CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 183 



deer bucks in Modoc County has been as follows: 1927, 510; 1928, 729; 

 1929, 835 ; 1930, 1129. Thus it will be seen that the toll levied on mule 

 deer in this one county more than doubled in these four years. 



The so-called "granite" bucks of the higher central portions of the 

 Sierra Nevada, while not reaching the extreme development of the 

 Rocky Mountain mule deer bucks of Modoc and Lassen counties, are 

 famed among hunters for their large size and craftiness, two character- 

 istics which place them near the top of the list in the eyes of the true 

 sportsman. 



The sportsman takes, on the average, a more active and more 

 aggressive interest in game animals than does the stockman or the 

 rancher or the average citizen, yet we find that there are men in other 

 walks of life who have a very direct and concrete interest in deer. 

 This is particularly true in the case of certain owners of small orchards 

 and vineyards along the main western flank of the Sierra Nevada. In 

 many instances these ranchers are located in the midst of forest lands 

 or brush-covered areas where deer have bred up because of favorable 

 conditions, such as abundant food supply and safe breeding places and 

 relative freedom from their natural enemies. In planting alfalfa, grain 

 crops, deciduous orchards and vineyards, the rancher who is located 

 in the chaparral belt is often unintentionally providing an appetizing 

 addition to the normal food of deer. In a similar manner, the ranch- 

 man or stockman often affords deer unintentional protection through 

 his efforts to protect his own domestic animals from the inroads of 

 predatory animals such as mountain lions and coyotes. Thus it has 

 come to pass that in many instances deer have increased locally so that 

 they have become a nuisance and, in certain instances, a source of 

 serious loss to the vineyardist and the orchardist. 



As a result of my studies regarding the food preferences of deer, 

 I have found that under certain conditions there is serious competition 

 for food between deer and domestic stock. This struggle for sustenance 

 between the wild game (deer) and the flocks and herds of man occurs 

 on both privately owned range land and upon the national forests, 

 of which we have no less than eighteen in California, covering a total 

 area of 19,180,000 acres, which is approximately one-fifth of the land 

 surface area of the State. Through various studies that have been made 

 of the food requirements of both deer and domestic animals, and 

 through actual experience in the field, the writer has found that compe- 

 tition for food is most intense between deer and domestic sheep, the 

 competition being slightly less between deer and range cattle, and least 

 of all between deer and horses. 



The continued requests that have come to the writer from time to 

 time for facts and definite data regarding the food habits and life 

 history of deer in California constitute one outstanding reason for the 

 publication of this report. From time to time, notably during the 

 epidemic of hoof-and-mouth disease in California, I have made, at the 

 request of the Fish and Game Commission, special investigations to 

 determine all possible facts regarding the extent, distribution and con- 

 dition of deer that had contracted the disease. At other times during 

 epidemics among the deer, such as occurred in Modoc County in 1924 

 and a few years later in Trinity County, I have made special investiga- 

 tions, at the request of our Division of Fish and Game, which is more 



