I70 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



The deer is often described as a nocturnal animal, and, to a great extent the 

 Adirondack deer feed and travel at night ; but they are seen quite often on their 

 feeding grounds in daytime, especially at morning and evening. Their nocturnal 

 movements may be due to the persistency with which they are hunted, and because 

 at night they never come in contact with their greatest enemy and destroyer, man. 

 During the day the animal generally rests in its bed, selecting some place that 

 affords both concealment and shelter. It seems insensible to rain or cold. In 

 summer it will make its bed often in the tall, damp grasses of some bog, and in 

 winter chew its cud complacently while lying on its chilly couch of snow. Still, it 

 seems to select in winter, when not yarded in a herd, some dry, sheltered spot, 

 with a sunny exposure and sheltered from the wind. In winter, also, the deer 

 leave the mountain slopes where they roamed during the fall, and return to the 

 lowlands and the swamps, where they have a better opportunity for food and 

 water. 



The species, wherever it exists, evinces a disposition to remain in its own partic- 

 ular locality ; and, although it may be driven away by hounds or hunters and 

 nearly exterminated, it will return in time to its original feeding grounds if per- 

 mitted, and restock its old habitat. This is plainly noticeable in Vermont where 

 these animals had become nearly extinct ; but a law prohibiting hunting there 

 having been enacted, they reappeared in their old haunts and have become so 

 numerous that the farmers are complaining loudly of their depredations. 



There are three methods of hunting practiced in the Adirondack woods : night- 

 hunting, hounding, and still-hunting. Under the present game law each hunter is 

 restricted to two deer killed ; and the hunting season in the Adirondack counties 

 is limited to two and one-half months, from August 16th to October 31st, both 

 inclusive. 



Night-hunting, jacking, or floating, as it is variously called, while permissible 

 during the entire open season, is practicable only during the warm nights in the 

 earlier part of the hunting period. So this method is in use during the first month 

 only, the night-hunters commencing their deadly work promptly on the first evening 

 allowed by the game law. The deer killed thus are the ones which are wont to 

 feed at night along the shores of lakes, ponds and streams. The hunter uses a 

 boat for this purpose, and employs a guide who, not only is familiar with the feeding 

 grounds and habits of the animal, but is skillful in paddling the boat or canoe with 

 the noiseless motion which is an absolute requisite to success. The guide with his 

 paddle sits in the stern ; the hunter sits in the bow facing forward same as the 

 guide. A cloudy, moonless night is necessary ; the darker the better. In the bow, 

 and in front of the hunter, is placed an upright pole on top of which is fastened 



