1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 287 



presence of game is of great value to the state, and that hunting is a 

 necessary adjunct to our national success; and that, therefore, the 

 state owes it to itself to provide some method whereby game can be 

 increased." . 



The Province of Ontario has been abundantly endowed by nature 

 with forests and wild lands well suited to the maintenance of large herds 

 of deer, and her ranges were originally stocked to their utmost capacity. 

 Owing, however, to the advance of civilization, with its train of conse- 

 quences before enumerated, as likewise to the fact that for many years 

 the slaughter of deer was practically unchecked, great ravages have been 

 made on the numbers of the deer, with the result that to-day in many 

 localities their ranks are sadly thinned ; and it would appear to be the 

 almost unanimous opinion of those who have studied the subject, or take 

 a personal interest in it, that some steps should be taken, and that 

 immediately, if the deer are to be conserved to the Province. In any 

 case, without taking a pessimistic view of the situation, it can be safely 

 said that further conservation measures on the part of the authorities 

 are a necessity, for the diminution in the numbers of deer almost 

 throughout the entire Province is well marked and admitted, and that 

 the time for these measures is now, when the material available is still 

 ample for the upbuilding of a great and permanent supply. 



Fortunately the experience of our neighbours has proven that, as 

 expressed by the Game and Fish Commissioners of Minnesota in their 

 1908 report: 



" Deer respond readily to protection, thrive and multiply in the 

 vicinity of settlements, when not molested in close seasons, domesticate 

 easily, and may be retained in abundance under ordinary restrictive 

 laws." 



So that, by studying the laws of our neighbours, and selecting those 

 which have been most efficacious and beneficial, it should be possible 

 for the authorities to ensure the conservation of at least an equal 

 supply of deer to posterity as exists at present, without laying any 

 undue hardships on the sportsman-citizen of to-day. 



Advocates of reforms in the deer laws are as numerous as the 

 remedies they suggest, but, in the opinion of your Commissioner, Dr. 

 Hornaday, the eminent naturalist and head of the Bronx Zoological 

 Society, placed his finger on the vital issue when, in an interview 

 accorded to your Commissioner, he stated: 



" There is no surer method of exterminating any variety of big 

 game than to allow the destruction of the females." 



In enlarging upon this subject, he pointed out that the adoption by 

 hunters of a motto, 



" 'Never shoot until you see the horns/' 



not only means the preservation of many does to produce one or two 

 fawns in the ensuing spring, but in itself is the most powerful safe- 



