CARIACUS VIRGINIAXUS. 1 37 



heretofore sufficed to enable this animal to hold its own, will soon 

 prove inadequate. Therefore, the subject of Deer Protection 

 becomes one that claims earnest and thoughtful consideration from 

 our sportsmen and hunters, and demands intelligent and judicious 

 legislation. 



The present law was a fairly good one at the time of its enact- 

 ment, but it has ceased to meet existing conditions ; that it will 

 prove ineffectual against the demands of the rapidly increasing 

 occupancy and destruction of the forests, requires no great per- 

 spicacity to foretell. 



There are two weak points in the law as it now stands : ist, 

 the open season is too long by at least a month ; and 2d, there is 

 no limit put to the number of Deer that a party, or an individual, 

 may kill during this period. The season begins with the month 

 of Auo-ust, and when the weather is propitious more than a hun- 

 dred boats are nightly engaged in floating, on the various water- 

 courses of the Adirondacks. Now it is an undisputed fact that, 

 by this method of hunting, more than twice as many does as bucks 

 are killed, and that a large percentage of those fired at are wounded, 

 and escape into the woods to die. It is also a fact that, as a rule, 

 each doe has two fawns, and that fawns deprived of their mother's 

 milk before the first of September usually die. Hence the ap- 

 palling truth becomes apparent, that for every twenty-five Deer 

 secured by floating, at least fifty (and probably a much larger 

 number) must be destroyed ! Therefore it seems proper that 

 the season should not open before the first of September. The 

 second weak point in the law is also a vital one. It is notorious 

 that during the past two years many hundreds of Deer have been 

 slaughtered over and above the number necessary to keep the 

 parties killing them supplied with venison. In parts of Canada, 

 and in the State of Maine, the law sets a limit to the number of 

 moose, caribou, and Deer that may be killed by an individual or 

 camp during a given period, and I see no reason why a similar 



