Evening star., 1960-11-15

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Once Nearly Extinct
Thirty years ago the deer wal
all but extinct in the western
counties Of Virginia, but a pro-
gram Of importing and releas.
ling them from other State,
restored the herds. Now, every
county has deer.
The steady increase is pointed
up by the kill figures Of 22.473
in 1878 and 6,843 in 1958-s
as compared to last year. De-
spite spreading civilization
whitetails breed rapidly and Q
harvest is necessary to keeE
the herds in balance. .
Deer hunting west Of the
Blue Ridge can be done in sew
eral ways. You still-hunt By
yourself, with companions OF
join in a drive. In the latter
one group Of hunters takes
stands, another drives the deer
Often. quite mistakenly. the
drivers use loud shouts or cat
calls. Silent hunting is just a.
effective and a driver might gel
q shot.
In still-hunting, first study
your terrain. Then hunt slowly
and carefully. Some try tc
make a marathon Of IL. That's
bad for desk-bound creatures
who only get an occasiona,
outing in the woods.
Look for Deer Sign
| Look carefully for sign
fresh beds. droppings. tracks
"buck-rubbings" where q deer
has gouged a sapling honing
its antlers. If you find a we'll
defined trail. take q stand.
The stand can be In some
brush. behind q tree or in q
crotch Of the tree. If in brush,
leave yourself q clear opening
If you are forced TO rise to
shoot, you will get only o fleet
ing shot. Behind or beside q
tree or on q log is good because
it is amazing how close q deer
will come il you remain COM
pletely motionlesS.
In a tree is excellent because
deer do not look up and neith-
er do other hunters. It's the
safest place to be.
East of the Blue Ridge there
are many hunt clubs that use
hounds to run deer. Hunters
are posted on stands and must
not leave their positions until
called away or the hunt Is over.
That's poor etiquette and dam
gerous.
Need Big Game Stamp
Remember that in addition
to your resident or non-resi-
dent license you will need q big
game stamp. possibly q Ma
tional Forest stamp and/or q
special county stamp for soms
counties. Check the law for
each county. In some deer OF
either sex may be taken the
first three days, in others its
bucks only.
Virginia has a novelty in 1t.
elk season. only elk hunting
east of the Mississippi. Thi!
year the season is November
2l-23 and one antlered bull
may be taken.
1t is a long trek down into
the elk country Of Bedford
Bland. Botetcourt and Gile.
Counties and rough hunting
once you get there.
There are two herds, mum.
bering about 165 animals, anc
the question naturally arises
why not stock more?
Matter of Range
John H. Mclaughlin, super.
vising biologist for the Game
Commission, explains it as 6
matter Of range. Elk in the
Far West sometimes migrate
80 miles between winter anc
summer ranges. Therefore they
require space and grass.
Virginia's largest herd is ir
the Dismal section of Giles anc
Bland counties. Center Of thi.
range is a 23.000-acre tract or
the Jefferson National Forest
surrounded by private land. Tht
entire range, public and private
is only about 10000 acres
hardly enough for the 125 ell
in the herd.
Studies show that only
around 26 per cent of the Viz.
ginia elk's diet is grasses, fal
below the 60 per cent that
Western ranges afford. Further.