94 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 15, 1911. 
estimates have a so been obtained for Missouri 
(345), Colorado (700), Wyoming (1,400), Mon¬ 
tana (1,500) and Oregon (2,000). 
Estimates for twenty-two States for which 
statistics are available show a total of 60,150 
deer ki led. Making fair allowance for the 
fifteen States from which no reports have been 
received, the total number of deer killed in the 
United States may be roughly estimated at 75,000 
or 80,000. 
Elk.—The chief problem in connection with 
elk is that of winter feed for the great herds 
which range in the Yellowstone National Park 
in summer and move southward to Jackson Hole 
in winter. The severity of the weather in Janu¬ 
ary and February threatened widespread devas¬ 
tation among the elk in Jackson Hole and whole¬ 
sale losses were averted only by the unexpected 
thaw early in March. The loss in this region 
was about normal, and only about sixty tons of 
hay were fed during the winter. The expendi¬ 
ture from the special appropriation made the 
preceding year was $627 as compared with $3,782 
in the winter of 1908-9. The conditions pre¬ 
vailing in Jackson Hole were made the subject 
of a personal investigation by the governor and 
State warden of Wyoming in winter and by 
a representative of the Biological Survey in sum¬ 
mer. The State warden of Wyoming estimates 
that about 1,700 elk were killed in the State dur¬ 
ing the open season. Considerable numbers 
were also killed in Idaho and Montana, but re¬ 
liable statistics are lacking. An estimate of 
3,000 to 4,000 as the total number killed in the 
three States would perhaps not be excessive. 
The only other States in which wild elk now 
occur are New York, Minnesota, Colorado, 
California, Oregon and Washington. The elk 
liberated in the Adirondacks a few years ago, 
which were reported in 1907 to number 425, are 
unfortunately steadily decreasing. The explana¬ 
tion given by the Forest, Fish and Game Com¬ 
mission is that the yearling elk resemb’e deer 
and are often unintentionally shot by hunters. 
If the State law prohibited the killing of does, 
this condition would be largely obviated and the 
elk give a chance to increase. No reports con¬ 
cerning the present condition of the small herd 
in Northern Minnesota have been received. In 
Colorado the elk are reported as increasing 
slowly, and the total number now in the State 
is approximately 2,150. In Southern California 
the herd of dwarf elk in the San Joaquin Valley 
is said to number upward of 250. The small 
herds of elk in the Klamath National Forest in 
the northern part of the State are apparently 
holding their own. In Oregon small herds of 
elk are still found in several parts of the State, 
notably in the Imnaha, Siuslaw, Cascade and 
Whitman National Forests. In Washington the 
Roosevelt elk in the Olympics are reported as 
showing a perceptible increase, the total num¬ 
ber now being estimated at 3,000 tp 3,500, of 
which about 1,975 are in the Olympic National 
Forest. In 1905 the total number was esti¬ 
mated at 2,000 or less. 
Moose .—4 he open season for moose in Maine 
lasts forty-seven days and in Minnesota twenty- 
one, closing in each State on the first of Decem¬ 
ber. The total number shipped over the rail¬ 
roads in Maine was 105 as compared with 184 
in 1909. The condition of moose in the State 
was considered unsatisfactory, and some pro¬ 
posals were made for closing the season for 
several years. Statistics of the number of moose 
k. lled in Minnesota are unfortunately not avail- 
ab. e, but seventy-eight were shipped out of the 
woods. In the northern Rocky Mountain region 
the moose seem to be increasing under the pro¬ 
tection they have enjoyed for a number of years. 
In Idaho the State warden believes the herds 
have now reached a point where an open season 
on adult bulls may be safely provided for a year 
or two, and similar conditions prevail in Wyo¬ 
ming. 
Antelope.—The condition of antelope still re¬ 
mains unsatisfactory, notwithstanding the fact 
that the animals enjoy complete protection 
throughout the United States. 
Sheep.—The only State from which statistics 
are available as to the number of sheep killed 
is Wyoming, where, according to the State war¬ 
den's estimate, six‘.y-five were obtained during 
the open season. Reports vary as to the con¬ 
dition of sheep in the States where complete 
protection is afforded. In Colorado, where no 
open season has been provided for twenty-five 
years, sheep are showing a decided increase and 
seem to be in satisfactory condition. 
Mountain Goats.—Careful estimates made by 
forest officers in Washington indicate that the 
total number of mountain goats in the State, ex¬ 
clusive of the Mount Rainier National Park, is 
about 1,700, of which 1,000 are found on the 
west slopes of the Cascades and 700 east of the 
summit of this range. Reports from Idaho in¬ 
dicate an increase. 
