The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-03-11
Deer and Deer Hunting in Louisiana

Under this name, a most readable article, writ
ten by DIR. Henry J. Peck, appears in the March
number of DeBow's Commercial Review. Our
readers cannot but take pleasure in perusing it,
We print half to-day, and the rest on Monday.l
In Louisiana, and indeed, in the United States
so far as are informed, there is but one species
OF the deer tribe.
The great Naturalist, Button, is very unsatisfac-
tory In relation to the deer of louisiana He ap-
pears to have had no information on this interesting
subject, except what was occasionally derived from
few New Orleans correspondents. Sometimes
he styles our DEER the ''Fallow Deer but his
most common term is the i" Roe Bucks of Louis
lana He remarks, there two species in
America--the red which is the largest, and brown
which has a white spot behind, very common for
example in Louisiana, and larger than those in
France. The flesh of the brown roe buck is bet
ter than that OF the red. No good roe bucks but
those that nhabit dry and elevated countries"
1t is very evident that this celebrated Naturalist
was misnformed by his New Orleans correspon-
dents; receiving from description of our deer
when = in the red - and from another description
of the same animal when in the blue to the
phraseology of hunters. Indeed, the appearance of
our deer in summer and winter is so very different
that his mistake in supposing two varieties i'll Lou
siana is easily accounted for.
The American Naturalist. Goldman, of Philadel-
phia, gives the most correct description of the Lou
siana deer that have seem but, like every Natu-
raist we have examined he is silent in regard to
their habits.
Cerous Virginidnus is the technical name by
which the Deer nhabiting the United States is now
known to Naluralists taking its name at that pc
rod of history when great portion of our terrific
ry embracing many of the largest States of the
Union, was styled Virginia. The deer of the United
States has also occasionally been styled, Cert de la
Louisiana.
This animal is so generally known that we con.
Dissertation autIrpIV unnecessary.
Suffice it to say, that the deer is of red color in
summer, and of color that is styled = blue in
winter, although the color in winter is peculiar
one There some few exceptions to these colors,
which may. however, be looked upon as lusus na-
tur9. There s pet deer about twenty miles dis
tant from us, white with red spots. There was
white buck in our vicinity for two or three years,
as white snow, which, although often seen and
hunted, was never killed that we have heard
The fawns are red, with small white spots on
their sides like little stars. The spots are lost when
they assume their winter color during the autumnal
season. The horns of deer of annual growth,
covered with skin and hair, and very vascular.
During the spring and early part of summer they
are about the consistency OF beet or carrot, ana
full of sensibilty. Towards the latter part OF
summer they become hard and lose this senslblllty
The skin that covers them becomes dry, and at this
season the bucks rub their horns against little sap
pngs to wear off the dead skin, and rub SO hard as
to remove tie bark itself. The size of the horn
and the number of its prongs or antlers are not cor
rect indications of the size age of buck, (con-
mon opinion to the contrary Notwithstanding
yearling buck has, however but one straight prong,
which, occasionally, at that age commences to fork
at the top Hence bucks of this age usually
styled spike bucks from the horns somewhat re-
sembling large nail. after deer is three or four
years old. rather after he has become al aged
buck, the horns not indication OF. his size or
age. The largest buck we ever killed had a niedl-
UNI sized pair of horns the left horn had but five
anters the right the same number with the excep-
ton that its second prong had a prong about three
inches in length The age of a deer may be more
correctly determined bv his teeth, like an aged sheep
or horse by the broad set shape OF his body and
by the grey hairs on his forehead, for like man the
autumn of his life is besprinkled with the snowy
locks of approaching old age.
The antlers of their horns frequently approach
each other after having divertsed In fighting they
get each others horns entangied sc fast that they
cannot separate them. The co mbafants thus starye
and sometimes drown each other, if fhes combat
should commence on the margin of shallow lake
or pond. A of this kind happened in our
nelghborhood
The size of a deer differs very much in the mid
die and southern states. DR.. Goodman mentions
one hundred and thirteen pounds the weight of
a large deer. This will probably do an average
weight for large bucks in the northern and middle
states but large bucks i'll the Mississippi swamps
will weigh two hundred and seventy-fve pounds
ate neighborhood whose quarters, when bntchered
weighed from one hundred and seventy five pounds
to one hundred and ninety pounds. We killed, LII
November last, buck that weighed two hundred
and thirty-two and half pounds. on patent
balances. after having lost great quantity of
blood. On the next day we killed one as tall and
as lengthy, thai weighed but one hundred and ten
pounds The former very fat aged buck, the
latter was buck of two three years, and his
body had not received thai heavy set and wide
spread that the full maturity of age bestows on man
as well as beasts.
During the rutting season the necks of the old
bucks swell up TO about double their common size,
and subsde again at the close of that period ;,
HABrTs.-Durng the rutting sekon, generally
termed the running season by hunters, IN cohse-
quence of the deer being almost continually IN mo-
ton, the bucks in the habit of scfapng. Tins
season in Louisiana is included in the months OF
November and December. AT this time, the bucks
have their particular scraping places and it Is said
that the doe also scrapes at these places but of this
we are not prepared to say, This scratching or
scraping of the earth is done with their fore feet,
and the scraping place is of circular form. At
this place there is invariably small sapng or limb
of tree. which the bucks root twist with their