The Great Grand Canyon Deer Drive of 1924
In the early 1920s, the deer population was growing out of control on the Kaibab Plateau north of the Grand Canyon. The area had been designated a National Game Preserve in 1906, and since then the deer population had swelled from around 4000 to as many as 100,000 (by some estimates).
Farmer George McCormick came up with a solution. He proposed herding thousands of the deer down into the canyon, over the Colorado river, and then up onto the South Rim where there was plenty of room for them.
Critics pointed out that you can't herd deer, but this didn't deter McCormick. He put together a team of about 50 men on horseback (including the writer Zane Grey) and 100 local Native Americans on foot. Then they set out to herd the deer. Details of how they fared from Arizona Highways magazine (July 2004):
For more info, there's a detailed article about the deer drive in the Summer 2004 issue of Boatman's Quarterly Review (available as free pdf). Some images from that article:
Farmer George McCormick came up with a solution. He proposed herding thousands of the deer down into the canyon, over the Colorado river, and then up onto the South Rim where there was plenty of room for them.
Critics pointed out that you can't herd deer, but this didn't deter McCormick. He put together a team of about 50 men on horseback (including the writer Zane Grey) and 100 local Native Americans on foot. Then they set out to herd the deer. Details of how they fared from Arizona Highways magazine (July 2004):
The Indians carried cowbells and rang them to get the deer moving out of the woods. They also beat metal pans with sticks, while the men on horseback waved hats, shouted and fired guns.
"But as they drew near the deer, instead of retreating, the animals almost invariably dashed through the cordon of men," reported the Sun. "Not only did they refuse to run away forward, but in charging the line, the animals seemed not to care a particle how close they came to the men. In many instances the latter had to give ground.
"One immense buck charged four mounted men, of whom Mr. Grey was one, and the latter reached for his gun, expecting to be run down. The deer just missed the quartet...
The effort continued through that day and the next. But it never approached anything but total chaos, with deer stampeding in every direction.
"But as they drew near the deer, instead of retreating, the animals almost invariably dashed through the cordon of men," reported the Sun. "Not only did they refuse to run away forward, but in charging the line, the animals seemed not to care a particle how close they came to the men. In many instances the latter had to give ground.
"One immense buck charged four mounted men, of whom Mr. Grey was one, and the latter reached for his gun, expecting to be run down. The deer just missed the quartet...
The effort continued through that day and the next. But it never approached anything but total chaos, with deer stampeding in every direction.
For more info, there's a detailed article about the deer drive in the Summer 2004 issue of Boatman's Quarterly Review (available as free pdf). Some images from that article:
Comments
...had none of these people ever heard of venison?
Posted by Richard Bos on 10/26/24 at 09:13 AM
Wild deer carry diseases including, but not limited to: CWD, bovine tuberculosis, and hemorrhagic disease. For this reason, and to prevent market hunters, many states have laws against processing venison except in a "I legally shot this deer and need it butchered" situations.
There's also the problem of scale. A good butcher might process ten or twelve deer in a day (with much time taken inspecting the meat). They were dealing with thousands of deer.
There's also the problem of scale. A good butcher might process ten or twelve deer in a day (with much time taken inspecting the meat). They were dealing with thousands of deer.
Posted by Phideaux on 10/26/24 at 01:03 PM
"Critics pointed out that you can't herd deer" - tell that to the Sami. (Of course, they're not stupid enough to try these numbers.)
Posted by Richard Bos on 11/02/24 at 02:04 PM
Category: Animals | Farming | Really Bad Ideas | 1920s