FORTY-FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



29 



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These three pictures taken on the winter deer range at Lions Point, San 

 Joaquin County, show treatment, production and utilization of browse 

 and grass by deer. Upper picture shows a heavy stand of wedgeleaf 

 ceanothus as it appeared after mashing with a bulldozer. This area was 

 burned in November, 1955. Center picture shows the same area as it ap- 

 peared in October, 1957. Verba santa seedlings dominate the scene but 

 large numbers of wedgeleaf ceanothus seedlings are present. Production 

 for the 1957 season was 1,000 pounds of browse per acre, compared to 

 less than 100 pounds per acre prior to treatment. Lower picture was 

 taken in April, 1958. Deer hod utilized 60 percent of the growth on 

 the yerba santa seedlings. 



— Fish and Game Photos 



inland area 18.5 percent was taken. Since experience 

 in other states has shown that 25 to 30 percent of a 

 deer herd can safely be harvested on a yearly basis, 

 California's kill was well within safe limits. 



One serious management problem did develop dur- 

 ing the experimental either-sex hunt— the problem of 

 hunter distribution. Hunters concentrated in danger- 

 ous levels in certain favorite hunting spots notabh' in 

 parts of Los Angeles County, at the Tehama winter 

 deer range, at Doyle, Lassen County, and at the Devil's 

 Garden in iModoc County. Even here the problem was 

 one of hunter safety, rather than danger of overshoot- 

 ing the deer herds. 



In appraising the effect of this first general either-sex 

 season, it can be said that general either-sex seasons 

 are good management, especially in coast range agri- 

 cultural areas. In the balance of the state, unit-quota 

 hunts are indicated for the reason of safety to life and 

 property. 



Special Deer Hunts 



Seventeen controlled deer hunts were held during 

 the biennium, authorized by the Fish and Game Com- 

 mission for the purpose of controlling deer depreda- 

 tions on crop lands or for the purpose of relieving 

 pressure on the deer ranges. These hunts were author- 

 ized only if the local people involved gave their sup- 

 port to the hunts. 



Wherever these hunts have been held, they have 

 made a contribution to good deer management. 



The permit quota for these hunts was 10,525. Per- 

 mits sold amounted to 9,670. The permittees bagged a 

 total of 5,376 deer (see Table 52). 



Investigations 



Investigations regarding California's deer herds 

 during the biennium were concerned mainly with 

 trapping and marking to determine herd migration 

 patterns and in gathering routine management data 

 such as range conditions, various herd censuses, and 

 herd composition counts. 



Investigations are continuing on brush manipulation 

 methods and browse restoration techniques. 



Trapping and Marking 



Deer have been trapped, marked and released in 

 several areas throughout the state in order to fill in 

 gaps in knowledge of herd movements. Some of the 

 marking devices were bells, ear tags and colored 

 collars. 



The areas of greatest trapping activity were the 

 Peterson Mountain winter range of eastern Lassen 

 County, where 211 deer were marked; San Joaquin 

 winter range, 151; Kern River winter range, 72; and 

 eastern Siskiyou County summer ranges, approxi- 

 mately 50. 



Brush Removal Studies 



The brush removal stud\' is a segment of the federal 

 aid big game investigation, under a contract agree- 

 ment with the University of California. Studying the 

 effect of mashing and burning brush on the San Joa- 

 quin winter deer range has received major emphasis 

 for the last two years. Spring burning has been found 

 to benefit forage production of root-spfouting species 



