CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



85 



districts now open at the same time, which gives us a better distribution 

 of hunters." 



The following is a compilation of Ranger Durham's figures: 



Loss or 

 193S 19SZ gain 



Total number of automobiles 782 1,097 SlU loss 



Total number of hunters 822 1,531 709 loss 



Total number of persons 2,078 2,531 i'>-H loss 



Total deer killed, first 3 days of season 105 85 20 gain 



Thus, in 1933, 822 hunters killed 20 more deer than did 1531 

 hunters in the same area in the previous season. In 1932, only one 

 hunter out of every 18 was successful in this area while the following 

 year nearly one hunter out of 8 bagged his buck. — James Moffitt, Divi- 

 sion of Fish and Game, San Francisco, December 21, 1933. 



SHELDON'S DEER OF CALIFORNIA 



A paper covered booklet of 72 pages entitled "The Deer of Cali- 

 fornia," by H. H. Sheldon, former Field Naturalist with_ the United 

 States' Bureau of Biological Survey, was issued as Occasional Paper 

 No. 3 of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, November 1, 

 1933. Copies of this booklet may be obtained from that museum at 



$1.50 each. 



This publication is printed on coated paper which provides excellent 

 reproductions of the many illustrations that it contains. 



The introduction informs the reader that this treatise is in answer 

 to numerous discussions, stories, news items and arguments pertaining 

 to the deer of California. Nevertheless, Sheldon states that considerable 

 field w^ork and comparative study is yet required to complete the final 

 classification of California deer. The author notes that just as a 

 knowledge of football increases the pleasure of watching the game, so 

 does a know-ledge of the game laws, characteristics and habits of the 

 quarry add zest to the hunt. 



He states that California harbors more varieties of deer than are 

 found in any other State in the Union, and that our deer hold their 

 own numerically by reason of the natural protection afforded by wilder- 

 ness haunts, the reduction of mountain lions, and wise game laws 

 protecting does and limiting the kill of bucks, and the establishment of 

 numerous game refuges. 



Following the brief introduction is a colored map showing the 

 ranges of the kinds of deer occupying California, and following 

 this map, the various species are described. These include the Rocky 

 Mountain mule deer, California mule deer, burro deer, Columbian 

 black-tailed deer, southern black-tailed deer and western white-tailed 



deer. 



Sheldon's distributional map is a great improvement over Hall's 

 similar. one (see California Fish and Game. vol. 13, 1927, p. 57). _ The 

 ranges that the present author provides for California deer coincide 

 fairly well with the ones outlined in Grinnell's recent work (see p. 87, 

 this issue), but Sheldon more definitely defines the area along the 

 western flank of the southern Sierra Nevada in which the Columbian 

 black-tailed and California mule deer evidently meet and intorgrade. 

 His distributional map shows this to be slightly north of the Yosemite 



