Declining western deer herds have biologists, sportsman groups and environmentalists clashing over whether mountain lions and coyotes are largely to blame and should pay with their lives.
On one side are those who believe the number of deer predators should be reduced through targeted hunting programs. Others say factors such as the loss of natural habitat and wildfires are the issue.
It's an emotional debate, says Jim Heffelfinger, regional game specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
"The scenario plays out in just about every state, Heffelfinger says. "When these things flare up, they're white hot."
That's the case now in Nevada, where the issue of killing lions and coyotes that prey on deer has state Department of Wildlife officials at odds with a governor-appointed commission that oversees them.
Nevada's mule deer numbered about 106,000 in 2009, down from a high of 240,000 in 1988, according to state estimates. Mule deer, characterized by their large, mule-like ears, are common throughout the western United States.
"We've got a war going on," says Cecil Fredi, president of Hunter's Alert, one of two hunters groups that petitioned the Nevada Wildlife Commission to approve three predator-control projects last December. It did so against the advice of department Director Ken Mayer and his biologists, who said killing mountain lions and coyotes was not scientifically justified.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, which has the final say, refused to proceed. Doing so without full support of state wildlife officials would put them in an "untenable position," says Jeff Green, director of the western region for Wildlife Services.
State biologists say the deer's troubles are not due to predators but to continuing loss of habitat from development, wildfire and invading non-native grasses.
Tony Wasley, Nevada's mule deer specialist, says when lack of habitat is the problem, "all the predator control in the world won't result in any benefit."
Gerald Lent, chairman of the Nevada Wildlife Commission, says predators are an important part of Nevada's mule deer problems and addressing them is "long overdue."
The issue is also heating up in Arizona and Oregon. Arizona's mule deer number about 120,000, half the size of the herd in 1986, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Oregon's mule deer numbered 216,154 in 2009, down from 256,000 in 1990, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Duane Dungannon, state coordinator of the Oregon Hunters Association, says that even though mountain lion hunting is allowed year-round, "it's not even putting a dent in the state's cougar population."
"It's no longer that uncommon to bump into a cougar when you're deer or elk hunting, but it's becoming more uncommon to run into a deer or elk," he says.
Brooks Fahy, executive director of the non-profit Predator Defense, based in Eugene, Ore., worries the state's cougar population is "crashing" because of year-round hunting.
Source: USA Today
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: WMI Audit Complete, Transparency Sought
A scientific review designed to deflate some of the controversy over the management of deer in Pennsylvania may instead promote it.
The Wildlife Management Institute recently completed a review of the Game Commission's methods for managing deer in the state. It was largely complimentary.
Scot Williamson, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based institute, told members of the General Assembly's Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Tuesday at the state Capitol that the commission's deer program is "scientifically sound" and based on a "credible model."
"But there is room for continuous improvement," he said.
It was one of his team's recommendations for making things better that has already sparked lots of debate.
Williamson pointed out that Game Commission biologists have been estimating deer populations both statewide and within each of the state's 22 wildlife management units. They have not been making those numbers public, however.
He suggested that needs to change.
Keeping the numbers hidden "has weakened the trust placed in the Pennsylvania Game Commission by the public and has affected the agency's credibility."
Carl Roe, the commission's executive director, defended the agency's practice of staying away from numbers.
For decades, the commission estimated deer populations and released those to the public. That did nothing to eliminate controversy over whether the number of deer in the wild fit the available habitat, he said.
That's why the commission has more recently tried to get hunters and others to look at deer impacts rather than deer numbers alone, he said.
"In reality, that actual estimate is irrelevant to (the deer herd's) effect," Roe said.
"We trained (hunters) to look at deer numbers per square mile. We're trying to shift that to get them to look at forest regeneration.
That's all well and good, said state Rep. Dave Levdansky, the Allegheny County legislator who requested this deer audit be done. But he said the commission should share its deer population estimates, too.
"That's like saying it's important to know whether the balance on my credit card is going up or down over time, but not what the actual balance on my American Express is," Levdansky said. "No, I think they're both important."
Regardless of whether the state talks about deer in terms of numbers or impacts, though, the question of whether the deer herd is the right size figures to go on.
The audit points out that the state's deer herd has been reduced by 25 percent since 2002. Rep. Bob Godshall, a Montgomery County Republican, said Tuesday he thinks most hunters would say the herd's been shrunk considerably more than that.
He called the reduction "the decimation" of the deer population.
Yet Bill Healy, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research biologist who collaborated on the report, said problems with forest regeneration — which has many causes — can only be addressed when deer are in balance with their food supply, and Pennsylvania may not be at that point yet.
"A 25 percent reduction looks like a big change. But it may not be quite enough," Healy said.
Deer recommendations
The Wildlife Management Institute's audit of the Game Commission's deer program called for some change. Its recommendations include:
» Discontinuing its use of counting deer embryos to measure deer health. That can work, but only if the commission were able to collect far more embryos than it is now.
» Expanding the monitoring of forest conditions to determine whether the deer program is leading to more forest regeneration.
» Refine its citizens advisory committees to include more non-hunters and/or have the committee on a statewide basis.
» Counting deer taken in the red tag, DMAP and urban deer programs more fully in its harvest totals.
Source: Pittsburgh Live
The Wildlife Management Institute recently completed a review of the Game Commission's methods for managing deer in the state. It was largely complimentary.
Scot Williamson, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based institute, told members of the General Assembly's Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Tuesday at the state Capitol that the commission's deer program is "scientifically sound" and based on a "credible model."
"But there is room for continuous improvement," he said.
It was one of his team's recommendations for making things better that has already sparked lots of debate.
Williamson pointed out that Game Commission biologists have been estimating deer populations both statewide and within each of the state's 22 wildlife management units. They have not been making those numbers public, however.
He suggested that needs to change.
Keeping the numbers hidden "has weakened the trust placed in the Pennsylvania Game Commission by the public and has affected the agency's credibility."
Carl Roe, the commission's executive director, defended the agency's practice of staying away from numbers.
For decades, the commission estimated deer populations and released those to the public. That did nothing to eliminate controversy over whether the number of deer in the wild fit the available habitat, he said.
That's why the commission has more recently tried to get hunters and others to look at deer impacts rather than deer numbers alone, he said.
"In reality, that actual estimate is irrelevant to (the deer herd's) effect," Roe said.
"We trained (hunters) to look at deer numbers per square mile. We're trying to shift that to get them to look at forest regeneration.
That's all well and good, said state Rep. Dave Levdansky, the Allegheny County legislator who requested this deer audit be done. But he said the commission should share its deer population estimates, too.
"That's like saying it's important to know whether the balance on my credit card is going up or down over time, but not what the actual balance on my American Express is," Levdansky said. "No, I think they're both important."
Regardless of whether the state talks about deer in terms of numbers or impacts, though, the question of whether the deer herd is the right size figures to go on.
The audit points out that the state's deer herd has been reduced by 25 percent since 2002. Rep. Bob Godshall, a Montgomery County Republican, said Tuesday he thinks most hunters would say the herd's been shrunk considerably more than that.
He called the reduction "the decimation" of the deer population.
Yet Bill Healy, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research biologist who collaborated on the report, said problems with forest regeneration — which has many causes — can only be addressed when deer are in balance with their food supply, and Pennsylvania may not be at that point yet.
"A 25 percent reduction looks like a big change. But it may not be quite enough," Healy said.
Deer recommendations
The Wildlife Management Institute's audit of the Game Commission's deer program called for some change. Its recommendations include:
» Discontinuing its use of counting deer embryos to measure deer health. That can work, but only if the commission were able to collect far more embryos than it is now.
» Expanding the monitoring of forest conditions to determine whether the deer program is leading to more forest regeneration.
» Refine its citizens advisory committees to include more non-hunters and/or have the committee on a statewide basis.
» Counting deer taken in the red tag, DMAP and urban deer programs more fully in its harvest totals.
Source: Pittsburgh Live
Monday, April 12, 2010
MICHIGAN NEWS: Judge Overturns Deer Feeding Ban
An Otsego County judge overturned Michigan's ban on baiting or feeding deer and elk in the Lower Peninsula.
The decision came after state wildlife officials charged a rural Gaylord man with illegally feeding deer from his multiple bird feeders. Ken Borton fought the charge and this week 87th District Court Judge Patricia Morse threw out the case against him and struck down the ban.
Borton said he didn't expect the law to be voided altogether.
"That's not what I was going after. All I wanted was to feed my birds. I'm shocked," Borton said.
The case began when some viewers of Borton's Web site, www.snowmancam.com, reported to the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment that deer ate around the bird feeders where he trained his digital video camera. State officials twice cited Borton for violating the feeding and baiting ban, enacted two years ago after a penned deer in Kent County tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
Officials told Borton to scoop up empty seed casings daily from around his bird feeders to be in compliance with the law.
Morse instead voided the law as "unconstitutionally vague."
"The statute as drafted gives no guidance as to where and how to exclude wild animals from foraging near bird feeders. It leaves too much room for selective enforcement. It allows fact finders to rely on subjective criteria to determine criminal liability," Morse wrote in her ruling.
Dean Molnar, DNRE law enforcement assistant chief, declined to comment on Morse's ruling, as did spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.
"We have no comment at this time. We're reviewing the opinion," said Dettloff.
She did discuss reasons for the ban.
"The ban was put in place in the Lower Peninsula because of the discovery of chronic wasting disease in Kent County in 2008. We followed the state emergency response plan for chronic wasting disease, which was approved by the Natural Resources Commission and the state Commission of Agriculture," Dettloff said.
Ryan Ratajczak, president of the Northwest Michigan chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association, said his group supported the baiting and feeding ban. He's curious about the impact of Morse's ruling.
"I'm wondering how that works now. I think it was justified at the time. They had the plan in place," Ratajczak said. "I think the biggest issue is making sure we've contained CWD."
Ratajczak said he didn't object to allowing hunters to bait, but he'd prefer the decision be made by state wildlife biologists and not lawyers and judges.
Others hailed the court's decision.
"How can we justify spending time investigating a man feeding birds and prosecuting him?" said Zack Cox, owner of the Natural Farm Products store on M-66, south of Kalkaska.
Cox has long sold carrots, corn and sugar beets used by farmers for their livestock or by hunters to bait deer. He always questioned the state's baiting ban and said he's "very pleased" Morse threw it out.
"There's no logic to it. What's the difference between a deer eating at an apple tree or at a small pile of corn feed?" Cox said.
Source: Traverse City Record Eagle
The decision came after state wildlife officials charged a rural Gaylord man with illegally feeding deer from his multiple bird feeders. Ken Borton fought the charge and this week 87th District Court Judge Patricia Morse threw out the case against him and struck down the ban.
Borton said he didn't expect the law to be voided altogether.
"That's not what I was going after. All I wanted was to feed my birds. I'm shocked," Borton said.
The case began when some viewers of Borton's Web site, www.snowmancam.com, reported to the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment that deer ate around the bird feeders where he trained his digital video camera. State officials twice cited Borton for violating the feeding and baiting ban, enacted two years ago after a penned deer in Kent County tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
Officials told Borton to scoop up empty seed casings daily from around his bird feeders to be in compliance with the law.
Morse instead voided the law as "unconstitutionally vague."
"The statute as drafted gives no guidance as to where and how to exclude wild animals from foraging near bird feeders. It leaves too much room for selective enforcement. It allows fact finders to rely on subjective criteria to determine criminal liability," Morse wrote in her ruling.
Dean Molnar, DNRE law enforcement assistant chief, declined to comment on Morse's ruling, as did spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.
"We have no comment at this time. We're reviewing the opinion," said Dettloff.
She did discuss reasons for the ban.
"The ban was put in place in the Lower Peninsula because of the discovery of chronic wasting disease in Kent County in 2008. We followed the state emergency response plan for chronic wasting disease, which was approved by the Natural Resources Commission and the state Commission of Agriculture," Dettloff said.
Ryan Ratajczak, president of the Northwest Michigan chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association, said his group supported the baiting and feeding ban. He's curious about the impact of Morse's ruling.
"I'm wondering how that works now. I think it was justified at the time. They had the plan in place," Ratajczak said. "I think the biggest issue is making sure we've contained CWD."
Ratajczak said he didn't object to allowing hunters to bait, but he'd prefer the decision be made by state wildlife biologists and not lawyers and judges.
Others hailed the court's decision.
