ACCOUNT OF DEER KILLED IN VERMONT, OF RECORD SINCE KILLING
BEGAN, IN 1897

From John W. Titcomb, State Game Commissioner, Lyndonville, Vt.,
 Aug. 23, 1912

By       By       By   Wounded By       By       Average Gross
Year Hunters, Hunters, Dogs Deer    Railroad Various  Weight  Weight
Legally  Illegally     Killed  Trains   Accidents (lbs.) (lbs.)

1897*   103       47
1898    131       30    40             3
1899     90
1900    123
1901    211
1902    403       81    50    13      14                171   68,747
1903    753      199                                    190  142,829
1904    541
1905    497      163    74    22      18        17      198
1906    634                                             200  127,193
1907    991      287   208    62      31        21      196  134,353
1908  2,208                                             207  457,585
1909  4,597      381   168    69      24        72      155  716,358

  * First open season after deer restored to state in 1875.

DAMAGES TO CROPS BY DEER.—­For several years past, the various counties of Vermont have been paying farmers for damages inflicted upon their crops by deer.  Clearly, it is more just that counties should settle these damages than that they should be paid from the state treasury, because the counties paying damages have large compensation in the value of the deer killed each year.  The hunting appears to be open to all persons who hold licenses from the state.

In order that the public at large may know the cost of the Vermont system, I offer the following digest compiled from the last biennial report of the State Fish and Game Commissioner: 

DAMAGES PAID FOR DEER DEPREDATIONS IN VERMONT DURING
                TWO YEARS

Total damages paid from June 8, 1908, to June 22, 1910 $4,865.98
Total number of claims paid 311
Total number of claims under $5 80
Number between $5 and $10, inclusive 102
Number over $25 and under $51 23
Number between $50 and $100 11
Number in excess of $100 4
Number in excess of $200 1
Largest claim paid $326.50

VALUE OF WHITE-TAILED DEER.—­Having noted the fact that in two years (1908-9), the people of Vermont paid out $4,865 in compensation for damages inflicted by deer, it is of interest to determine whether that money was wisely expended.  In other words, did it pay?

We have seen that in the years 1908 and 9, the people of Vermont killed, legally and illegally, and converted to use, 7,186 deer.  This does not include the deer killed by dogs and by accidents.

Regarding the value of a full-grown deer, it must be remembered that much depends upon the locality of the carcass.  In New York or Pittsburg or Chicago, a whole deer is worth, at wholesale, at least twenty-five dollars.  In Vermont, where deer are plentiful, they are worth a less sum.  I think that fifteen dollars would be a fair figure,—­at least low enough!