with the hunter 

 questionnaires from western Ontario, and it is obvious that the deer herd in the 

 Sault Ste. Marie District is still much lower than it is in the west. An additional 

 508 hunters, including both residents and non-residents, reported from hunting 

 camps in the Sault Ste. Marie District. For some reason they did not show the 

 same increase in hunter success as the remainder of the district reports. The 

 success reported for hunt camps in 1960 was 34.2, and in 1961 it was 34.4. 



On Manitoulin Island, the Little Current checking station showed a decrease 

 in hunter success from the 25.4% reported in 1960 to 21.2% in 1961. This was 

 mainly due to the fact that the use of dogs was prohibited on Manitoulin for the 

 first time this year. The situation was made worse by the poor hunting weather 

 which was nearly as bad as on the mainland. For the first time this year an 

 interview survey of hunters who are residents of Manitoulin Island was carried 

 out. It indicated that hunter success for residents of the island was 48.8% as 

 compared to the 21.2% success for hunters from off the island. It was estimated 

 that about 500 deer were shot by residents of Manitoulin this year. When this 

 is added to the 524 deer checked through the checking station at Little Current 

 we have a total estimate of the deer harvest on Manitoulin at slightly over 1,000 

 deer. This is the first time that we have been able to make a total estimate of the 

 deer harvested on Manitoulin Island with very much confidence. It should aid 

 considerably in understanding and managing the deer herd. 



In Lake Huron District, the hunter success was down from 17.7% in 1960 

 to 14.3% in 1961. This is apparently due to factors other than winter weather, 

 as no unusually deep snow was recorded in the Lake Huron District for many 

 years. 



Hunter success in the Parry Sound District remained almost the same as in 

 1960. There was a very slight increase from 23.4 to 23.7%. This low hunter 

 success appears to be due mainly to the lingering effects of the bad winters of 

 1958-59 and 1959-60. It now seems evident that the winters affected deer not 

 only by reducing the survival of fawns from the previous year, but also by reducing 

 the survival of fawns during the succeeding spring. This means that three fawn 

 crops were affected by the deep snow and the herd has not yet fully recovered. 



Hunting in the Lindsay District improved slightly over 1960. In fact, the 

 fairly good hunting weather experienced in Lindsay District brought the best 

 hunter success since 1958. On the other hand, Tweed and Pembroke Districts 

 both had lower hunter success than in 1960. In Pembroke District this was, 

 undoubtedly, due to a combination of bad winters and poor weather during the 

 hunting season. It may well have been due to the same causes in northern 

 Tweed District. 



Kemptville District maintained the highest hunter success in southern Ontario, 

 but it, too, was down from the 1960 hunter success. This was due mostly to 

 poor hunting weather. 



Table 2 shows the effects of the severe winters on the distribution of deer 

 ages. In order to understand the table, it must be remembered that the greatest 

 proportion of deer in a normal herd are the youngest deer. Natural mortality of 



73 