"How can we justify spending time investigating a man feeding birds and prosecuting him?" said Zack Cox, owner of the Natural Farm Products store on M-66, south of Kalkaska.
Cox has long sold carrots, corn and sugar beets used by farmers for their livestock or by hunters to bait deer. He always questioned the state's baiting ban and said he's "very pleased" Morse threw it out.
"There's no logic to it. What's the difference between a deer eating at an apple tree or at a small pile of corn feed?" Cox said.
Source: Traverse City Record Eagle
Thursday, April 08, 2010
RESEARCH NEWS: Gaps Made By Matriarchial Group Removal Do Not Last in High Deer Density Populations
Commentary on Miller et al. (2010). Tests of localized deer management for reducing deer browsing in forest regeneration areas. Journal of Wildlife Management 74: 370-378.
Managing deer on very small spatial scales has traditionally been problematic, but efforts to remove matriarchal social groups of deer may hold promise for reducing browsing impacts for 10-15 years. This could possibly create a spatial hole in the deer population, thereby allowing a sufficient window-of-opportunity for regeneration. The effectiveness of this approach depends on how accurately the "rose petal hypothesis" actually characterizes population expansion. The rose petal theory suggests that within a group, matriarchal does are located near the center and younger individuals establish home ranges that overlap radiating outward. In other words, removing matriarchal social groups will only work if deer exhibit low female dispersal distances, high female survival rates, and high philopatry.
Miller et al. tested the rose petal hypothesis in Randolph County, West Virginia (eastern North American deciduous forest). Deer densities were considered high (and in excess of sustainable numbers), estimated at 12-20 per square km, with a very skewed ratio typical of traditionally exploited deer populations (6-15 males: 100 females).
The authors first collected movement data (via telemetry) on 224 animals. A social group was identified and targeted for removal in a 1.1 square km area in 2002. A total of 51 deer were removed, 39 were female. This was estimated to be 80% of the animals in the 1.1 square km target area. Vegetation monitoring consisted of examining browsable units and actual browsing on tree regeneration. A second removal was conducted in 2005, with 26 of 31 removals being females.
After the 2002 removal, browsing dropped from 15% to 5% after removal and persisted at this level for 3 years. Telemetry data indicated that deer from surrounding areas did gradually shift their home range and fill in the void. Animals removed in 2005 were not closely related genetically to the 2002 removal group.
The authors were not sanguine about the effectiveness of this approach. It did provide a short-term benefit to the vegetation, but the duration of the benefit was brief and unlikely to translate to increased regeneration.
Managing deer on very small spatial scales has traditionally been problematic, but efforts to remove matriarchal social groups of deer may hold promise for reducing browsing impacts for 10-15 years. This could possibly create a spatial hole in the deer population, thereby allowing a sufficient window-of-opportunity for regeneration. The effectiveness of this approach depends on how accurately the "rose petal hypothesis" actually characterizes population expansion. The rose petal theory suggests that within a group, matriarchal does are located near the center and younger individuals establish home ranges that overlap radiating outward. In other words, removing matriarchal social groups will only work if deer exhibit low female dispersal distances, high female survival rates, and high philopatry.
Miller et al. tested the rose petal hypothesis in Randolph County, West Virginia (eastern North American deciduous forest). Deer densities were considered high (and in excess of sustainable numbers), estimated at 12-20 per square km, with a very skewed ratio typical of traditionally exploited deer populations (6-15 males: 100 females).
The authors first collected movement data (via telemetry) on 224 animals. A social group was identified and targeted for removal in a 1.1 square km area in 2002. A total of 51 deer were removed, 39 were female. This was estimated to be 80% of the animals in the 1.1 square km target area. Vegetation monitoring consisted of examining browsable units and actual browsing on tree regeneration. A second removal was conducted in 2005, with 26 of 31 removals being females.
After the 2002 removal, browsing dropped from 15% to 5% after removal and persisted at this level for 3 years. Telemetry data indicated that deer from surrounding areas did gradually shift their home range and fill in the void. Animals removed in 2005 were not closely related genetically to the 2002 removal group.
The authors were not sanguine about the effectiveness of this approach. It did provide a short-term benefit to the vegetation, but the duration of the benefit was brief and unlikely to translate to increased regeneration.
INDIANA NEWS: City Creates Community Deer Task Force
Involving the community at the earliest stages is smart politically. It fosters civic engagement and shares the burden of responsibility of decisions.
A southern Indiana city is looking for ways to deal with worries over more deer showing up in urban and suburban areas.
The Bloomington City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved creating a community deer task force following complaints from residents that the animals pose a safety risk.
Councilman Dave Rollo says he hopes the group will present its recommendations by September.
In September, a petition with 500 signatures was presented to City Council members and Monroe County commissioners asking them to create the task force.
Source: WTHR
A southern Indiana city is looking for ways to deal with worries over more deer showing up in urban and suburban areas.
The Bloomington City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved creating a community deer task force following complaints from residents that the animals pose a safety risk.
Councilman Dave Rollo says he hopes the group will present its recommendations by September.
In September, a petition with 500 signatures was presented to City Council members and Monroe County commissioners asking them to create the task force.
Source: WTHR
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
UK NEWS: Deer-Vehicle Collsions Number 74,000 Per Year
The soaring numbers of wild deer are causing havoc on Britain's roads, devastating ancient woodlands and ruining gardens, wildlife experts warned yesterday.
Conservationists say the UK's deer population has doubled since the 1970s and is now close to 2million - a level not seen since the time of the Norman Conquest.
According to new figures from the National Deer Collisions Project, the animals cause 74,000 road accidents each year - and kill up to a dozen drivers and passengers.
Yesterday, Dr Jochen Langbein, co-ordinator of the project, warned that the number of accidents would rise unless the creatures were better controlled.
He said 100 people are injured and up to 12 killed each year when deer run into roads.
Last month an inquest heard how a father of two died when a deer crashed through his windscreen. The animal had been hit by another vehicle near Basingstoke, Hampshire, pushing it into the path of his van.
Insurers pay out around £15million a year to repair cars hit by the animals.
The worst accident blackspots are in the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex where more than 300 deer are hit by cars each year.
Accidents involving the animals are often serious because they leap up if they are startled while crossing roads. Some scientists believe they see beams from headlights as solid objects and try to jump over them - ending up crashing into windscreens.
Since the 1970s deer numbers have been rising by three to five per cent a year, and most conservationists agree that 30 per cent of deer have to be shot each year to stop numbers going up.
The muntjac species is a particular nuisance.
Just 20 inches tall, they breed all year round and can be a massive pest for gardeners.
Source: Daily Mail
Conservationists say the UK's deer population has doubled since the 1970s and is now close to 2million - a level not seen since the time of the Norman Conquest.
According to new figures from the National Deer Collisions Project, the animals cause 74,000 road accidents each year - and kill up to a dozen drivers and passengers.
Yesterday, Dr Jochen Langbein, co-ordinator of the project, warned that the number of accidents would rise unless the creatures were better controlled.
He said 100 people are injured and up to 12 killed each year when deer run into roads.
Last month an inquest heard how a father of two died when a deer crashed through his windscreen. The animal had been hit by another vehicle near Basingstoke, Hampshire, pushing it into the path of his van.
Insurers pay out around £15million a year to repair cars hit by the animals.
The worst accident blackspots are in the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex where more than 300 deer are hit by cars each year.
Accidents involving the animals are often serious because they leap up if they are startled while crossing roads. Some scientists believe they see beams from headlights as solid objects and try to jump over them - ending up crashing into windscreens.
Since the 1970s deer numbers have been rising by three to five per cent a year, and most conservationists agree that 30 per cent of deer have to be shot each year to stop numbers going up.
The muntjac species is a particular nuisance.
Just 20 inches tall, they breed all year round and can be a massive pest for gardeners.
Source: Daily Mail
Friday, April 02, 2010
ILLINOIS NEWS: Forest Preserve Considers Public Deer Hunting
This fall, the Will County Forest Preserve District may become the first in Illinois to allow public hunting on its land.
It's part of a proposed program to bring the deer population down to a healthy level for both the animals and nature, forest preserve officials said.
"We're the first to allow public hunting, but we're the only one not doing any culling," forest preserve district executive director Marcy DeMauro said. "The deer are everywhere."
Before final approval of the deer management program in May, the forest preserve district will hold three meetings to discuss it, including one from 5 to 8 p.m. April 13 at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, McKinley Woods, 25055 W. Walnut Lane, Channahon.
The lack of a previous management program coupled with the urbanization of the county have resulted in deer counts as high as 153 per square mile in Channahon's McKinley Woods. An "acceptable" level is 20 per square mile, officials said.
"All preserves have more deer than can naturally be sustained. We have no choice but to cull the herds," forest preserve board president Cory Singer said. "There is no other reasonable option to consider. Our primary responsibility is to manage and maintain public lands. We have to employ deer management practices. It would be irresponsible not to."
Other options, such as deer repellent, fencing, fertility control and relocation either are too expensive or ineffective, according to forest preserve district research.
Public hunting will be a "small part of the solution," Singer said. A limited number of permits could be issued by a lottery because officials expect high interest from local hunters. Permit fees have yet to be determined.
As in other forest preserves, most herds will be thinned out by sharpshooters - police and trained volunteers who will trap and shoot the deer at night. The meat will be butchered and donated to organizations to feed the hungry.
DeMauro said there would be specified seasons for hunting. Those using firearms would have two three-day sessions in November and December. Archery would be permitted from Oct. 1 through mid-January.
In some areas, trails and preserves would be closed to the public during hunting season, Singer said.
In developing the new deer management program, the forest preserve district must follow the requirements of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Sharpshooting only is allowed in areas with more than 30 acres with a 100-yard buffer from adjacent property owners. Archery and firearms can be used on sites of 70 acres or more, but firearms require a 300-yard buffer. All sites must be fully or partially owned by the forest preserve district.
According to these criteria, 16 sites are suitable for sharpshooting, 14 for archery and eight for firearms, DeMauro said, but it is likely not all will be used.
Singer hopes a successful hunting program will lead to more new programs such as hunting opportunities for youth and people with disabilities and gun safety classes.
Source: Plainfield Sun
It's part of a proposed program to bring the deer population down to a healthy level for both the animals and nature, forest preserve officials said.
"We're the first to allow public hunting, but we're the only one not doing any culling," forest preserve district executive director Marcy DeMauro said. "The deer are everywhere."
Before final approval of the deer management program in May, the forest preserve district will hold three meetings to discuss it, including one from 5 to 8 p.m. April 13 at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, McKinley Woods, 25055 W. Walnut Lane, Channahon.
The lack of a previous management program coupled with the urbanization of the county have resulted in deer counts as high as 153 per square mile in Channahon's McKinley Woods. An "acceptable" level is 20 per square mile, officials said.
"All preserves have more deer than can naturally be sustained. We have no choice but to cull the herds," forest preserve board president Cory Singer said. "There is no other reasonable option to consider. Our primary responsibility is to manage and maintain public lands. We have to employ deer management practices. It would be irresponsible not to."
Other options, such as deer repellent, fencing, fertility control and relocation either are too expensive or ineffective, according to forest preserve district research.
Public hunting will be a "small part of the solution," Singer said. A limited number of permits could be issued by a lottery because officials expect high interest from local hunters. Permit fees have yet to be determined.
As in other forest preserves, most herds will be thinned out by sharpshooters - police and trained volunteers who will trap and shoot the deer at night. The meat will be butchered and donated to organizations to feed the hungry.
DeMauro said there would be specified seasons for hunting. Those using firearms would have two three-day sessions in November and December. Archery would be permitted from Oct. 1 through mid-January.
In some areas, trails and preserves would be closed to the public during hunting season, Singer said.
In developing the new deer management program, the forest preserve district must follow the requirements of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Sharpshooting only is allowed in areas with more than 30 acres with a 100-yard buffer from adjacent property owners. Archery and firearms can be used on sites of 70 acres or more, but firearms require a 300-yard buffer. All sites must be fully or partially owned by the forest preserve district.
According to these criteria, 16 sites are suitable for sharpshooting, 14 for archery and eight for firearms, DeMauro said, but it is likely not all will be used.
Singer hopes a successful hunting program will lead to more new programs such as hunting opportunities for youth and people with disabilities and gun safety classes.
Source: Plainfield Sun
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: 308,920 Deer Harvested in 2009-10
Erie hunter Tim Weaver said he saw plenty of big bucks this past hunting season.
