312 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



open season permitted. They continued to increase, and the number 

 killed continued to increase, from 211 in 1902 until it reached 5261 

 in 1909, computed to have furnished 716,358 pounds of meat, worth 

 $85,962," besides the skins, horns, etc. The license fees paid for hunt- 

 ing and fishing, including deer hunting, add considerable to the reve- 

 nues of the states, the fees in Vermont in 1925-1926 totalling 

 $90,824.70. The value of the deer killed in Vermont in 1908-1909 was 

 estimated at $109,790. Under rigid protection on the National Bison 

 Range in Montana, elk have become too abundant for their own good, 

 because of the limited forage supply, and deer became so abundant, 

 as to overstock their range in Kaibab National Forest. 12 



In New York State deer had become scarce because of the ravages 

 of market hunters and wolves, but have become more plentiful since 

 market hunting was prohibited and the wolves thinned out. 13 In the 

 national forests of California 11,522 deer were killed in 1917, 2271 

 less than the preceding year, though there were 7160 more licensed 

 hunters. 14 Does this indicate a decrease in the number of deer pres- 

 ent? In 1927, 19,507 were killed in California, and 21,515 in 1928, 

 probably indicating an increase under better protection. 15 In Michi- 

 gan, Wisconsin and Minnesota 68,286 were killed in 1919, 48,072 in 

 1920, 37,500 in I92I, 16 worth $4,415, 74O. 17 There is need of a thor- 

 ough nation-wide survey of the deer situation, to ascertain just what 

 factors regulate the fluctuation in the number of deer, including legal 

 protection, freedom from natural enemies, food supply, etc. 



In 1922 it was estimated that from 60,000, to 80,000 deer were killed 

 each year in the United States, and that, at 75,000, the meat would 

 weigh 11,250,000 pounds, which, at 20 cents a pound, would be worth 

 $2,25o,ooo. 18 In 1884 it was estimated that there were in the na- 

 tional forests 441,000 deer (185,000 in California, 57,000 in Ore- 

 gon, 41,000 in Montana, 39,000 in Idaho, 34,000 in Arizona), and 

 40,500 elk. 19 In 1925 the estimate was 605,964 deer, 72,165 elk, 6061 



11 Hornaday, Wild life conservation, p. 106. Hewitt, The conservation of the wild 

 life of Canada, p. 9, 1921. 



^California Fish and Game, xv, 138-139, 155-156, 1929. 



13 Burnham, Journ. Mammalogy, ix, 43-47, 1928. 



14 American forestry and forest life, p. 304, 1928. 



15 California Fish and Game, xv, 44, 1929. 



16 Adams, Roosevelt Wild Life Bull, in, 553-557, 1926. 



17 Nelson, The economic importance of wild life, Scientific Monthly, xvr, 367- 

 373, 1923- 



18 Palmer, Game as a National Resource, U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull, No. 1049, 1922. 



19 California Fish and Game, x, 28, 36-37, 1924. 



