CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 57 



County opposed it. The writer made a trip to the mule deer area in 

 March, 1933, to secure the views of our game wardens and others 

 in this regard. The result of these interviews was the conclusion that 

 the measure was not a conservation one by reason of the fact that so 

 short a season would congest the hunters unduly. This congestion of 

 liunters which occurs yearly in the opening days of the hunting season, 

 is the hardest thing that the bucks have to face, for men are every- 

 where and once a mule buck is "jumped" he usually runs quite a 

 distance before stopping. With a field full of hunters, if the man who 

 jumps the buck does not kill him, there is much more likelihood that 

 he will be shot by some other hunter before he stops running, than if 

 tliere are not so many sportsmen afield. It seems desirable for this 

 reason, to spread the season over as long a period of time as is reason- 

 able. The Division adopted this policy and contended that the Modoc 

 deer population was not in so precarious a position as to justify enact- 

 ing this measure, which might not work out to the deer's advantage. 

 This, and the Division's dislike to impose further restrictions on the 

 hunters in the Modoc area until constructive measures to build up its 

 deer population are adopted and tried out, was explained to Senator 

 Powers w^ho did not push his bill thereafter and it "died in com- 

 mittee." 



The 1933 Legislature conferred upon the Director of the Depart- 

 ment of Natural Resources, with the Governor's consent, the power to 

 close to hunting upon recommendation of the Fish and Game Com- 

 mission, any area where added protection is needed for game for such 

 a time as the Director may designate, or until new legislation thereon 

 may become effective. This means that the Division could probably 

 close all, or part of the Modoc area if justification to do so developed, 

 so with a close watch being kept upon these deer, sportsmen need not 

 fear that undue depletion will be permitted to occur. The thought 

 has been suggested that portions of the Modoc area might now be 

 closed to hunting. Not only does the Division consider that no neces- 

 sity now exists to do so, but it believes that such a course would only 

 liasten to create poor conditions in the area's left open by crowding more 

 hunters into them. It is possible that study may develop that hunters 

 camping near water in dry sections where springs are far apart is 

 detrimental to the deer of the vicinity. In such cases it would seem 

 to be in "order to either close the area to hunting or to prevent camping 

 at the springs. 



Factors other than increased hunting effort are doubtless at least 

 in part responsible for the recent deer depletion in the Modoc region. 

 Foremost among these is a disease commonly termed calf diphtheria 

 and caused by an organism known as Bacillus necrophorus an out- 

 break of which occurred in the Medicine Lake country, especially in 

 the vicinity of Mud Lake, in 1923 and 1924.* A more recent and 

 widespread epidemic of this infection occurred in the same vicinity 

 and also at White Horse and in other localities in 1931. The 

 Division's pathologist investigated many cases of this disease from 

 these areas in that year and definitely diagnosed the disease. This 

 outbreak continued to a lesser extent the following year and very few 

 reports of deer death from its cause were obtained in 1933 in spite 



* See California Fish and Game, vol. 10, 1924, p. 191 ; vol. 11, 1925, pp. 27-28. 