But figures released by the Pennsylvania Game Commission on Monday suggest fewer deer overall are being harvested.
Hunters in Pennsylvania killed an estimated 27,000 fewer deer in the 2009-10 seasons than they did a year earlier.
Game Commission figures show the drop was even more significant in northwestern Pennsylvania, where Weaver shot a 10-point Dec. 28 in McKean Township during the flintlock season.
Weaver said the deer he harvested was with five other bucks. Three of them were legal size, including his, meaning they had at least eight points.
The Game Commission's management plan was designed to put more mature antlered deer in the field by limiting the harvest of yearling bucks. It has drawn support from some hunters and criticism from others who believe the state's deer herd has declined.
"It was one of the best years we've ever had hunting," said Weaver, 46. "I would imagine it depends on who you talk to. The guys I hunt with are after trophy-sized deer, so it's been great for us. But if you talk to someone who's strictly a meat hunter, they might say it's been terrible."
The Game Commission's estimates, based on harvest tags returned by hunters and field and processor reports, show a statewide harvest estimate of 308,920 deer, an 8 percent decline from the 335,850 killed in 2008-09.
The commission said hunters killed 108,330 antlered deer, down 12 percent from the 122,410 killed in 2008-09, and 200,590 antlerless deer. Hunters killed 213,440 antlerless deer in 2008-09.
In Wildlife Management Unit 1B, which includes all of Erie County, most of Crawford County and parts of Warren and Venango counties, hunters killed 5,100 antlered deer, a 32 percent drop from the 2008-09 estimate of 7,500. There were 9,500 antlerless deer killed, down from 13,400 in 2008-09 -- a 29 percent decline.
Cambridge Springs resident Dan Young, 34, said he saw far fewer antlerless deer last season and fewer deer overall, but more mature bucks.
"I did find a lot of dead bucks in the woods that weren't legal size," said Young, who primarily hunts during the archery season. "I saw a lot of six-points, which tells me someone shot them and realized they were too small, so they left them there."
Source: GoErie
But figures released by the Pennsylvania Game Commission on Monday suggest fewer deer overall are being harvested.
Hunters in Pennsylvania killed an estimated 27,000 fewer deer in the 2009-10 seasons than they did a year earlier.
Game Commission figures show the drop was even more significant in northwestern Pennsylvania, where Weaver shot a 10-point Dec. 28 in McKean Township during the flintlock season.
Weaver said the deer he harvested was with five other bucks. Three of them were legal size, including his, meaning they had at least eight points.
The Game Commission's management plan was designed to put more mature antlered deer in the field by limiting the harvest of yearling bucks. It has drawn support from some hunters and criticism from others who believe the state's deer herd has declined.
"It was one of the best years we've ever had hunting," said Weaver, 46. "I would imagine it depends on who you talk to. The guys I hunt with are after trophy-sized deer, so it's been great for us. But if you talk to someone who's strictly a meat hunter, they might say it's been terrible."
The Game Commission's estimates, based on harvest tags returned by hunters and field and processor reports, show a statewide harvest estimate of 308,920 deer, an 8 percent decline from the 335,850 killed in 2008-09.
The commission said hunters killed 108,330 antlered deer, down 12 percent from the 122,410 killed in 2008-09, and 200,590 antlerless deer. Hunters killed 213,440 antlerless deer in 2008-09.
In Wildlife Management Unit 1B, which includes all of Erie County, most of Crawford County and parts of Warren and Venango counties, hunters killed 5,100 antlered deer, a 32 percent drop from the 2008-09 estimate of 7,500. There were 9,500 antlerless deer killed, down from 13,400 in 2008-09 -- a 29 percent decline.
Cambridge Springs resident Dan Young, 34, said he saw far fewer antlerless deer last season and fewer deer overall, but more mature bucks.
"I did find a lot of dead bucks in the woods that weren't legal size," said Young, who primarily hunts during the archery season. "I saw a lot of six-points, which tells me someone shot them and realized they were too small, so they left them there."
Source: GoErie
DELAWARE NEWS: State Restructuring Deer Management for Population Control
By introducing new population-control measures and recruiting non-traditional hunters, state officials hope to reduce agricultural and property damage caused by white-tailed deer.
The state's first long-term deer management plan, which officials say will be finalized in April, could allow the use of crossbows during archery season, reduce the antler width limit to 14 inches and require unlicensed hunters to obtain a free identification number.
"Hunting is the most cost-effective tool we have to help control the deer population," said Joe Rogerson, a large mammal biologist at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
According to Rogerson, the number of hunters purchasing licenses has dropped from about 30,000 in 1975 to 18,000 last year.
"If the declining trend continues, we may not have enough hunters to help control the deer population," he said. "That's why we have to recruit new hunters..."
Many of the proposals in the plan, including those that will be discussed at a March 25 public hearing, are designed to encourage more involvement in hunting, he said.
Although many of those who would turn out for a crossbow season would be existing hunters, Rogerson said its use has led to larger harvests in neighboring states. He believes it will also encourage hunters who had retired from the sport to return.
"It could help older folks who aren't able to draw a bow out like they used to," he said.
The proposal to reduce the antler size restriction came after biological data indicated more fawns and younger deer were making it to adulthood, Rogerson said, adding that the identification number will help better track hunters who aren't required to obtain licenses.
The 10-year-plan also calls for the recruitment of young hunters and those in non-traditional groups, such as nature enthusiasts who also spend time in the forests, he said.
Charles Steele, owner of Steele's Gun Shop in Lewes, said most hunters are satisfied with the existing rules, but expanding hunting could be a good thing.
"Anything you can do to make the sport better and limit the amount of car crashes with deer would be great," he said.
Source: Delmarvanow
The state's first long-term deer management plan, which officials say will be finalized in April, could allow the use of crossbows during archery season, reduce the antler width limit to 14 inches and require unlicensed hunters to obtain a free identification number.
"Hunting is the most cost-effective tool we have to help control the deer population," said Joe Rogerson, a large mammal biologist at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
According to Rogerson, the number of hunters purchasing licenses has dropped from about 30,000 in 1975 to 18,000 last year.
"If the declining trend continues, we may not have enough hunters to help control the deer population," he said. "That's why we have to recruit new hunters..."
Many of the proposals in the plan, including those that will be discussed at a March 25 public hearing, are designed to encourage more involvement in hunting, he said.
Although many of those who would turn out for a crossbow season would be existing hunters, Rogerson said its use has led to larger harvests in neighboring states. He believes it will also encourage hunters who had retired from the sport to return.
"It could help older folks who aren't able to draw a bow out like they used to," he said.
The proposal to reduce the antler size restriction came after biological data indicated more fawns and younger deer were making it to adulthood, Rogerson said, adding that the identification number will help better track hunters who aren't required to obtain licenses.
The 10-year-plan also calls for the recruitment of young hunters and those in non-traditional groups, such as nature enthusiasts who also spend time in the forests, he said.
Charles Steele, owner of Steele's Gun Shop in Lewes, said most hunters are satisfied with the existing rules, but expanding hunting could be a good thing.
"Anything you can do to make the sport better and limit the amount of car crashes with deer would be great," he said.
Source: Delmarvanow
Friday, March 19, 2010
NEBRASKA NEWS: Antlerless Season Extended in Effort To Reduce Population
Nebraska's deer population has increased about tenfold in the last 40 years. This has brought the usual complaints from farmers and drivers. Now Nebraska is proposing some deer season changes in an effort to reduce the state's deer population size. The key provisions:
If there are enough hunters in the woods and fields and they are supportive of this direction, the policy change will likely be effective in moving the deer population in the desired direction.
Source: Nebraska TV
Nebraska Game and Parks officials have adopted a new set of regulations designed to help cut Nebraska's plentiful supply of white-tailed deer.
Among others changes approved Friday by the commissioners at their meeting in Lincoln, they expanded the October antlerless season to 10 days from three and increased the hunting area.
Commissioners also lengthened the January antlerless season to 24 days from 15.
If there are enough hunters in the woods and fields and they are supportive of this direction, the policy change will likely be effective in moving the deer population in the desired direction.
Source: Nebraska TV
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
NORTH DAKOTA NEWS: Deer Tests Positive for CWD
A sick-looking mule deer taken last fall in western Sioux County of southwestern North Dakota has tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials were notified of the diagnosis this morning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Services. It marks the first time CWD has been detected in a North Dakota animal.
Dr. Dan Grove, wildlife veterinarian for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said a hunter in Unit 3F2 shot an adult buck that did not appear to be healthy.
“As we do with our targeted surveillance efforts, we collected the sample to test for CWD and bovine tuberculosis,” Grove said in a news release.
The Game and Fish Department’s targeted surveillance program is an ongoing, year-round effort that tests animals found dead or sick.
“We have been constantly monitoring and enhancing our surveillance efforts for CWD because of its presence in bordering states and provinces,” said Greg Link, assistant wildlife division chief for Game and Fish in Bismarck.
In addition to targeted surveillance, the department annually collects samples taken from hunter-harvested deer in specific regions of the state. In January, more than 3,000 targeted and hunter-harvested samples were sent to a lab in Minnesota. As of today, about two-thirds of the samples had been tested, with the one positive result. The remaining samples will be tested over the next month.
Link said monitoring efforts have intensified in recent years, and all units have been completed twice throughout the entire state.
“The deer population in Unit 3F2 is above management goals, and hunter pressure will continue to be put on the population in that unit again this fall,” Link said. “We are going to be aggressive with licenses and disease surveillance in that unit.”
Since the department’s sampling efforts began in 2002, more than 14,000 deer, elk and moose have tested negative for CWD.
CWD affects the nervous system of members of the deer family and is always fatal. Scientists have found no evidence that CWD can be transmitted naturally to humans or livestock.
Source: Grand Forks Herald
North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials were notified of the diagnosis this morning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Services. It marks the first time CWD has been detected in a North Dakota animal.
Dr. Dan Grove, wildlife veterinarian for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said a hunter in Unit 3F2 shot an adult buck that did not appear to be healthy.
“As we do with our targeted surveillance efforts, we collected the sample to test for CWD and bovine tuberculosis,” Grove said in a news release.
The Game and Fish Department’s targeted surveillance program is an ongoing, year-round effort that tests animals found dead or sick.
“We have been constantly monitoring and enhancing our surveillance efforts for CWD because of its presence in bordering states and provinces,” said Greg Link, assistant wildlife division chief for Game and Fish in Bismarck.
In addition to targeted surveillance, the department annually collects samples taken from hunter-harvested deer in specific regions of the state. In January, more than 3,000 targeted and hunter-harvested samples were sent to a lab in Minnesota. As of today, about two-thirds of the samples had been tested, with the one positive result. The remaining samples will be tested over the next month.
Link said monitoring efforts have intensified in recent years, and all units have been completed twice throughout the entire state.
“The deer population in Unit 3F2 is above management goals, and hunter pressure will continue to be put on the population in that unit again this fall,” Link said. “We are going to be aggressive with licenses and disease surveillance in that unit.”
Since the department’s sampling efforts began in 2002, more than 14,000 deer, elk and moose have tested negative for CWD.
CWD affects the nervous system of members of the deer family and is always fatal. Scientists have found no evidence that CWD can be transmitted naturally to humans or livestock.
Source: Grand Forks Herald
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
RESEARCH NEWS: Coyotes Not Decimating Pennsylvania Deer
It’s a question that has captured the imagination of Keystone State deer hunters and wildlife lovers: Has increased predation on helpless deer fawns by an growing population of Eastern coyotes resulted in dwindling whitetail numbers across Pennsylvania’s rugged northern reaches? The answer is no, according to a deer researcher in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
“It’s a cruel world out there for wildlife,” said Duane Diefenbach, adjunct professor of wildlife ecology and leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed in the college’s School of Forest Resources, “but it’s no crueler in Pennsylvania than other states.”
There is no question the coyote population has grown dramatically in the Northeast in recent decades, he said, and everyone agrees that coyotes do prey on fawns, “but our data tell us that coyote predation is not an issue in Pennsylvania.”
Diefenbach should know. Nationally recognized for his deer research, he has been involved in all the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer studies since 2000, overseeing a groundbreaking fawn-mortality study completed in 2002. For the last decade he and his students have been monitoring hundreds of deer they captured and fitted with radio collars, about 3,000 in total, carefully documenting the animals’ movements, behavior and fates.
