FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 1 99 



The statistics obtained from the express companies furnish definite and valuable 

 information as to the size of the Adirondack deer ; for the dressed weight of each 

 animal was given in the shipping bills, duplicates of which were also kindly 

 submitted. 



Having the dressed weight, the live weight may be estimated with approximate 

 accuracy by adding one-fourth to the dressed weight. This rule was established 

 after long continued tests, repeated yearly in different localities. A party of hunters 

 from Albany who have hunted at Lewey Lake, Hamilton county, each season for 

 manv vears, instituted a series of tests to determine this point. A large steel-yard 

 was purchased in Albany for this purpose, and taken to the lake. When a deer was 

 killed the body was taken to the boat-house, where the steel-yard was kept, and 

 weighed before dressing it. The carcass was then dressed, after which it was weighed 

 again and the weight was duly recorded. It was found that, on the average, the 

 body of the deer lost just one-fifth in dressing; that is, in taking out the entrails, 

 heart, liver and lungs, the head, hide, legs and feet being left on the body. Similar 

 experiments with like results were made by the Adirondack Preserve Association and in 

 other localities. Hence the rule : Add one-fourth to the dressed weight and the 

 result will be the live weight ; or, deduct one-fifth from the live weight and the 

 result will show what the deer will weigh when dressed. 



A variation of a few pounds will occasionally occur in individual cases, when, for 

 instance, a deer is very fat or very lean ; but the rule will hold good on the average, 

 and in all cases will approximate accuracy close enough for practical purposes. 



Of the 675 deer shipped by the American Express Company, eleven weighed 

 over 200 lbs. The two largest ones which were shipped from Spring Cove, 

 Franklin county, weighed 228 and 221 lbs., dressed. According to the rule just 

 quoted the live weight of these animals was 285 and 271 lbs., respectively; 

 perhaps more, for the carcasses " dry out " considerably between the time they are 

 dressed and the time they are delivered at the station for shipment, in which case 

 these deer may have weighed nearly 300 pounds, live weight. 



From the returns furnished by the National Express Company, it appears that 

 Mr. S. Van Deusen, of West Stony Creek, killed a deer that weighed 236 lbs., 

 dressed; and that Mr. W. P. Moore, of Glens Falls, N. Y., killed one that weighed 

 235 lbs., dressed ; and that Mr. Abel Crook, of New York city, killed a buck at 

 Aiden Lair, Essex county, that weighed 242 lbs., dressed. The live weight of 

 these deer, as estimated under the rule, was, respectively, 295, 293 and 302 lbs. 

 They were probably somewhat heavier than these figures indicate, for the carcasses 

 must have dried out some before they were weighed by the express agent at the 

 railway station. 



