18 THE ORHBGON SPORTSMAN 
sonably sure of bagging his game, should figure on spending a few 
days in the woods, at least. 
The foothills west of Upper Klamath Lake are a favorite hunting 
ground for the many whose time is limited. A few hours’ hiking 
from some of the numerous resorts on the west shore of the lake, 
which are but a few hours’ drive from Klamath Falls, would take 
the hunter into good deer country. In the early mornings they can 
be seen crossing the road as they go back to the hills for the day 
after feeding all night in the marshes west of the lake. While hauling 
fish fry from the hatchery at Spencer Creek to Four Mile Lake, I 
often saw them feeding or standing in the brush near the road, and 
some of them would watch the car curiously before ambling off into 
the woods. It is difficult to determine just where the best hunting 
ground is, as there are so many ‘‘best’’ places and a man is liable 
to run into deer most any place in the hills west of the lake. 
Reports from Mr. S. S. Hill, forest ranger and fire warden, who 
is well posted on the country and game conditions near Parker Sta- 
tion, a few miles east of the Klamath-Jackson County line, informed 
me that there appeared to be a larger number of deer and bear in 
that part of the country than in previous years and that he was of 
the impression that game was increasing. 
The blacktails winter in the southwestern part of the county along 
the Klamath River and in Northern California. They leave the higher 
mountains after the first snow and are gradually driven back. In the 
' spring and summer they return to the mountains and at the time the 
bucks are drying their horns these animals can usually be found on 
the highest hills. 
Many people with whom I talked gave from five to twenty-five 
thousand as their estimates of the number of blacktail deer in the 
county and from the numbers that were brought back to Klamath 
Falls alone, I am sure that their numbers are not less than five 
thousand at the very least. 
The mule deer range of Klamath County lies east of the Klamath 
lakes and, as I mentioned before, except for a few stragglers there 
are few west of these bodies of water. It was harder to get infor- 
mation on the mule than on the blacktail, but after talking consider- 
ably with people who live the year round in the mule deer country, 
I am certain that two thousand five hundred would be a conservative 
estimate of their numbers. 
It seems that there is a dividing line, which seems to run west 
from Yam Say Peak on the eastern border of the county, across 
Klamath Marsh, probably following to a greater or lesser extent the 
course of Williamson River, which from a cause that I was unable 
to ascertain caused the mule deer south to winter in the lava 
beds of southern Oregon and northern California, and those north 
of the line to winter in Lake County. A rancher from the Steele 
Swamp country informed me that probably fifteen hundred deer 
travel through this section of the country, seeking winter refuge in 
the lava beds. He said that he was aware of the fact that some of 
the deer traveled south and some east to winter, but that he did 
not know the cause. A large number of mule deer are killed every 
year and some large, fine looking heads are brought in. 
Owing to the large numbers of lakes and marshes in Klamath and 
the adjoining county of Lake, this section of the country is noted for 
its fine duck hunting, and hunters come from all over the United 