“Significantly, very, very few adult deer in our studies have succumbed to predation from coyotes, bears or anything else,” he said. “We now know that in this state, once a deer reaches about 12 months of age, the only significant mortal dangers it faces are getting hit by a car or being harvested by a hunter. By far, most of the time when a coyote eats venison, it is from a road-killed animal, or from a deer that was wounded by a hunter but not retrieved.”
We know fawns often are killed and eaten by coyotes and bears, Diefenbach said, but that has always been the case.
“When we monitored more than 200 radio-collared fawns from 2000 to 2002, the survival rates of fawns in Pennsylvania were similar to what was previously found in Maine, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and New Brunswick, Canada,” he said. “Our research has shown that overall mortality here is not extraordinary.”
About 50 percent of fawns make it to six months of age, Diefenbach said.
“The general pattern in Pennsylvania and in other states and provinces is that we have seen slightly higher fawn survival rates in agricultural areas because there is less predation, and in forested habitats we see slightly lower survival rates.”
According to Diefenbach, the literature shows that fawn survival for the first year of life in forested landscapes is about 25 percent.
“Our work showed that Pennsylvania came in at about 28 percent,” he said. “Our research also showed that fawns in Pennsylvania agricultural landscapes have a 52 percent survival rate.”
Some people have encouraged the Game Commission to implement a study of fawn predation by coyotes, but Diefenbach contends that it is not needed.
“I know this may be an unpopular view, but it is not readily apparent to me how another study on fawn mortality will help us better manage deer,” he said. “Our 2000-to-2002 fawn study showed that fawn-predation rates were normal here, and I don’t have any evidence that anything has changed since then — no available data, such as changes in hunter-success rates in harvesting deer, suggest that coyote predation is increasing. If it is, then hunters should be harvesting fewer young deer, and we are not seeing that.”
Diefenbach points to information contained in recent years’ deer-hunter harvests that show fawn predation is not growing at an alarming rate.
“The fawn component of the hunter harvest — typically about 40 percent of antlerless deer killed by hunters — has remained largely unchanged for many years. If fewer fawns were surviving because of increased coyote predation, they would not be available to hunters.”
Still, Diefenbach understands the emotional reaction of hunters and wildlife lovers to fawns being killed and eaten by predators such as coyotes, and he said that continuing deer research conducted by his unit at Penn State is examining fawn numbers and survival.
“Peoples’ natural reaction to hearing and seeing coyotes, and knowing that they are everywhere in Pennsylvania, is to wonder how many fawns they kill,” he said, “but I don’t know what we would learn if we conducted another fawn-survival study, especially because of what we already know about deer-coyote ecology. I am advising a graduate student right now who is evaluating the assumptions and methods that we use to track and monitor deer-population trends in this state. His research is focused on the validity of the model we use to manage deer. All of his work done so far — both in the field and with computer simulations — doesn’t show any evidence of a decline in deer numbers because we are not recruiting fawns into the population.”
Source: GantDaily
“It’s a cruel world out there for wildlife,” said Duane Diefenbach, adjunct professor of wildlife ecology and leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed in the college’s School of Forest Resources, “but it’s no crueler in Pennsylvania than other states.”
There is no question the coyote population has grown dramatically in the Northeast in recent decades, he said, and everyone agrees that coyotes do prey on fawns, “but our data tell us that coyote predation is not an issue in Pennsylvania.”
Diefenbach should know. Nationally recognized for his deer research, he has been involved in all the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer studies since 2000, overseeing a groundbreaking fawn-mortality study completed in 2002. For the last decade he and his students have been monitoring hundreds of deer they captured and fitted with radio collars, about 3,000 in total, carefully documenting the animals’ movements, behavior and fates.
“Significantly, very, very few adult deer in our studies have succumbed to predation from coyotes, bears or anything else,” he said. “We now know that in this state, once a deer reaches about 12 months of age, the only significant mortal dangers it faces are getting hit by a car or being harvested by a hunter. By far, most of the time when a coyote eats venison, it is from a road-killed animal, or from a deer that was wounded by a hunter but not retrieved.”
We know fawns often are killed and eaten by coyotes and bears, Diefenbach said, but that has always been the case.
“When we monitored more than 200 radio-collared fawns from 2000 to 2002, the survival rates of fawns in Pennsylvania were similar to what was previously found in Maine, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and New Brunswick, Canada,” he said. “Our research has shown that overall mortality here is not extraordinary.”
About 50 percent of fawns make it to six months of age, Diefenbach said.
“The general pattern in Pennsylvania and in other states and provinces is that we have seen slightly higher fawn survival rates in agricultural areas because there is less predation, and in forested habitats we see slightly lower survival rates.”
According to Diefenbach, the literature shows that fawn survival for the first year of life in forested landscapes is about 25 percent.
“Our work showed that Pennsylvania came in at about 28 percent,” he said. “Our research also showed that fawns in Pennsylvania agricultural landscapes have a 52 percent survival rate.”
Some people have encouraged the Game Commission to implement a study of fawn predation by coyotes, but Diefenbach contends that it is not needed.
“I know this may be an unpopular view, but it is not readily apparent to me how another study on fawn mortality will help us better manage deer,” he said. “Our 2000-to-2002 fawn study showed that fawn-predation rates were normal here, and I don’t have any evidence that anything has changed since then — no available data, such as changes in hunter-success rates in harvesting deer, suggest that coyote predation is increasing. If it is, then hunters should be harvesting fewer young deer, and we are not seeing that.”
Diefenbach points to information contained in recent years’ deer-hunter harvests that show fawn predation is not growing at an alarming rate.
“The fawn component of the hunter harvest — typically about 40 percent of antlerless deer killed by hunters — has remained largely unchanged for many years. If fewer fawns were surviving because of increased coyote predation, they would not be available to hunters.”
Still, Diefenbach understands the emotional reaction of hunters and wildlife lovers to fawns being killed and eaten by predators such as coyotes, and he said that continuing deer research conducted by his unit at Penn State is examining fawn numbers and survival.
“Peoples’ natural reaction to hearing and seeing coyotes, and knowing that they are everywhere in Pennsylvania, is to wonder how many fawns they kill,” he said, “but I don’t know what we would learn if we conducted another fawn-survival study, especially because of what we already know about deer-coyote ecology. I am advising a graduate student right now who is evaluating the assumptions and methods that we use to track and monitor deer-population trends in this state. His research is focused on the validity of the model we use to manage deer. All of his work done so far — both in the field and with computer simulations — doesn’t show any evidence of a decline in deer numbers because we are not recruiting fawns into the population.”
Source: GantDaily
WISCONSIN NEWS: No Urban Hunt for Winona Public Lands
Deer hunting will not be expanded inside the city after a Winona City Council vote Monday night.
Council members voted 4-3 against expanding hunting to publicly owned lands, ending the latest round of debate over a topic that has spurred strong reactions from residents both in favor and against the proposal.
Mayor Jerry Miller and council members Tim Breza, Gerry Krage and George Borzyskowski voted for the motion to deny expanding hunting, while council members Debbie White, Deb Salyards and Al Thurley voted against that motion.
Breza previously advocated for the expansion, but made the motion against it Monday because of the divisions over the issue, he said.
"To go forward with a hunt at this time, I think, is counter-productive," he said, calling it a "lose-lose situation."
Hunting, by bow or shotgun, is already allowed on agriculturally zoned lands in Winona, but an ordinance specifically prohibits the use of bow and arrows on publicly owned lands. That restriction affects conservancy-zoned areas of Winona, including much of the blufflands facing the Mississippi River, and council members have previously discussed lifting that constraint.
Council members heard impassioned pleas from residents on both sides of the issue during a public hearing last month. That public involvement spilled over into Monday night's meeting, with Miller saying he had received one petition in favor of the hunt signed by 67 residents and another citizen presenting a survey he helped conduct in which about 65 percent of respondents were against it.
Several council members spoke in favor of asking city staff to work on an ordinance that would have allowed hunting on city-owned lands.
"Other cities have done this for many, many years," White said. "There is an issue. There is a problem."
But no motion to pursue an ordinance was offered, and the motion denying it passed.
Source: Winona Daily News
Council members voted 4-3 against expanding hunting to publicly owned lands, ending the latest round of debate over a topic that has spurred strong reactions from residents both in favor and against the proposal.
Mayor Jerry Miller and council members Tim Breza, Gerry Krage and George Borzyskowski voted for the motion to deny expanding hunting, while council members Debbie White, Deb Salyards and Al Thurley voted against that motion.
Breza previously advocated for the expansion, but made the motion against it Monday because of the divisions over the issue, he said.
"To go forward with a hunt at this time, I think, is counter-productive," he said, calling it a "lose-lose situation."
Hunting, by bow or shotgun, is already allowed on agriculturally zoned lands in Winona, but an ordinance specifically prohibits the use of bow and arrows on publicly owned lands. That restriction affects conservancy-zoned areas of Winona, including much of the blufflands facing the Mississippi River, and council members have previously discussed lifting that constraint.
Council members heard impassioned pleas from residents on both sides of the issue during a public hearing last month. That public involvement spilled over into Monday night's meeting, with Miller saying he had received one petition in favor of the hunt signed by 67 residents and another citizen presenting a survey he helped conduct in which about 65 percent of respondents were against it.
Several council members spoke in favor of asking city staff to work on an ordinance that would have allowed hunting on city-owned lands.
"Other cities have done this for many, many years," White said. "There is an issue. There is a problem."
But no motion to pursue an ordinance was offered, and the motion denying it passed.
Source: Winona Daily News
Friday, March 12, 2010
UTAH NEWS: CWD Detected in Elk
The first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in an Utah elk has been confirmed by state wildlife officials.
Lymph nodes from 1,400 animals -- the bulk of them mule deer and elk, but also some moose -- were collected last fall during the hunting seasons.
Results from Utah State University were returned to Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) officials recently. Five of the mule deer samples came back as positive for CWD,
a fatal and transmissible neurological disease.
One of the 300 elk samples also came back positive. None of the moose tests showed signs of CWD. The positive elk sample came from a cow elk taken in the La Sal Mountains east of Moab.
"It was not really a surprise," said Leslie McFarlane, wildlife disease specialist with the DWR. "It came from an area where we have the highest prevalence of CWD in deer in the state. Elk do not have a high prevalence of the disease."
Thirty-four of the 48 cases of CWD infected deer have come from the La Sals. Another hot spot for CWD in deer is south and east of Mount Nebo in central Utah where seven, including two this year, have originated.
McFarlane said all but one of the positive samples came from animals killed by hunters. The other was a sickly-looking deer reported by the public on the La Sals.
None of the moose samples came back positive. There was some fear that it could have spread into northern Utah after a cow moose in southwestern Wyoming showed up positive in the fall of 2008.
There have been few developments in research or preventing the spread of CWD in the last year and McFarlane said the state wildlife agency is sticking with its position on the threat to people.
"There is no connection of any kind with human health issues," she said. However, McFarlane and the agency still encourages people to avoid eating any big game animals that appear sick and to use caution when handling animals in the field.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Lymph nodes from 1,400 animals -- the bulk of them mule deer and elk, but also some moose -- were collected last fall during the hunting seasons.
Results from Utah State University were returned to Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) officials recently. Five of the mule deer samples came back as positive for CWD,
a fatal and transmissible neurological disease.
One of the 300 elk samples also came back positive. None of the moose tests showed signs of CWD. The positive elk sample came from a cow elk taken in the La Sal Mountains east of Moab.
"It was not really a surprise," said Leslie McFarlane, wildlife disease specialist with the DWR. "It came from an area where we have the highest prevalence of CWD in deer in the state. Elk do not have a high prevalence of the disease."
Thirty-four of the 48 cases of CWD infected deer have come from the La Sals. Another hot spot for CWD in deer is south and east of Mount Nebo in central Utah where seven, including two this year, have originated.
McFarlane said all but one of the positive samples came from animals killed by hunters. The other was a sickly-looking deer reported by the public on the La Sals.
None of the moose samples came back positive. There was some fear that it could have spread into northern Utah after a cow moose in southwestern Wyoming showed up positive in the fall of 2008.
There have been few developments in research or preventing the spread of CWD in the last year and McFarlane said the state wildlife agency is sticking with its position on the threat to people.
