192 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



Male fawn (just acquiring first fall coat) : 



Length, 39 



Tail, 5 



Hind foot, 14 



Ear from crown, 6^ 



Height at shoulder, 25 



Metatarsal gland, 3 



Hoof of front foot, li x IJ 



Measurements of a pair of California mule deer killed September 4, 

 1924, at Niagara Creek, Tuolumne County, California, in foot-and- 

 mouth disease, are as follows : 



Forked-horn buck: 



Length, 59 



Tail, S 



Hind foot, 18 



Ear from crown, 8 



Metatarsal gland, 4 



Adult doe: 



liength, 53 



Tail, 7 



Hind foot, 17 



Ear from crown, 7^ 



Metatarsal gland, 3^ 



WEIGHTS 



The heaviest reliable weights of mule deer that I have been able 

 to find are vouched for by J. S. Hunter of our State Division of Fish 

 and Game, who reports two bucks that dressed 380 and 350 pounds, 

 respectively, (California Fish and Game, Jan., 1924, p. 19). p]ach 

 of these deer would have weighed over 400 pounds when alive. The 

 largest deer killed recently that I have been able to verify, was shot by 

 Arthur Oliver, 2317 Mission Street, San Francisco. On September 30, 

 1930, near White Horse Valley in Shasta County, Oliver killed a 

 large mule deer buck that weighed 308 pounds on standard scales when 

 gutted but with head, skin, and feet still attached. This animal was 

 fat and when alive would have tipped tlie scales at nearly 400 pounds. 

 All of the largest mule deer from California that I have record of 

 have come from the northeastern corner of the State in the Lassen and 

 Modoc sections. 



The heaviest authenticated weight that I have been able to obtain 

 of a California mule deer, was of a four-point buck, killed during the 

 last week of September, 1923, at Sequoia Lake, Fresno County, by 

 Arthur and William Bullard. This buck, one-half hour after killing, 

 and not gutted, but with head and feet on, was placed on standard plat- 

 form scales and found to weigh exactly 200 pounds. Fat on the rump 

 of this deer was 1^ inches thick. 



antlers and horned does 



There has been a great deal of discussion regarding the primary 



purpose of antlers in the deer family. Since antlers are deciduous 



and are grown anew each year, there is a tremendous amount of vitality 



and nutriment necessarily expended in their production. Some writers 



