70 Bird Day Book 



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DEER. 



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THESE beautiful and graceful animals were formerly so per- 

 sistently pursued at every season of the year that they were 

 either held down to a few, even in the most likely localities, or else 

 run out of the State entirely. Deer have been seen in over fifty 

 counties in Alabama during the past year; in many sections where 

 they are now, none have been seen in more than fifteen years. 

 These animals require for their native haunts large stretches of well 

 timbered and protected territory, otherwise they can be easily 

 sighted by their relentless enemy, man, and consequently killed. 



That feature of the law which makes it unlawful to kill doe 

 has had a splendid effect in bringing about a large increase in deer, 

 as well as to make a hunter look twice before he shoots, in which 

 event he can discriminate between a deer and a human being. 

 Formerly, many sportsmen, by shooting at a shaking bush, killed 

 their fellow-hunter instead of bringing down game. 



The latitude in which this State lies was originally the favorite 

 home and breeding ground of deer. Rapidly disappearing and run 

 still further back as civilization made its advance, deer became, 

 under conditions existing prior to the enactment of the Game Law, 

 restricted in their range either to the jungles of the river bottoms or 

 else to the almost unreachable summits of mountains. There is no 

 reason why deer farming in Alabama should not be profitable. 

 Experiments in breeding deer in enclosed parks have been tried 

 with the most gratifying results. 



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