CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



195 



Mule deer bucks have been reported from time to time as possess- 

 ing antlers with a spread of upwards of 40 inches. In one notable case 

 in California, a mule deer buck was killed in the Modoc region and 

 the head was subsequently mounted. When it was measured, it was 

 found to have a spread of 40^ inches. The antlers were a magnificent 

 set, having nine points on each side. However, the authenticity of the 

 head was questioned, and when it was subsequently examined it was 

 found that the skull was not the original skull that had borne the 

 antlers and that the antlers had been artificially attached in a manner 

 so that a very great spread had resulted. Naturally such a ' ' made up ' ' 

 trophy could not be accepted as a record head. Two large sets of 

 antlers of mule deer of which I have obtained authentic record both 



Fig 55 Antlers evenly forked and nearly grown but still in the velvet. Yosemite, 

 July 16, 1928. Mus. Vert. Zool. No. 5708. 



had a spread of 36 inches. I have measured a number of sets of 

 antlers that have had spreads of between 30 and 32 inches. The 

 normal head of good size will have a spread of about 28 inches. 



The largest set of antlers of Kocky Mountain mule deer from 

 California which I have personally examined, photographed, and 

 measured (see Fig. 56) was killed by "William Junkans on October 8, 

 1930, 13 miles northwest of Susanville, Lassen County, California. The 

 official measurements in inches of this record head, which is the 

 largest mule deer head listed for California, are given {Records of 

 North American Big Game, Prentiss N. Gray, Editor, published under 

 auspices of National Collection of Heads and Horns, Derrydale Press, 



