Every effort should be made to conserve for- 

 age on the winter range for use during the criti- 

 cal periods. The two natural licks on the Thomp- 

 son River winter range should be fenced. Deer 

 use these licks heavily in the spring and to a 

 lesser extent during the summer and fall. This 

 use keeps game on the winter ranges when they 

 should be on the adequate summer range. A 

 salting plan has also been worked out to aid 

 in drawing the deer off their winter range. For 

 this reason the plan calls for the plant of salt 

 on the ridges and passes away from the areas 

 used during the winter months. 



The present average take by hunters of 200 

 bucks a year is thought to be adequate. 



The use of critical winter range areas by 

 game should be given careful consideration in 

 the formation and correlation of land use plans 

 for this area. 



A careful investigation of the Cherry Creek 

 Game Preserve indicated that only a small num- 

 ber of areas within its boundary show evidence 

 of heavy use by game. Of the 35,000 acres in 

 the preserve, about 9,600 acres constitute winter 

 range. Past records indicate that for several years 

 the game population has fluctuated but little. 



The need for a revised salting plan is evi- 

 dent. In several cases salting in the past had 

 been carried out upon portions of the winter 

 range. The new plan calls for salt placements 

 to be made only on the high summer ranges. This 

 area is quite accessible by mountain roads. If 

 the game population builds up to a point where 

 it becomes injurious to its own food supply, it 

 may be easily controlled by a limited amount 

 of hunting. 



r ,N,l'f 



A mule deer fawn a few hours old. 

 The pattern of white spots blends 

 harmoniously with the lights and 

 shadows of the forest floor. This, 

 coupled with the fact that these little 

 fellows are almost, if not entirely, 

 odorless, is an important protection 

 from roving: predators. 



