The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1915-01-06
Wild deer IN iowa
LARGE HERDS IN IOWA BE.
COME A NUISANCE TO
THE FARMERS.

ing hat the people in the vicinity CO
Avoca are, and should be, proud of
the presence of the only herd of wild
deer in the state of Iowa, or any of
the adjoining states, for that matter,
State Game Warden f. G.. Hinshaw
of Spirit Lake. who was in the city
Monday, believes that some arrange
ment should be made to keep part of
the deer there, while cutting down
the herd to a point where the damage
to the surrounding crops of the farm
ers will be practically negligible.
Mr.. Hinshaw and his deputy,
Charles S. Hobson of Clarinda were
in Council Bluffs going over the diff
ferent phases of the local situation
| with regard to the enforcement of
the game laws with friends here.
leaving for Avoca to investigate the
deer situation there and see just
what the people of that vicinity de
sire in the matter of regulation.
Hardly know what will be done
regarding the big herd of deer run
ming wild near Avoca," said Mr.. Hin
shaw, because / haven't been there
to see just what the people want. Ii
is purely a local condition there, for
it is the only place in the state where
they have wild deer. Indeed. very
few people understand that there are
several hundred deer actually run-
ming at large in that vicinity, and il
is quite commonly regarded as just
a newspaper story.
LAS a matter of fact, the deer
around Avoca has made that town
more talked of than almost any place
in the state among the sportsmen.
Everywhere / go, | am asked about
the deer there.
Il have it in mind to suggest to
the people there to make some sort
of a regulation that will permit the
deer to run about as heretofore. but
to give the authorities the right to
limpound and sell a sufficient number
| of the deer each year. to keep the
number down to a certain point. Tho
| proceeds from the sale of these deer
| by the state game authorities shonld
| be applied to the actual damage that
| may have been caused by the depre-
| dations of the deer in the fields sur
| rounding their runway.
THE whole matter is one for the
| Avoca people to settle. but believe
that this plan. or something alonG
/ this line, would permit the Avoca
deer to remain where they are, to a
considerable extent at least, and al
the same time would provide a fund
to pay for the actual damage they
might cause"
Marion county is no exception in
all AAr
throughout southern Iowa and north
ern Missouri, a fact that appears de-
lcidedly anomalous when we consider
that most game animals are sup
posed to have disappeared from this
section of the country early in the
60s-at least fifty years ago.
Without going into any extended
argument as to why the deer have
| returned to Iowa, it is sufficient to
state that those now roaming over
Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont
counties on the western border oil
the state as far east as Marion and
Monroe counties. taking in about
twenty counties in three tiers border
ing on Missouri, are all the progeny
| of a vast herd that has for years had
its rendezvous in the vicinity oil
Avoca in the county first mentioned
in the foregoing.
They first made their appearance
in this vicinity about two years age
this winter and since that time speci-
mems, singly or in pairs, have been
seen in practically every township In
the county, the last pair mentioned
having been sighted by Ralph Avery
on his farm. one and one-half miles
northeast of town. In that instance
the pair were evidently a buck and
a doe. At any rate, the larger oil
the two carried a fine set OF antlers
How the herd ever started in Pot
tawattamie county near Avoca is mo-
| disclosed in the many articles that
have been written upon the subject
but the fact remains that they have
increased in such number (p~rotected
by the game laws) hat they have
become a regular nuisance to the
farmers, who do not dare TO Kill
them, even when discovered in the
act of destroying crops. These farm
ers have petitioned the governor. the
state game warden and other author
tiles for relief, and there is talk Of
taking the matter up in the coming
legislature with a view of abatins
the nuisance.