26 RAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. 



when the antlers are fully matured, the rutting season begins, and the 

 bulls seek the herds of cows. Fights for supremacy then take place, 

 and the victor takes charge of as many cows as he can* round up and 

 control. 



In spring the cows remain in small herds until nearly time for 

 the calves to be born. Then each seeks a secluded place, where she 

 remains until the calf is strong enough to follow. In late summer 

 the cows and calves begin to collect into small herds and are soon 

 joined by the bulls. The period of gestation in the elk is from 249 

 to 262 days (average about 8 J months). The calves are born in May 

 or June and, like the young of the common deer, are spotted, but the 

 spots are not so numerous nor so clearly defined, and they disappear 

 in September with the first shedding of the hair. The female elk 

 does not have young until three or four years old, and usually pro- 

 duces but one calf at a time. The calf follows the cow for a full year 

 and sometimes even longer. 



ELK VENISON. 



The flesh of the elk is superior in flavor to most venison. The bulls 

 are in best condition about the time the velvet is shed. By the time 

 the rut is over, in October, the flesh is in the poorest condition. As 

 the hunting season is usually in October and November and only 

 males are killed, sportsmen often obtain the venison in poor condition, 

 and, as a result, many persons have found fault with the flavor of elk 

 meat. It is not best when freshly killed, but after hanging four or 

 five days it becomes palatable and nutritious. Of course fat elk are 

 better than lean, and it is said that the venison from castrated bulls 

 is superior to that from others. 



PRESERVATION OF THE ELK. 



The preservation of the Eocky Mountain elk is of even greater 

 importance than that of the American buffalo. While the destruc- 

 tion has not gone so far as in the case of the buffalo, absence of the 

 elk from nineteen-twentieths of its former range is to be even more 

 regretted. The buffalo was especially adapted to the prairies and 

 the plains, and economically its place is better filled by the domestic 

 cattle that now graze there. On the other hand, the elk is equally 

 well, if not better, suited to rough, wooded areas not well adapted to 

 cattle. Its preservation, therefore, may economically utilize such 

 land, and the animals may become a valuable resource to the State as 

 well as to the private owner. 



The value of game to the State is seldom so fully appreciated that 

 it is properly conserved and made to yield permanent returns. Maine 

 probably secures the best value from its big game. Deer and moose 