"There is no connection of any kind with human health issues," she said. However, McFarlane and the agency still encourages people to avoid eating any big game animals that appear sick and to use caution when handling animals in the field.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
MARYLAND NEWS: Deer Can Be Destructive Indoors, Too
So you're sitting in your home on a quiet Sunday afternoon, when all of a sudden a thunderous roar erupts. You get up to find that two deer have smashed through your front door. One is stuck in the door and the other is now in a tornadic tantrum in your living room.
This was the reality for WTOP staffer Pat Puglisi at his home in Damascus Sunday.
"Suddenly, there was a noise that sounded like the roof came off the house," recalls Puglisi.
"Debris was flying, chairs were coming apart, pots and pans were crashing. It was clear that these two deer had hit my front door like a SWAT team."
Scrambling to make sense of the situation, Puglisi was finally able to usher one deer out another door. The other deer stuck in the glass of the front door was seriously hurt and eventually put down by police.
Traumatic experience? You bet. Costly, too. But as it turns out, this sort of thing is not all that uncommon, especially considering what the deer population looks like in Maryland right now.
"Generally, if you have 20 to 30 deer per square mile, most people can live with that," says Brian Eyler, deer project leader for Maryland's Department of Natural Resources.
"However, right now, in some urban and suburban areas there are 80 to 100 deer per square mile."
The main reason for the population explosion? A lack of predators.
"Humans are pretty much the only predator left when it comes to deer," says Eyler.
"Suburban developments are very good deer habitats -- but a lot of times, hunting is out of the picture. So if you take hunting out of the equation, there's nothing left to control the population."
Eyler says the average deer sets up a "home range" in square miles that is not all that expansive. When there are offspring, those deer also will set up a home range -- often overlapping the original area. Without any predator, the deer survive, thrive and multiply.
State Farm Insurance estimates that every year, about 25,000 accidents on Maryland roads are caused by deer.
Source: WTOP
This was the reality for WTOP staffer Pat Puglisi at his home in Damascus Sunday.
"Suddenly, there was a noise that sounded like the roof came off the house," recalls Puglisi.
"Debris was flying, chairs were coming apart, pots and pans were crashing. It was clear that these two deer had hit my front door like a SWAT team."
Scrambling to make sense of the situation, Puglisi was finally able to usher one deer out another door. The other deer stuck in the glass of the front door was seriously hurt and eventually put down by police.
Traumatic experience? You bet. Costly, too. But as it turns out, this sort of thing is not all that uncommon, especially considering what the deer population looks like in Maryland right now.
"Generally, if you have 20 to 30 deer per square mile, most people can live with that," says Brian Eyler, deer project leader for Maryland's Department of Natural Resources.
"However, right now, in some urban and suburban areas there are 80 to 100 deer per square mile."
The main reason for the population explosion? A lack of predators.
"Humans are pretty much the only predator left when it comes to deer," says Eyler.
"Suburban developments are very good deer habitats -- but a lot of times, hunting is out of the picture. So if you take hunting out of the equation, there's nothing left to control the population."
Eyler says the average deer sets up a "home range" in square miles that is not all that expansive. When there are offspring, those deer also will set up a home range -- often overlapping the original area. Without any predator, the deer survive, thrive and multiply.
State Farm Insurance estimates that every year, about 25,000 accidents on Maryland roads are caused by deer.
Source: WTOP
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
MISSOURI NEWS: CWD Detected in Captive Deer Population
The Missouri Departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Health and Senior Services and USDA announced Feb. 25 that a captive white-tailed deer in Linn County has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. CWD is a neurological disease found in deer, elk and moose.
"There is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to domestic animals or humans," said State Veterinarian Dr. Taylor Woods. "We have protocols in place to quickly and effectively handle these situations."
The animal that tested positive for CWD was a white-tailed deer inspected as part of the state's CWD surveillance and testing program. The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa conducted preliminary tests.
Upon receiving the confirmed CWD positive, Missouri's departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Health and Senior Services initiated their CWD Contingency Plan. The plan was developed in 2002 by the Cervid Health Committee, a task force comprised of veterinarians, animal health officers and conservation officers from USDA, MDA, MDC and DHSS working together to mitigate challenges associated with CWD.
CWD is transmitted by animal-to-animal contact or soil-to-animal contact. The disease was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in the Colorado Division of Wildlife captive wildlife research facility in Fort Collins. CWD has been documented in deer and/or elk in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. There has been no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
"Missouri's proactive steps to put a testing protocol in place and create a contingency plan years ago are proving beneficial. We are in a solid position to follow pre-established steps to ensure Missouri's valuable whitetail deer resource remains healthy and strong," said Jason Sumners Missouri's deer biologist.
Source: Missouri Ruralist
"There is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to domestic animals or humans," said State Veterinarian Dr. Taylor Woods. "We have protocols in place to quickly and effectively handle these situations."
The animal that tested positive for CWD was a white-tailed deer inspected as part of the state's CWD surveillance and testing program. The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa conducted preliminary tests.
Upon receiving the confirmed CWD positive, Missouri's departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Health and Senior Services initiated their CWD Contingency Plan. The plan was developed in 2002 by the Cervid Health Committee, a task force comprised of veterinarians, animal health officers and conservation officers from USDA, MDA, MDC and DHSS working together to mitigate challenges associated with CWD.
CWD is transmitted by animal-to-animal contact or soil-to-animal contact. The disease was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in the Colorado Division of Wildlife captive wildlife research facility in Fort Collins. CWD has been documented in deer and/or elk in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. There has been no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
"Missouri's proactive steps to put a testing protocol in place and create a contingency plan years ago are proving beneficial. We are in a solid position to follow pre-established steps to ensure Missouri's valuable whitetail deer resource remains healthy and strong," said Jason Sumners Missouri's deer biologist.
Source: Missouri Ruralist
Monday, March 01, 2010
OHIO NEWS: 2009 Record Deer Harvest
The numbers are in, and they're big.
It was a highly successful year for Ohio whitetail deer hunters as a record 261,314 deer were harvested.
The total breaks last year's harvest of just over 252,000, and continues the state's steady rise in deer kills. In 2003, hunters took just under 198,000 deer, and 10 years prior to that, the total was 138,752.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife went into the hunting season with the goal of providing more opportunities and reducing the number of does, and while the state hasn't released the breakdown of does vs. bucks, it's safe to say Ohioans certainly had their "opportunity" to take a whitetail this year.
"Ohio deer hunters had another great year and continue to play a vital role in managing Ohio's deer herd. They've embraced regulation changes which increased the harvest of antlerless deer and they've donated a significant amount of venison to feed the less fortunate in Ohio through the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program," said David M. Graham, chief of the Division of Wildlife.
The deer gun season resulted in the greatest portion of the overall harvest with 114,281 deer taken. Archery hunters took a total of 91,521. Deer killed during the early muzzleloader season (491), at controlled hunts (690), youth-gun season (9,270), the extra deer gun weekend (20,054), and the statewide muzzleloader season (25,007) added to the overall total.
Source: The Daily Record
It was a highly successful year for Ohio whitetail deer hunters as a record 261,314 deer were harvested.
The total breaks last year's harvest of just over 252,000, and continues the state's steady rise in deer kills. In 2003, hunters took just under 198,000 deer, and 10 years prior to that, the total was 138,752.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife went into the hunting season with the goal of providing more opportunities and reducing the number of does, and while the state hasn't released the breakdown of does vs. bucks, it's safe to say Ohioans certainly had their "opportunity" to take a whitetail this year.
"Ohio deer hunters had another great year and continue to play a vital role in managing Ohio's deer herd. They've embraced regulation changes which increased the harvest of antlerless deer and they've donated a significant amount of venison to feed the less fortunate in Ohio through the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program," said David M. Graham, chief of the Division of Wildlife.
The deer gun season resulted in the greatest portion of the overall harvest with 114,281 deer taken. Archery hunters took a total of 91,521. Deer killed during the early muzzleloader season (491), at controlled hunts (690), youth-gun season (9,270), the extra deer gun weekend (20,054), and the statewide muzzleloader season (25,007) added to the overall total.
Source: The Daily Record
SCOTLAND NEWS: Wildlife Trust Calls for Deer Cull
A conservation charity has called for the annual cull of deer in Scotland to continue because large numbers of the animals are starving to death.
The Scottish Wildlife Trust said the harsh winter had left many deer suffering through lack of food.
It wants them culled to prevent "inhumane suffering" and further damage to Scotland's environment caused by large deer populations.
The stalking period for female deer in Scotland ended on 15 February.
The charity said deer numbers in Scotland had reached record levels due to the absence of natural predators.
Together, the population of the country's two native species, the red deer and the roe deer, total more than 350,000 - about double the numbers recorded 50 years ago.
Simon Milne, SWT's chief executive, said: "We are a wildlife protection charity calling for more deer to be culled.
"I understand that this might surprise some people, but our reasoning is sound.
"Red deer numbers have been steadily increasing in recent decades to the point where, in some areas, they are causing damage to the natural environment."
Mr Milne said the animals were facing a "double whammy" because they were competing for limited food and also had to contend with prolonged wintery weather.
He added: "Red deer are really a woodland species and the now treeless environment of many parts of Scotland simply does not satisfy their basic need for shelter, particularly in bad weather.
"Too many deer and not enough food is resulting in starvation."
Source: BBC
The Scottish Wildlife Trust said the harsh winter had left many deer suffering through lack of food.
It wants them culled to prevent "inhumane suffering" and further damage to Scotland's environment caused by large deer populations.
The stalking period for female deer in Scotland ended on 15 February.
The charity said deer numbers in Scotland had reached record levels due to the absence of natural predators.
Together, the population of the country's two native species, the red deer and the roe deer, total more than 350,000 - about double the numbers recorded 50 years ago.
Simon Milne, SWT's chief executive, said: "We are a wildlife protection charity calling for more deer to be culled.
"I understand that this might surprise some people, but our reasoning is sound.
"Red deer numbers have been steadily increasing in recent decades to the point where, in some areas, they are causing damage to the natural environment."
Mr Milne said the animals were facing a "double whammy" because they were competing for limited food and also had to contend with prolonged wintery weather.
He added: "Red deer are really a woodland species and the now treeless environment of many parts of Scotland simply does not satisfy their basic need for shelter, particularly in bad weather.
"Too many deer and not enough food is resulting in starvation."
Source: BBC
Friday, February 19, 2010
NEBRASKA NEWS: Extended Season Proposed
Officials are proposing an extra season to help cut Nebraska's plentiful supply of deer.
If approved by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, an Oct. 2-11 season would be in addition to the November firearms season.
Farmers have been complaining about damage to their crops by voracious deer, and collisions with deer remain a big concern along Nebraska roadways.
Kit Hams of the Game and Parks commission says biologists want to cut eastern Nebraska's whitetail population by a quarter.
The Oct. 2-11 season would be limited to female deer and would be open to about two-thirds of the state. Any legal weapon could be used, including rifles.
The proposed season will be considered by the commissioners at their March 19 meeting in Lincoln.
Source: Nebraska.TV
If approved by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, an Oct. 2-11 season would be in addition to the November firearms season.
Farmers have been complaining about damage to their crops by voracious deer, and collisions with deer remain a big concern along Nebraska roadways.
Kit Hams of the Game and Parks commission says biologists want to cut eastern Nebraska's whitetail population by a quarter.
The Oct. 2-11 season would be limited to female deer and would be open to about two-thirds of the state. Any legal weapon could be used, including rifles.
The proposed season will be considered by the commissioners at their March 19 meeting in Lincoln.
Source: Nebraska.TV
MARYLAND NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2009, Toppling 2008 Record
Maryland wildlife managers say the weak economy has led to a record-high deer harvest for the second straight year. The Department of Natural Resources said Thursday that hunters killed 100,663 white-tailed and sika deer in the 2009-2010 season. That's 226 more than the previous season. Deer Project Leader Brian Eyler said that in a weak economy, hunters try to put more venison in the freezer. - Associated Press
Source: Baltimore Sun
Source: Baltimore Sun
INDIANA NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2009
State wildlife officials say Indiana deer hunters set a record harvest in 2009 by killing more than 130,000 deer.
Reports submitted from 453 check stations across Indiana placed the 2009 total at 132,752 deer. That's more than 3,000, or 2 percent, above the 2008 harvest of 129,748. That was the previous record.
Department of Natural Resources deer management biologist Chad Stewart says deer hunting license sales have increased for the last couple of years. He says people may have more time to hunt because of high unemployment.
