178 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



Experienced still-hunters assert that a deer will watch the man from its place of 

 concealment, evincing no alarm or desire to run so long as he does not approach along 

 the track. For this reason the hunter when nearing his game will leave the track and 

 travel in a circle until the hiding place of the game is located. 



There is also a kind of still-hunting which is practiced in the early part of the 

 season by sportsmen who lie in wait for day-light shots in the morning and evening. 

 For this purpose the hunter may sit in a boat, or may secrete himself on shore near 

 some water where the deer are wont to go at these hours. But this is not considered 

 as still-hunting in the ordinary meaning of the term. Some persons also use the term 

 erroneously when alluding to the jacking or floating done at night. 



There is still another method of hunting called "crusting," which was practiced 

 several years ago during the winter season at times when the weather caused a strong 

 crust to form over a deep snow. The hunter, wearing snow shoes, could travel rapidly 

 over the crust, while the deer would break through at every bound, and thus, unable 

 to travel, it fell a sure victim to the rifle of his pursuer. But under the recent laws which 

 do not permit deer shooting in the winter months this questionable kind of hunting is 

 no longer followed except as it is done surreptitiously and illegally. 



Hunting for market has ceased in Northern New York, owing to the present law 

 which forbids any person killing more than two deer during the open season, only one 

 of which can be transported out of the woods. The law provides further, that this one 

 deer when shipped must be accompanied by the owner; also, that venison killed in this 

 State shall not be offered for sale during the close season. The wisdom of this law 

 has been demonstrated in the cessation of pot hunting and in the remarkable increase 

 in the number of deer. 



The guides and residents, however, sell some venison each fall to the hotels and 

 neighbors. They receive from fifteen to twenty-five dollars for a deer according to its 

 size. A buck's head with large, well formed antlers brings from five to ten dollars. 

 After a head is bought it will cost fifteen dollars more for the taxidermist's bill for 

 mounting it. The raw hides bring about two dollars each for large, prime skins. 

 When dressed and tanned they are made into gloves. Occasionally a deer's skin is 

 made into a rug, but it is not well adapted to this purpose. 



The opposition to deer hunting is due to mistaken sentiment, combined often with 

 ignorance of the facts. People who are vegetarians might consistently argue against 

 hunting. But there is something ridiculous in the action of some well-meaning people 

 who will declaim loudly and bitterly against the "wicked slaughter" of deer, and then 

 coolly stroll into the dining room and order lamb chops. With these people it is all 

 right for the butcher to draw a knife across the throat of Mary's little lamb, but all 

 wrong for the hunter to put a bullet into a wild, untamed buck. 



