ike, but between the whites and Indians on the one hand 

 tnd natural agencies on the other, their extermination is 

 thought to be but a matter of a short time. It seems a pity 

 that no effort, at least so far as I am aware, has been made 

 by the people of this part of the state to save this band. 



In regard to the deer situation in Minnesota there seems 

 be much difference of opinion and very divergent views 

 have been expressed. It is a difficult problem from its very 

 nature. 



Figures obtained from the state game warden's office, based 

 on shipping-tag count, give the total number of deer killed in 

 season, from 1907 to 1913, inclusive, as 16,365, or an average of 

 a little more than 2,300 head annually. To this must be added 

 the local kills of the various districts, the illegal kill by 

 whites and Indians, and the yearly toll of natural agencies. 

 The total yearly death rate is probably not less than 6,000 to 

 7,000 head. Persons who lay peculiar stress upon the timber- 

 wolf would make this number much larger. I have heard esti- 

 I mates of 20,000 and higher, as the annual kill of wolves alone. 

 Some estimates I have seen give 200,000 as the number of deer 

 within the state at present. I believe such figures are un- 

 worthy of serious attention except in so far as they mislead 



le public into a sense of security in a matter in which exag- 

 geration may have disastrous consequence. 



Anything but approximate estimates cannot of course be 

 attempted, but I believe that one much nearer the truth would 

 place our deer population at present between, say, 30,000 and 

 40,000 at most. Numbers seen during a few days' hunting in 

 this or that locality, or in the summertime when the animals 

 are generally concentrated near the water courses and favor- 

 ite feeding grounds, are extremely unreliable, and likly to 

 overstate the actual conditions, often to absurd lengths. 

 Unless an actual count is made and recorded, and this is oft- 

 enest, I believe, not the case, one easily falls prey to the 

 angler's habit and imagines the number to be much greater 

 than it in reality is. The conclusion is too hastily drawn when 

 a relatively large number is seen in a number of different 

 localities, that every square mile of territory neighboring and 

 distant is equally densely populated. 



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