Source: Indianapolis Star
Reports submitted from 453 check stations across Indiana placed the 2009 total at 132,752 deer. That's more than 3,000, or 2 percent, above the 2008 harvest of 129,748. That was the previous record.
Department of Natural Resources deer management biologist Chad Stewart says deer hunting license sales have increased for the last couple of years. He says people may have more time to hunt because of high unemployment.
Source: Indianapolis Star
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
OHIO NEWS: Broadview Heights Approves Deer Hunt
After months of debate and discussion among council and residents, a deer hunting decision has finally been made.
The ordinance passed 4-3 Tuesday, with council members Helen Dunlap, Tom Pavlica, Roy
Stewart and George Stelmaschuk voting for the ordinance. Against the ordinance were Robert Boldt, Jennifer Mahnic and Joe Price.
The proposed ordinance was first viewed in a Rules, Ordinances and Franchise Committee meeting back in December, but the issue has been discussed in several forms in years past.
Because of numerous changes over the course of two months that the ordinance was discussed, members of council were able to suggest amendments to sections.
Amendments made include limiting hunting to only one parcel of land of at least 5 acres, with no special circumstances allowed. The declaring an emergency clause was also taken out.
Councilman at-large Joe Price attempted to remove allowing crossbows, but no other council person seconded that motion.
Residents flocked to Tuesday’s meeting to speak before a decision was made, with a few speaking after.
Tish O’Dell, of McCreary Road referenced the petition on broadview-deer.com, stating there are more than 150 signatures listed of those residents against the ordinance.
The main purpose of the petition is to put the vote to a ballot so that the majority of residents could be heard.
“I think bow hunting is an inhumane way to address this issue,” said Kathy Bianchi of
Thackeray Court. “It’s opening up a terrible can of worms...(pinning) neighbor against neighbor.”
The mayor said in a previous work session that the e-mails he was receiving on the legislation were 60/40 against the ordinance. Both sides were present Tuesday.
“The deer come right up to the windows at night,” said Roger Brain, of McCreary Road. “If you look at the deer population, those deer can reproduce in nine months. If you think you have a problem now, wait four to five years.”
After the decision was made, Council President Helen Dunlap called for a five minute break allowing people to leave if they chose, which nearly cleared the room.
There were residents who chose to stay and compliment council for making a decision.
“I just wanted to thank all of you,” said Steve Kocan of Akins Road. “It maybe didn’t go my way, but I know you gave it some good thought.”
Source: Sun Star Currier
The ordinance passed 4-3 Tuesday, with council members Helen Dunlap, Tom Pavlica, Roy
Stewart and George Stelmaschuk voting for the ordinance. Against the ordinance were Robert Boldt, Jennifer Mahnic and Joe Price.
The proposed ordinance was first viewed in a Rules, Ordinances and Franchise Committee meeting back in December, but the issue has been discussed in several forms in years past.
Because of numerous changes over the course of two months that the ordinance was discussed, members of council were able to suggest amendments to sections.
Amendments made include limiting hunting to only one parcel of land of at least 5 acres, with no special circumstances allowed. The declaring an emergency clause was also taken out.
Councilman at-large Joe Price attempted to remove allowing crossbows, but no other council person seconded that motion.
Residents flocked to Tuesday’s meeting to speak before a decision was made, with a few speaking after.
Tish O’Dell, of McCreary Road referenced the petition on broadview-deer.com, stating there are more than 150 signatures listed of those residents against the ordinance.
The main purpose of the petition is to put the vote to a ballot so that the majority of residents could be heard.
“I think bow hunting is an inhumane way to address this issue,” said Kathy Bianchi of
Thackeray Court. “It’s opening up a terrible can of worms...(pinning) neighbor against neighbor.”
The mayor said in a previous work session that the e-mails he was receiving on the legislation were 60/40 against the ordinance. Both sides were present Tuesday.
“The deer come right up to the windows at night,” said Roger Brain, of McCreary Road. “If you look at the deer population, those deer can reproduce in nine months. If you think you have a problem now, wait four to five years.”
After the decision was made, Council President Helen Dunlap called for a five minute break allowing people to leave if they chose, which nearly cleared the room.
There were residents who chose to stay and compliment council for making a decision.
“I just wanted to thank all of you,” said Steve Kocan of Akins Road. “It maybe didn’t go my way, but I know you gave it some good thought.”
Source: Sun Star Currier
PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH: Limited Benefit of Woody Debris on Regeneration
Deer can limit forest regeneration following logging. Foresters use woody debris to limit deer browsing impacts to new seedlings; it is one tool of many. The idea is this: woody debris creates a physical barrier that protects seedlings from browsing. It is not 100% effective, but it is thought to boost seedling survival by a few percent. In reforestation, a few percent can mean the difference between regeneration success and regeneration failure.
Kruger and Peterson (2009) investigated this technique in northwestern Pennsylvania. They carefully quantified the size of woody debris--this is seldom done in other studies. They found no benefit of leaving woody debris. Beneath and adjacent to woody debris, they found lower seedling densities. Instead, a recalcitrant understory of ferns developed. They argue that woody debris limits light, and this is more important than browsing. This study contradicts conventional wisdom and some of the published literature.
Woody debris retention works in some places at some times. It seems to me that the benefit of woody debris retention will be influenced to a great extent by context dependence. Kruger and Peterson have conducted a careful study and produced some counter-intuitive results. It is incumbent upon other researchers to see how well these results hold up in other locations.
Source: Kruger, L.M. and C.J. Peterson. 2009. Effects of woody debris and ferns on herb-layer vegetation and deer herbivory in a Pennsylvania forest blowdown. Ecoscience 16: 461-469.
Kruger and Peterson (2009) investigated this technique in northwestern Pennsylvania. They carefully quantified the size of woody debris--this is seldom done in other studies. They found no benefit of leaving woody debris. Beneath and adjacent to woody debris, they found lower seedling densities. Instead, a recalcitrant understory of ferns developed. They argue that woody debris limits light, and this is more important than browsing. This study contradicts conventional wisdom and some of the published literature.
Woody debris retention works in some places at some times. It seems to me that the benefit of woody debris retention will be influenced to a great extent by context dependence. Kruger and Peterson have conducted a careful study and produced some counter-intuitive results. It is incumbent upon other researchers to see how well these results hold up in other locations.
Source: Kruger, L.M. and C.J. Peterson. 2009. Effects of woody debris and ferns on herb-layer vegetation and deer herbivory in a Pennsylvania forest blowdown. Ecoscience 16: 461-469.
UK NEWS: Cold Weather Killing Deer
The "big chill" has delayed the arrival of spring flowers by up to one month and threatened thousands of deer with starvation as snow and ice bury the plants on which they survive.
With the Met Office warning of the possibility of icy weather again today, more evidence emerged, if we needed it, of just how the coldest January in years has hit wildlife and gardens at opposite ends of Britain.
Large numbers of red and roe deer are thought to have succumbed to lack of food in Scotland, with several estates having stopped deer shoots, although the annual cull of red deer hinds does not stop until next Monday. The Deer commission for Scotland has advised managers that they should continue with the roe deer cull, which does not end until next month.
One estate official told the BBC: "As the snow melts and people return to the hills, they will find dead deer. There's no doubt about that." Colin McLean, wildlife manager at the Glen Tanar estate on Deeside, added: "The sheer depth of snow has prevented deer getting at their food in certain places, and the frost has frozen the snow and they can't dig through it. It's nature at work."
But the commission said animals should still be shot on welfare grounds. "Natural mortality is an ongoing event, but this year it's going to be much greater than normal because of the weather we have had," said Robbie Kernahan, its director of deer management. "We'd encourage deer managers to get out and make sure they are removing the animals at greatest risk, which are likely to suffer through March and April."
Although this winter has been exceptional, UK spring has been arriving earlier than ever due to climate change. A major study released earlier this month compiled 25,000 records of springtime trends for 726 species of plants, animals, plankton, insects, amphibians, birds and fish across land, sea and freshwater habitats. It analysed them for changes in the timing of lifecycle events, such as egg laying, first flights and flowering, a science known as phenology. The results showed that more than 80% of trends between 1976 and 2005 indicated earlier seasonal events.
There were warnings of more snow, frost and ice today and tomorrow in areas as far apart as northern Scotland, the south-west, central and western England, eastern Wales, and Northern Ireland. But the good news is that spring, when it arrives, should be spectacular, according to the National Trust.
It predicted a riot of colour from the "perfect weather barometers" of its garden plants. The trust has widened its regular flower count from properties in Devon and Cornwall, where UK spring blooms traditionally appear first, to other sites. In the south-west, last year's wet summer and warm autumn put magnolias heavily in bud. So while they may flower late this year, the display will be "fabulous". At Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, the famous snowdrops collections are expected to be in full bloom next week, two to three weeks later than over the past decade.
Ian Wright, the trust's garden adviser in Devon and Cornwall, said that "once it warms up, everything will be blooming at once, rather than over a longer period of time, so we can expect a spectacular spring."
Source: The Guardian
With the Met Office warning of the possibility of icy weather again today, more evidence emerged, if we needed it, of just how the coldest January in years has hit wildlife and gardens at opposite ends of Britain.
Large numbers of red and roe deer are thought to have succumbed to lack of food in Scotland, with several estates having stopped deer shoots, although the annual cull of red deer hinds does not stop until next Monday. The Deer commission for Scotland has advised managers that they should continue with the roe deer cull, which does not end until next month.
One estate official told the BBC: "As the snow melts and people return to the hills, they will find dead deer. There's no doubt about that." Colin McLean, wildlife manager at the Glen Tanar estate on Deeside, added: "The sheer depth of snow has prevented deer getting at their food in certain places, and the frost has frozen the snow and they can't dig through it. It's nature at work."
But the commission said animals should still be shot on welfare grounds. "Natural mortality is an ongoing event, but this year it's going to be much greater than normal because of the weather we have had," said Robbie Kernahan, its director of deer management. "We'd encourage deer managers to get out and make sure they are removing the animals at greatest risk, which are likely to suffer through March and April."
Although this winter has been exceptional, UK spring has been arriving earlier than ever due to climate change. A major study released earlier this month compiled 25,000 records of springtime trends for 726 species of plants, animals, plankton, insects, amphibians, birds and fish across land, sea and freshwater habitats. It analysed them for changes in the timing of lifecycle events, such as egg laying, first flights and flowering, a science known as phenology. The results showed that more than 80% of trends between 1976 and 2005 indicated earlier seasonal events.
There were warnings of more snow, frost and ice today and tomorrow in areas as far apart as northern Scotland, the south-west, central and western England, eastern Wales, and Northern Ireland. But the good news is that spring, when it arrives, should be spectacular, according to the National Trust.
It predicted a riot of colour from the "perfect weather barometers" of its garden plants. The trust has widened its regular flower count from properties in Devon and Cornwall, where UK spring blooms traditionally appear first, to other sites. In the south-west, last year's wet summer and warm autumn put magnolias heavily in bud. So while they may flower late this year, the display will be "fabulous". At Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, the famous snowdrops collections are expected to be in full bloom next week, two to three weeks later than over the past decade.
Ian Wright, the trust's garden adviser in Devon and Cornwall, said that "once it warms up, everything will be blooming at once, rather than over a longer period of time, so we can expect a spectacular spring."
Source: The Guardian
Monday, February 15, 2010
IOWA NEWS: Near Record Deer Harvest in 2009
Iowa hunters harvested 136,504 deer in 2009, of which, 71,273 were does continuing a five-year trend reducing the size of Iowa’s deer herd.
This harvest is about 5,750 fewer deer than were reported in 2008. Although the totals would likely have been closer with perfect hunting conditions, some decline was not surprising given that there were fewer deer than in 2008.
Tom Litchfield, state deer biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said hunters have done a good job in moving Iowa’s deer herd toward population goals. While he expects the harvest to decrease some in future years, this decrease will be primarily the result of fewer antlerless deer in the harvest.
The recent harvest is one gauge of the deer herd. Others are still underway, including aerial surveys, road killed data and the spring spotlight surveys.
Litchfield said based on the preliminary information, there is potential for reductions of the number of antlerless deer licenses available in about 20 counties in east central, northeast and southeast Iowa. He also said the November antlerless deer season will likely be a thing of the past within two years.
