30 RAISING DEER IN" THE UNITED STATES. 



At a meeting of the American Institute in New York January 6, 

 1862, Mr. Stratton gave a detailed account of his experience in 

 domesticating the elk, in which he said, in part : 



About eight years ago I had an opportunity to purchase two elks. I did so as 

 a matter of curiosity and because I wished to see a few specimens of this for- 

 ester preserved, as my place is situated in the region where they used to roam 

 in countless numbers. They did well and bred. I fenced off a few acres for 

 them, and found after a while that I could certainly raise venison cheaper thau 

 my neighbors could raise beef. I devoted a large plat of stony, bushy land, 

 unfit for any other purpose, to them. Since then I have succeeded in breeding 

 37 elk. I have had no accident of any kind amongst them, and they have fatt,ed 

 and bred regularly and have become quite domesticated. The does have been 

 gentle and act like domestic cattle. The bucks have been also gentle until they 

 were about 4 years old, when they have been difficult to manage in September 

 and October, like a bull or stud-horse. In such cases I generally made venison 

 of them. Excepting these instances, however, the animals are quite docile. 

 The first fawn that I raised was very shy. He was in a lot of about 15 acres, 

 and when I went to him he would flee from me, so that I could hardly get a 

 sight at him. The next fawns raised were not so frightened when they saw 

 me, and now when I go into the field the young fawns are like so many calves. 

 My lot is fenced with common rails, 6 or 7 feet high, and there is no difficulty 

 in keeping the animals within bounds. Frequently, when the fence may get 

 down, they go out into a neighboring piece of woods, but as soon as anything 

 startles them they run for their own field again, and feel safe only when they 

 arrive there. They are not inclined to stray off. This lot in which they are 

 confined they consider as their home, and chase off any dogs that may come 

 upon it. In four generations, by kind treatment, I have, as I contend, not 

 merely succeeded in taming them, but in domesticating them. They are as 

 gentle as sheep that run wild. * * * 



* * * The great profit in raising them, however, is for their meat. They 

 live and fatten on useless land. Where the feeding ground is brush they will 

 destroy it; but the grass will come up more profusely on this account in the 

 summer ; and it has the result of giving them better feed in the summer though 

 not so good in the winter. I paid $400 for the first pair I bought ; I have bought 

 2 does since then, from which, with the first pair, I have raised my whole stock ; 

 I have been at various unnecessary expenses, from the fact that I did not know 

 how to manage them ; I can now raise elk cheaper than I can sheep ; I have a 

 3-year-old buck, weighing 480 pounds, which has cost me less than any 3-year-old 

 sheep I have got. I have been anxious to introduce them as common stock and 

 have sold them for $100 a pair. A great many are afraid to buy them, for fear 

 they will get away and go wild again. They see me go into the field and all 

 the flock come about me, and each one tries to get his nose into my pocket ; but 

 they say, " I don't believe I could do that." They think there is some Rarey secret 

 about it. When I go into the lot, I generally carry a little handful of salt, or 

 grain, or something which they like, which makes them come about me. * * * 



I think there is no better meat than that of the elk ; it is richer and more 

 juicy than the meat of the deer ; I killed a 2-year-old doe this year which had 

 had no fawn ; she was very fat ; I took 29 pounds of tallow from her, and she 

 weighed 282 pounds dressed, the skin weighing 28 pounds. 



At the same meeting Mr. Trimble stated that several years pre- 

 viously, while traveling over the prairie in Illinois, he had seen at a 



