38 



BTLLETIX 1049, r 



DEPAETMEXT OF AGEIC'ULTUEE. 



Xeaiij' a quarter of a century has hoat elapsed since the season 

 was first opened, and the results of the experiment can be appraised 

 more accurately than those of almost anj- similar work in the country. 

 Xot only has a record been kept of the number of deer killed dur- 

 ing the short open seasons each year but there is a record of the 

 deer reported killed by dogs, by accident, and illegally. In round 

 numbers about 41,000 deer have thus far been killed during the 

 hunting seasons from 1897 to 1920, inclusive, and about 3,200 by 

 accident, out of season, etc. : in other words, all together, an average 

 of about 1,845 deer have been shot during each of the 24 years. Dur- 

 ing the first decade only about 10 per cent of the total number were 

 obtained, but in recent years the annual deer crop has increased 

 rapidly. The number killed each year during the open season or 

 otherwise is shown in the following table, the figures for deer killed 

 illegalh\ by accident, etc.. being for the biennial term ending June 

 30 of the year following date in which tlie entry appears : 



Record of dcrr killed in Yennont. 1S91 to 1U20. 



Year. 



KiUed 

 in open 



KiUed 

 illegally, 

 bv acci- 



I 



Year. 



i 



1 Killed 

 in open 



1 



; KiUed 

 i iUegaUy, 

 by acei- 







dent, etc. 







! dent, etc. 



, 1897 



103 





1910 



... 3,609 

 ... 2.644 





1898 



134.. 



■ 



1911 



! 432 



1899 



90 



70 



1912 



1, 692 



1 



1900 



...j 123 

 211 



39 



1913. 



1.802 



298 



1901 



1914 



... 2, 025 



1902 



...i 403 





1915 



0, 042 



234 



190;^ 



...: 753 



357 



1916 



1, 630 





1904 



541 





1917 



1 981 



136 



1905 



497 



294 



1918 



82.5 





1906 



634 





1919 



4, 092 



i36 



1907 



...' 991 



609 



1920 



... 2 4, 440 





1908 



2, 208 















1909 



... 4, 597 



7i4 



• i 



Total 



. . . 41, 0S7 



: 3,219 ! 



1 Sportsmen's Review, vol. 52, p. 543, Dec. 15, 1917. 

 3 Field and Stream, vol. 26, p. 295, July, 1921. 



Three factors — limits, sex, and seasons — enter into the considera- 

 tion of these figures. The first year the season Avas open each hunter 

 was allowed to kill two deer, but since 1898 the limit has been reduced 

 to one. The killing has been restricted to bucks except in 1909, 1910. 

 1915, 1919, and 1920. The abnormally large numbers of deer killed 

 in these years were evidently largely made up of does. In 1910, when 

 an exact record was kept, the numbers were 1,749 does of an average 

 Aveight of 146 pounds and 1,8(30 bucks of an average weight of 174 

 ])ounds: and in 1919, 2.138 does and 1.954 bucks. In 1918 the average 

 weight of both l)ucks and does ^vas 177 poimds and in 1919 the average 

 was 140 pounds. The suspension of the doe law in 1915 evidently 

 proved disastrous to the spec-ies, as shown by the greatly reduced 

 number obtained the following year, a nuiiil.-cr Ic.'-s tlian that obtained 

 in any previous season for eiglit years. 