“The bulk of our counties will be at goal within two more years. Counties near Des Moines — Dallas, Madison and Warren — may take longer because we have larger refuge areas to address, and counties in the midwestern part of the state along the Missouri River will likely be last to meet the population objectives,” he said.
“As for the Des Moines area counties and rural subdivisions, we must harvest deer where they are considered a problem and not just in the rural areas in attempts to lower the countywide population. If we can hold a special deer hunt in Waterworks, we can hold one anywhere.”
Surveys in north central and northwest Iowa show deer are concentrated in areas with good habitat, but also show there are areas with very few deer.
“There is less overall habitat in the region. CRP lands, fence rows and groves are being taken out making deer more susceptible. If there is not enough cover in the open country for pheasants, there is not enough for deer,” Litchfield said.
While the size of the deer herd is shrinking, the quality remains exceptional.
“Our deer herds are healthy and we are still producing trophy deer. The deer classic will help as a barometer. Last year, there were about 90 deer that qualified for the Boone and Crockett record book at the event. That was an exceptional year, even for Iowa. And some of the bucks were of proportions that you can’t expect to see every year,” Litchfield said.
Once all the numbers are in, Litchfield said it is important that they review how each season went.
Once a deer herd starts to decline, care needs to be taken because that can get out of hand.
“It’s like sledding down a hill. It’s easy to stop at the top, but if you do not monitor and control your decent, you may find yourself heading towards a place you did not want to go,” he said.
Source: Globe Gazette
This harvest is about 5,750 fewer deer than were reported in 2008. Although the totals would likely have been closer with perfect hunting conditions, some decline was not surprising given that there were fewer deer than in 2008.
Tom Litchfield, state deer biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said hunters have done a good job in moving Iowa’s deer herd toward population goals. While he expects the harvest to decrease some in future years, this decrease will be primarily the result of fewer antlerless deer in the harvest.
The recent harvest is one gauge of the deer herd. Others are still underway, including aerial surveys, road killed data and the spring spotlight surveys.
Litchfield said based on the preliminary information, there is potential for reductions of the number of antlerless deer licenses available in about 20 counties in east central, northeast and southeast Iowa. He also said the November antlerless deer season will likely be a thing of the past within two years.
“The bulk of our counties will be at goal within two more years. Counties near Des Moines — Dallas, Madison and Warren — may take longer because we have larger refuge areas to address, and counties in the midwestern part of the state along the Missouri River will likely be last to meet the population objectives,” he said.
“As for the Des Moines area counties and rural subdivisions, we must harvest deer where they are considered a problem and not just in the rural areas in attempts to lower the countywide population. If we can hold a special deer hunt in Waterworks, we can hold one anywhere.”
Surveys in north central and northwest Iowa show deer are concentrated in areas with good habitat, but also show there are areas with very few deer.
“There is less overall habitat in the region. CRP lands, fence rows and groves are being taken out making deer more susceptible. If there is not enough cover in the open country for pheasants, there is not enough for deer,” Litchfield said.
While the size of the deer herd is shrinking, the quality remains exceptional.
“Our deer herds are healthy and we are still producing trophy deer. The deer classic will help as a barometer. Last year, there were about 90 deer that qualified for the Boone and Crockett record book at the event. That was an exceptional year, even for Iowa. And some of the bucks were of proportions that you can’t expect to see every year,” Litchfield said.
Once all the numbers are in, Litchfield said it is important that they review how each season went.
Once a deer herd starts to decline, care needs to be taken because that can get out of hand.
“It’s like sledding down a hill. It’s easy to stop at the top, but if you do not monitor and control your decent, you may find yourself heading towards a place you did not want to go,” he said.
Source: Globe Gazette
MAINE NEWS: Deer Harvest Lowest Since 1930s
Wildlife officials say hunters killed 18,045 deer in Maine last fall, a 14 percent decline from 2008 and the smallest deer harvest since the 1930s.
Wildlife biologists were projecting a small harvest because the deer herd had shrunk following two straight winters with deep snow packs and cold temperatures.
But two weeks of poor hunting conditions in November drove the numbers even lower than expected.
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife officials say the deer kill in Maine fell less sharply than it did in the neighboring Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, where the harvest was down more than 30 percent.
Source: Boston.com
Wildlife biologists were projecting a small harvest because the deer herd had shrunk following two straight winters with deep snow packs and cold temperatures.
But two weeks of poor hunting conditions in November drove the numbers even lower than expected.
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife officials say the deer kill in Maine fell less sharply than it did in the neighboring Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, where the harvest was down more than 30 percent.
Source: Boston.com
Friday, February 12, 2010
MINNESOTA NEWS: State Deer Harvest Down
Final figures from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirm what hunters suspected last fall: The state deer kill was down from 2008.
Hunters took 194,200 whitetails in 2009, about 12 percent fewer than in 2008. The DNR's final figures include archery, firearms and muzzleloader season results.
It was the lowest deer kill since 1999, when hunters took 181,000.
The lower kill was by design, said Lou Cornicelli, DNR big-game program coordinator. After years of high deer numbers and permits, the agency dropped the number of permits last year.
Far fewer antlerless, or doe, permits were allocated, especially in northern Minnesota, because the deer herd there was smaller, Cornicelli said.
Because does are the population engine for a deer herd, DNR managers cut back on those permits last year because the DNR's population goals had been met.
The antlerless deer kill dropped 21 percent last year, compared to 2008, while the buck kill only dropped 1 percent.
It's likely overall permit numbers this fall will remain about the same as last year, although liberal permit numbers will be allowed in southeast Minnesota and north of the Twin Cities where the herd is still large.
"I think in a lot of places, we're where we want to be," Cornicelli said of the deer herd size.
"Most of our high population issues are in the southeast and north metro. And we're still trying to increase the herd in the southwest."
The DNR would like to keep the state's deer kill to a range around 200,000, and not the high levels of 2003-2007, when the deer kill ranged from 291,000 (2003) and 256,000 (2005).
"I think 200,000 might be our deer maintenance harvest," Cornicelli said. "Our polls tell us people view deer hunting about being with family and friends" not a high deer kill, he said.
Archery hunters killed 20,700 deer last year, down 9 percent from 2008. The firearms deer kill was 165,400, down 13 percent, and the muzzleloader kill was 8,100, down 15 percent.
Minnesota hunters killed 99,800 antlerless deer and 94,400 bucks in 2009.
Source: Pioneer Press
Hunters took 194,200 whitetails in 2009, about 12 percent fewer than in 2008. The DNR's final figures include archery, firearms and muzzleloader season results.
It was the lowest deer kill since 1999, when hunters took 181,000.
The lower kill was by design, said Lou Cornicelli, DNR big-game program coordinator. After years of high deer numbers and permits, the agency dropped the number of permits last year.
Far fewer antlerless, or doe, permits were allocated, especially in northern Minnesota, because the deer herd there was smaller, Cornicelli said.
Because does are the population engine for a deer herd, DNR managers cut back on those permits last year because the DNR's population goals had been met.
The antlerless deer kill dropped 21 percent last year, compared to 2008, while the buck kill only dropped 1 percent.
It's likely overall permit numbers this fall will remain about the same as last year, although liberal permit numbers will be allowed in southeast Minnesota and north of the Twin Cities where the herd is still large.
"I think in a lot of places, we're where we want to be," Cornicelli said of the deer herd size.
"Most of our high population issues are in the southeast and north metro. And we're still trying to increase the herd in the southwest."
The DNR would like to keep the state's deer kill to a range around 200,000, and not the high levels of 2003-2007, when the deer kill ranged from 291,000 (2003) and 256,000 (2005).
"I think 200,000 might be our deer maintenance harvest," Cornicelli said. "Our polls tell us people view deer hunting about being with family and friends" not a high deer kill, he said.
Archery hunters killed 20,700 deer last year, down 9 percent from 2008. The firearms deer kill was 165,400, down 13 percent, and the muzzleloader kill was 8,100, down 15 percent.
Minnesota hunters killed 99,800 antlerless deer and 94,400 bucks in 2009.
Source: Pioneer Press
Thursday, February 11, 2010
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Culls of Hilltop Reservation Begin
The Essex County 2010 Deer Management Program began at Hilltop Reservation as scheduled on Tuesday, with several deer being culled, or killed, during a hunt conducted by trained marksmen.
"It was very successful this morning," Essex County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura said of the program on Tuesday afternoon, citing several deer were culled from the reservation.
The management program is scheduled to continue today, as well as on Feb. 16, 18, 23 and 25. The program is also being conducted at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange on the same dates.
The deer management program at South Mountain Reservation, which began last month, was scheduled to end today. South Mountain Reservation is located in Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange.
The Hilltop includes portions of Verona, Cedar Gove and North Caldwell. The reservation will be closed on those days to ensure the public's safety, said county officials last month.
Fontoura said sections of Fairview Avenue are also being closed on mornings and afternoons as marksmen conduct the management program for safety reasons as well. Parts of Fairview boarder the reservation.
Fontoura said Fairview Avenue will be closed between Durrell Street in Verona and Skytop Road in Cedar Grove as marksmen conduct the program.
Fontoura said Essex County Sheriff's officers are manning the roadblocks on Fairview Avenue, and monitoring the detours these roadblocks are creating through Verona and Cedar Grove.
Fontoura added Verona, Cedar Grove and North Caldwell police officers are also patrolling the area around the reservation and are on call to lend sheriff officers assistance if needed.
During the program, no more than six agents are assigned to cull Hilltop Reservation deer. The program's goal is to remove at least 50 deer from the reservation, but there is no limit to the number they can kill.
Essex County Wildlife Management Consultant Dan Bernier said volunteer, experienced marksmen are using shotguns with telescopic views and slugs to cull the deer. The hunters are shooting from tree stands 20 feet high, so that the only direction they can aim is toward the ground. All of the shooting is taking place during daylight hours.
This is the third year the county is conducting its deer management program. There were 213 deer culled from South Mountain Reservation in 2008 and 83 removed in 2009. A total of 202 unborn deer were also culled from 2008-2009.
This is the first year the program is being conducted at Hilltop and Eagle Rock Reservations.
Last fall, the Verona and Cedar Grove town councils unanimously adopted resolutions endorsing the deer-management program. The towns also signed indemnification agreements with the county, making the county liable for any injury or legal action that might occur during the program.
But those indemnification agreements didn't do much to damper the concerns of a number of area residents who showed up at Verona's last council meeting on Feb. 1 to voice their concerns about the county's deer management program at Hilltop.
One these residents, Valerie Wolfson told township officials many residents are frustrated about the program, and don't understand why the governing body decided to endorse it.
"We who love nature have been ignored," Wolfson told officials at the meeting. "There's a lot of frustration about this. We feel that we have been overlooked, and it's not fair."
Source: NorthJersey.com
"It was very successful this morning," Essex County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura said of the program on Tuesday afternoon, citing several deer were culled from the reservation.
The management program is scheduled to continue today, as well as on Feb. 16, 18, 23 and 25. The program is also being conducted at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange on the same dates.
The deer management program at South Mountain Reservation, which began last month, was scheduled to end today. South Mountain Reservation is located in Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange.
The Hilltop includes portions of Verona, Cedar Gove and North Caldwell. The reservation will be closed on those days to ensure the public's safety, said county officials last month.
Fontoura said sections of Fairview Avenue are also being closed on mornings and afternoons as marksmen conduct the management program for safety reasons as well. Parts of Fairview boarder the reservation.
Fontoura said Fairview Avenue will be closed between Durrell Street in Verona and Skytop Road in Cedar Grove as marksmen conduct the program.
Fontoura said Essex County Sheriff's officers are manning the roadblocks on Fairview Avenue, and monitoring the detours these roadblocks are creating through Verona and Cedar Grove.
Fontoura added Verona, Cedar Grove and North Caldwell police officers are also patrolling the area around the reservation and are on call to lend sheriff officers assistance if needed.
During the program, no more than six agents are assigned to cull Hilltop Reservation deer. The program's goal is to remove at least 50 deer from the reservation, but there is no limit to the number they can kill.
Essex County Wildlife Management Consultant Dan Bernier said volunteer, experienced marksmen are using shotguns with telescopic views and slugs to cull the deer. The hunters are shooting from tree stands 20 feet high, so that the only direction they can aim is toward the ground. All of the shooting is taking place during daylight hours.
This is the third year the county is conducting its deer management program. There were 213 deer culled from South Mountain Reservation in 2008 and 83 removed in 2009. A total of 202 unborn deer were also culled from 2008-2009.