Buffalo.—A census made by the American 
Bison Society shows a total of 2,108 pure blood 
buffalo in North America, as compared with 
1,917 at the date of the last census made in 
1908. Of these, 1,007 are in captivity in the 
United States, 626 are in captivity in Canada 
and 475 are wi d. The corresponding figures 
for 1908 were .1,116, 476 and 325. The decrease 
in the number in the United States was caused 
by the large purchases made by the Canadian 
Government; the total number of buffalo has, 
however, increased by nearly 200. 
Quail.—Despite several setbacks, quail came 
through the year very well. At the outset the 
prospect was rather unfavorable in a large part 
of the bird’s range. From New York, Pennsyl¬ 
vania and the Ohio and upper Mississippi val¬ 
leys came reports of severe weather, heavy snow 
and intense cold. In Iowa and Nebraska these 
adverse conditions reached their c’imax, and 
sportsmen were led to believe that the, quail 
of those States had been practically exterminated. 
A generally favorable breeding season followed, 
however, though very wet in a few sections and 
very dry in others. It is evident that severe 
cold and ice and snow do not necessarily greatly 
damage the stock of quail, especial’y if the birds 
are fed when the usual food is coyered by snow. 
With sufficient available food supply the bob- 
white can endure zero temperature without 
harm. 
Ruffed Grouse.—Ruffed grouse were not plen¬ 
tiful in most of their range, but exhibited no 
striking scarcity such as excited alarm a few 
years ago. 
Prairie Chickens.—In most of their range they 
were more abundant than for several years, and 
even within thirty miles of Chicago on the 
prairies west of the city there were many to be 
seen. In some parts of Illinois, however, com¬ 
plaint was made that the absolute protection 
afforded prairie chickens since 1903 had pro¬ 
duced no increase in their number. 
Wild Turkeys.—Wild turkeys seemed to main¬ 
tain their normal abundance throughout most of 
their range, as far north as the foothills of 
the Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania, and in several 
places they were unusually abundant. 
Woodcock.—Meager reports indicate a greater 
abundance of woodcock at certain points in 
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ohio than for 
several years. 
Waterfowl.—Although from the point of view 
of gunners the waterfowl season was not satis¬ 
factory, from the standpoint of conservation it 
seems to have been very favorable. While in 
many instances local conditions made the shoot¬ 
ing poor, large flights of ducks and geese are 
reported from all the leading duck centers. Mal¬ 
lards and teal seem to have been particularly 
al undant in the lower Mississippi Vailey, pos¬ 
sibly because of the increased breeding of these 
birds in Northern States that have prohibited 
spring shooting. 
Geese seem to have been particularly abund¬ 
ant in the interior valleys. On the Atlantic coast 
the number of canvasbacks and redheads was 
greater than usual in the Long Island bays and 
on the Massachusetts coast, but much smaller 
than usual on the Susquehanna Flats and Cur¬ 
rituck Sound, where these species are usually 
abundant. 
In certain regions in Illinois and Wisconsin 
the shooting on some of the best ducking 
grounds was seriously interfered with by the de¬ 
struction of the wild rice and wild celery, which 
in former years have attracted the birds to these 
points in large numbers. This destruction is 
attributed and probab'y correctly to carp, with 
which the waters have been stocked, and is 
similar to the loss of vegetation which occurred 
in some localities on the lower Sacramento and 
Suisun marshes of California twenty years ago, 
greatly to the detriment of the shooting. The 
shores of several lakes in Wisconsin were strewn 
with the bulbous roots of these plants, and while 
such destruction is occasionally caused by fresh¬ 
ets, yet it has been fairly well established that 
much, if not most, of the damage is due to carp. 
Introduced Birds.-—Introduced pheasants seem 
to have held their own in sections where they 
have become established and in some instances 
show an increase. In the region around Buffalo, 
N. Y., where shooting is permitted for a short 
season in the fall, and where 15,000 it is esti¬ 
mated were killed in 1908, the stock does not 
•seem to have been diminished. In the Genesee 
Valley and in the region around Canandaigua 
pheasants have become quite numerous. In 
Massachusetts the birds seem to be holding their 
own and the same is true of Ohio. 
In no place where they have been liberated 
have Hungarian partridges yet become fully es¬ 
tablished, and in several regions where large 
sums have been spent in the attempted acclimati¬ 
zation of these birds they are reported to have 
disappeared through climatic or other causes. 
Other foreign game birds have practically all 
disappeared from the regions where they have 
been liberated. 
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