main eastern deer range, hunting was much better than in 1963 when continuous 

 rain throughout the first week of the season dampened the spirits of many deer 

 hunters and drastically lowered success. 



In northwestern Ontario deer are most abundant and success rates were still 

 high. To the east, success rates rose, with the exception of those areas along the 

 northernmost fringe of range in Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury Districts. Very 

 severe winters have plagued the north shore in recent years and winter mortality, 

 coupled with marginal habitat, have produced much lower success than that which 

 was enjoyed a decade or so ago. Ontario lies at the northernmost fringe of this con- 

 tinent's deer range and white-tails are either rare or absent over much of northern 

 Ontario. Harsh winters, with deep snow, hinder white-tails in their search for winter 

 food and are the factors which make the north country an inhospitable area for 

 deer. 



To effectively manage the Province's deer herds, good information concerning 

 the annual harvest is essential and facts on hunter success, hunter effort required to 

 bag a deer, and age composition of the herd are a few of the items required. Road 

 check stations, visits to deep-freeze lockers and hunt camps, post season mail and 

 telephone surveys and reports forwarded by hunt camp "secretaries" all are used 

 to obtain facts for management decisions. 



Hunter success varied across the Province. Table 2 shows deer hunter success 

 for those administrative districts having huntable densities of deer. Once again, the 

 western region comprising the districts of Kenora, Fort Frances and Port Arthur 

 enjoyed excellent hunting success and rates exceeded 40% in the first two districts. 

 Mail surveys of deer hunters were conducted across the complete western region 

 and these surveys indicated that over 13,000 hunters pursued deer from the Lake 

 Head west. Western Ontario still boasts the best deer hunting the Province has to 

 offer and over 5,000 hunters enjoyed a success rate of 49.1% in Kenora. Relatively 

 recent timber cutting operations along with large areas of balsam which were killed 



Table 2 



1964 DEER HUNTER SUCCESS 



No. No. Non- Total 



Residents Residents Hunters c /o 



District Checked Checked Checked Success 



Lindsay 3119 3119 18.9 



Tweed 3225 26 3251 29.6 



Kemptville 1844 1844 32.5 



Pembroke 1431 1431 17.4 



Parry Sound 7387 148 7554 20.2 



North Bay 822 18 840 15.2 



Sudbury 207 207 14.0 



Manitoulin Is 3037 151 3188 20.2 



Sault Ste. M 712 61 793 18.7 



Lake Erie** 5548 5548 10.9 



Bruce Peninsula 2597 2597 12.6 



Lake Simcoe* 1376 1376 30.6 



Kenora* 3176 1829 5005 49.1 



Fort Frances* 2766 411 3177 45.7 



Sioux Lookout* 893 190 1083 34.0 



Port Arthur 4313 31.7 



* — These districts obtained data from mail or telephone surveys and this information 

 is not strictly comparable tvith information collected at check stations or in the 

 field by other districts. 



** — Lake Erie data obtained from field checks and noting ratio of farmer to resident 

 licences. 



27 



