38 



BULLETIX 1049, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Nearly a quarter of a century has now elapsed since the season 

 was first opened, and the results of the experiment can be appraised 

 more accurately than those of almost any similar work in the country. 

 Xot only has a record been kept of the number of deer killed dur- 

 ing the short open seasons each year but there is a record of the 

 deer reported killed by dogs, by accident, and illegally. In round 

 numbers about 41.000 deer have thus far been killed during the 

 hunting seasons from 1897 to 1920. inclusive, and about 3,200 by 

 accident, out of season, etc. : in other words, all together, an average 

 of about 1,845 deer have been shot during each of the 24 years. Dur- 

 ing the first decade only about 10 per cent of the total number were 

 obtained, but in recent years the annual deer crop has increased 

 rapidly. The number killed each year during the open season or 

 otherwise is shown in the following table, the figures for deer killed 

 illegally, by accident, etc.. being for the biennial term ending June 

 30 of the year following date in which the entry appears : 



Record of deer killed in Term out, 1897 to li>20. 



1897 



1898 

 1S99 

 1900 

 1901 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 



103 



131 



90 



123 



211 



403 



753 



541 



497 



634 



991 



2, 208 



4, 597 



357 



294 



(109 



1910. 

 1911. 

 1912. 

 1913. 

 1914. 

 1915. 

 1916. 

 1917. 

 1918. 

 1919. 

 1920. 



3,609 . 





2.644 : 



432 



1, 692 . 





1. 802 1 



29S 



2,025 . 





6, 042 



234 



1,630 . 





1981 1 



136 



825 . 





4, 092 



136 



2 4, 440 . 





Total 41,067 



3, 219 



1 Sportsmen's Review, vol. 52, p. 543, Dec. 15, 1917. 

 • Field and Stream, vol. 26, p. 295, July, 1921. 



Three factors — limits, sex, and seasons — enter into the considera- 

 tion of these figures. The first year the season was open each hunter 

 was allowed to kill two deer, but since 1898 the limit has been reduced 

 to one. The killing has been restricted to bucks except in 1909, 1910. 

 1915, 1919, and 1920. The abnormally large numbers of deer killed 

 in these years were evidently largely made up of does. In 1910, when 

 an exact record was kept, the numbers were 1,749 does of an average 

 weight of 146 pounds and 1.860 bucks of an average weight of 174 

 pounds; and in 1919, 2,138 does and 1.954 bucks. In 1918 the average 

 weight of both bucks and does was 177 pounds and in 1919 the average 

 was 140 pounds. The suspension of the doe law in 1915 evidently 

 proved disastrous to the species, as shown by the greatly reduced 

 number obtained the following year, a number less than that obtained 



in any previous season for eight years. 



