Posted on 01/16/2005 9:39:16 AM PST by Willie Green
There are 1.6 million deer in Pennsylvania, so many that they are eating themselves out of forests, farms and parts of their home range.
The voracious herd has prevented tree regrowth in vast tracts of the commonwealth's commercially valuable hardwood forests, eats millions of dollars of farm crops and collides with thousands of cars and trucks, causing damage and death.
Yet there aren't enough deer for some hunters, who aren't seeing as many through their rifle scopes as they did a couple of years ago.
Those hunters now want the state to go back to rules that would put greater limits on how many deer can be killed, and they already are gaining some political support for their position.
A recent study refutes the hunters' claims, though.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
MO did a study on trying to relocate deer from suburban to rural areas. They found that the stress of the relocation had terrible results. Nearly 80% of the deer that were relocated were dead within just a few months.
Mark
the trouble with wildlife is this:....when we think we are being kind and good stewards and good conservationists by setting aside wild lands and parks and "green belts" and making it nice and pretty for the wildlife, they florish....which means they survive, and thrive and then produce multiple offspring, and guess what......they need more land so they move into neighborhoods, and towns, and busy human areas....
unless they fear human activity, or dogs, they will naturally keep expanding their territory.....
just like bears and cougars and coyotes, deer will keep going to where there is more food ( fewer deer to compete)....
prime example:...remember how quaint a picture of a Canadian goose used to be?......now, they are nussances and stay around for the entire year....
I was thinking the same thing. The hunters would see more deer, and the farmers less, if more private land were opened to hunting.
Yes --- it was the Canyon Lake area --- I couldn't believe how aggressive the deer were --- and it was there that they practically ran down someone taking out some garbage --- and they're very bold when they're eating up the golf course in broad daylight --- in areas where hunting is done the deer are far more shy of humans.
We had a record kill in Missouri with new regulations last season (2004).
There was no limit on numbers of antlerless deer killed as long as you had a tag for each one. There was a antler minimum size of 6 points (2x3 or 1x6) for bucks that protected younger bucks. Unlimited any deer permits for antlerless deer.
And the season was extended a few days with muzzle loading, youth hunts age 15 and under, and archery season.
Mo. Dept of Conservation has been under fire by auto insurers because of the high number of deer -car collisions caused by large deer populations. I was not real happy with the new regulations as our hunting party was unable to harvest several nice bucks we would have had easily last year. We had to settle for smaller antlerless deer, with one exception of an 11 pointer. But now I think the program will increase the size of bucks and might actually work better for hunters and reduction of the car/deer collisions. We will wait and see.
I have noticed a trend to urban people buying into rural farmland and forming hunting clubs so they have guaranteed places to hunt. I can see this might make less land available for some hunters, including our party, but overall it has not hurt our hunt since fewer hunters are on adjoining tracks. Although one tract of land has been bought by a self proclaimed environmental wacko that is completely off limits to hunting. This trend is the danger to hunters in the future.
Just like the city slicker don't like people marrying their sisters and cousins.
(This opinion offerred in the spirit of "One bogus stereotype deserves another.')
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