This is the first year the program is being conducted at Hilltop and Eagle Rock Reservations.
Last fall, the Verona and Cedar Grove town councils unanimously adopted resolutions endorsing the deer-management program. The towns also signed indemnification agreements with the county, making the county liable for any injury or legal action that might occur during the program.
But those indemnification agreements didn't do much to damper the concerns of a number of area residents who showed up at Verona's last council meeting on Feb. 1 to voice their concerns about the county's deer management program at Hilltop.
One these residents, Valerie Wolfson told township officials many residents are frustrated about the program, and don't understand why the governing body decided to endorse it.
"We who love nature have been ignored," Wolfson told officials at the meeting. "There's a lot of frustration about this. We feel that we have been overlooked, and it's not fair."
Source: NorthJersey.com
MINNESOTA NEWS: Nature Center to Cull Deer
To the staff at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center, trees are an important and expensive part of their 507 acres, but trees are more like candy to the 140 or so deer who roam there. (This is 176 deer per square mile!)
Those apple, oaks, white cedars and maples could see more growth and less snacking if naturalist and nature center director Larry Dolphin gets his way.
Dolphin received permission from the city's parks, recreation and forestry board last week to start work on the first deer hunt at the nature center in six years. The project may come back to the park board for another decision later this year. The Austin City Council will have the final vote.
Source: Post Bulletin
Those apple, oaks, white cedars and maples could see more growth and less snacking if naturalist and nature center director Larry Dolphin gets his way.
Dolphin received permission from the city's parks, recreation and forestry board last week to start work on the first deer hunt at the nature center in six years. The project may come back to the park board for another decision later this year. The Austin City Council will have the final vote.
Source: Post Bulletin
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
IOWA NEWS: Deer Harvest Down Slightly in 2009
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday that hunters harvested fewer deer in the latest season than the previous year, but numbers overall were very good.
Iowa hunters harvested 136,504 deer in 2009, a 5,750 drop over 2008 numbers, officials said.
Officials said the numbers continue a five year trend of reducing the size of Iowa's deer herd.
Source: KCCI
Iowa hunters harvested 136,504 deer in 2009, a 5,750 drop over 2008 numbers, officials said.
Officials said the numbers continue a five year trend of reducing the size of Iowa's deer herd.
Source: KCCI
Monday, February 08, 2010
KANSAS NEWS: Shawnee Mission Cull Ends
The deer harvest has been completed at Shawnee Mission Park, with a total count of 342 deer culled from the herd.
Sharpshooters killed 313 deer, but park officials determined the number did not meet the goal. Archers killed an additional 29 deer in December and January.
Park officials had hoped to reduce the herd to 50 per square mile. However, they said Thursday it appeared they fell short. A deer population survey will be conducted in a few weeks to determine the size of the herd.
Following the sharpshooter phase, a survey estimated that the herd had been reduced to 73 deer per square mile.
Source: Kansas City Star
Sharpshooters killed 313 deer, but park officials determined the number did not meet the goal. Archers killed an additional 29 deer in December and January.
Park officials had hoped to reduce the herd to 50 per square mile. However, they said Thursday it appeared they fell short. A deer population survey will be conducted in a few weeks to determine the size of the herd.
Following the sharpshooter phase, a survey estimated that the herd had been reduced to 73 deer per square mile.
Source: Kansas City Star
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
RESEARCH NEWS: Using Predators To Reverse Deer Impacts
Researchers writing in the February issue of BioScience propose reintroducing small, managed populations of wolves into national parks and other areas in order to restore damaged ecosystems.
The populations would not be self-sustaining, and may consist of a single pack. But the BioScience authors suggest that even managed populations could bring ecological, educational, recreational, scientific, and economic benefits.
The authors, Daniel S. Licht, of the National Park Service, and four coauthors, note that research in recent years has shown the importance of wolves to ecosystems in which they naturally occur. For example, the presence of wolves usually leads to fewer ungulates, which in turn generally means more plant biomass and biodiversity. Wolves can also increase tourism.
Licht and his coauthors believe that wolves introduced for the purpose of ecosystem stewardship, rather than for the creation of self-sustaining wolf populations, could enhance public understanding and appreciation of the animals. Advances in real-time animal tracking made possible through global positioning system technology, as well as the use of contraception and surgery, could help in controlling the growth of introduced populations. This approach might mitigate concerns about depredation of livestock and game, attacks on pets, and human safety, Licht and colleagues maintain. Fences could also play a role.
Wolves were introduced to Coronation Island, Alaska, for ecosystem restoration in 1960, and they successfully controlled deer there before the wolf population grew and subsequently crashed. Licht and his coauthors suggest that with more intensive management this unfavorable outcome could have been avoided, and that desirable results could be expected at many sites in North America and elsewhere, provided there are sufficient prey.
Source: Science Daily
The populations would not be self-sustaining, and may consist of a single pack. But the BioScience authors suggest that even managed populations could bring ecological, educational, recreational, scientific, and economic benefits.
The authors, Daniel S. Licht, of the National Park Service, and four coauthors, note that research in recent years has shown the importance of wolves to ecosystems in which they naturally occur. For example, the presence of wolves usually leads to fewer ungulates, which in turn generally means more plant biomass and biodiversity. Wolves can also increase tourism.
Licht and his coauthors believe that wolves introduced for the purpose of ecosystem stewardship, rather than for the creation of self-sustaining wolf populations, could enhance public understanding and appreciation of the animals. Advances in real-time animal tracking made possible through global positioning system technology, as well as the use of contraception and surgery, could help in controlling the growth of introduced populations. This approach might mitigate concerns about depredation of livestock and game, attacks on pets, and human safety, Licht and colleagues maintain. Fences could also play a role.
Wolves were introduced to Coronation Island, Alaska, for ecosystem restoration in 1960, and they successfully controlled deer there before the wolf population grew and subsequently crashed. Licht and his coauthors suggest that with more intensive management this unfavorable outcome could have been avoided, and that desirable results could be expected at many sites in North America and elsewhere, provided there are sufficient prey.
Source: Science Daily
Monday, February 01, 2010
MONTANA NEWS: Statewide, Mule Deer Numbers Decline
It’s tough to be a mule deer in Montana these days.
The big-bodied deer draw lots of hunting pressure all over the state, although not always the same hunters. For the past three years, mule deer numbers have been declining and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials are trying to turn the trend.
In western Montana, poor mule deer numbers are tracking equally poor white-tailed deer populations. But the two species are regulated differently, with more liberal either-sex hunting opportunities for whitetails. That puts the focus on the other predators: wolves, mountain lions and bears, according to Region 2 wildlife program manager Mike Thompson.
While wolf predation has been getting most of the attention lately, Thompson said lions shouldn’t be discounted. The agency increased its lion hunting quota last year to see what impact extra cat hunting might have. That data should be coming later this spring, when hunting regulations might see further lion focus.
Montana’s wolf quota filled quickly in the two western hunting districts last fall. Wildlife managers are studying the results of the hunt over the winter as they await a federal court ruling on the wolf’s threatened species status. That decision will either allow or prohibit a 2010 wolf hunting season.
Habitat is another concern, according to Thompson’s counterpart, Jim Williams, in Kalispell’s FWP Region 1. Mule deer are less common in the northwest, but no less treasured.
“The country is so rugged – all these alder-choked basins – but you can kill some beautiful old bucks,” Williams said. “It’s a brutal physical hunt. A lot of big bucks die of old age.”
They don’t die by wolves so much because their high alpine haunts don’t overlap with the packs’ preferred whitetail zones. But those areas have seen decreasing snowpack and increasing forest invasion over the past decade, which reduce the forage mule deer desire. The downward deer trend still needs more research to figure out the trend drivers, he said.
Lions and two-legged hunters are the main challenge in the eastern plains, according to hunters there.
“We’ve got zero wolf impact,” said Red Bone Outfitters owner Bud Martin of Zortman, near the popular Missouri Breaks hunting grounds. “All the predation impact here is mountain lions. Around the Little Rockies (mountain range), a mountain lion hunt is just a 10-minute jog.”
Martin said he’s seen a particular lion increase (and mule deer decline) on the C.M. Russell Wildlife Refuge, where federal regulations prohibit mountain lion hunting. But he also laid some responsibility on FWP hunting policies, which he said ran down western deer herds and encouraged excessive numbers of hunters to head east.
“That’s why people come to eastern Montana to hunt,” he said. “They get tired of hunting where success rate is 2 or 3 or 4 percent. And so every fork-horn mule deer out here gets blasted.”
FWP state wildlife program manager Quentin Kujula noted mule deer have always been helped and hindered by their local situations – whether its predators, weather or the species’ own up-and-down population cycle. Lions in the eastern part of the state are a relatively recent factor, he said, but one to watch.
FWP biologists also acknowledge that liberal license sales in past years have hurt deer populations. That was the rationale behind proposals eliminating over-the-counter doe tags in most of western Montana and dropping the eight-day either-sex period of the 2010 hunting season.
Those changes, and other reductions to mule deer license availability, will go before the FWP commissioners at their Feb. 11 meeting.
Source: The Missoulian
The big-bodied deer draw lots of hunting pressure all over the state, although not always the same hunters. For the past three years, mule deer numbers have been declining and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials are trying to turn the trend.
In western Montana, poor mule deer numbers are tracking equally poor white-tailed deer populations. But the two species are regulated differently, with more liberal either-sex hunting opportunities for whitetails. That puts the focus on the other predators: wolves, mountain lions and bears, according to Region 2 wildlife program manager Mike Thompson.
While wolf predation has been getting most of the attention lately, Thompson said lions shouldn’t be discounted. The agency increased its lion hunting quota last year to see what impact extra cat hunting might have. That data should be coming later this spring, when hunting regulations might see further lion focus.
Montana’s wolf quota filled quickly in the two western hunting districts last fall. Wildlife managers are studying the results of the hunt over the winter as they await a federal court ruling on the wolf’s threatened species status. That decision will either allow or prohibit a 2010 wolf hunting season.
Habitat is another concern, according to Thompson’s counterpart, Jim Williams, in Kalispell’s FWP Region 1. Mule deer are less common in the northwest, but no less treasured.
“The country is so rugged – all these alder-choked basins – but you can kill some beautiful old bucks,” Williams said. “It’s a brutal physical hunt. A lot of big bucks die of old age.”
They don’t die by wolves so much because their high alpine haunts don’t overlap with the packs’ preferred whitetail zones. But those areas have seen decreasing snowpack and increasing forest invasion over the past decade, which reduce the forage mule deer desire. The downward deer trend still needs more research to figure out the trend drivers, he said.
Lions and two-legged hunters are the main challenge in the eastern plains, according to hunters there.
“We’ve got zero wolf impact,” said Red Bone Outfitters owner Bud Martin of Zortman, near the popular Missouri Breaks hunting grounds. “All the predation impact here is mountain lions. Around the Little Rockies (mountain range), a mountain lion hunt is just a 10-minute jog.”
Martin said he’s seen a particular lion increase (and mule deer decline) on the C.M. Russell Wildlife Refuge, where federal regulations prohibit mountain lion hunting. But he also laid some responsibility on FWP hunting policies, which he said ran down western deer herds and encouraged excessive numbers of hunters to head east.
“That’s why people come to eastern Montana to hunt,” he said. “They get tired of hunting where success rate is 2 or 3 or 4 percent. And so every fork-horn mule deer out here gets blasted.”
FWP state wildlife program manager Quentin Kujula noted mule deer have always been helped and hindered by their local situations – whether its predators, weather or the species’ own up-and-down population cycle. Lions in the eastern part of the state are a relatively recent factor, he said, but one to watch.
FWP biologists also acknowledge that liberal license sales in past years have hurt deer populations. That was the rationale behind proposals eliminating over-the-counter doe tags in most of western Montana and dropping the eight-day either-sex period of the 2010 hunting season.
Those changes, and other reductions to mule deer license availability, will go before the FWP commissioners at their Feb. 11 meeting.
Source: The Missoulian
MARYLAND NEWS: Deer Cull Approved Adjacent to Camp David
After nearly three decades of research and opposition from wildlife advocates, government sharpshooters are taking aim at white-tailed deer in the national park surrounding the Camp David presidential retreat in western Maryland.
The National Park Service says the shooting will start Monday afternoon in Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont and continue for the next six weeks.
Parts of the park will be closed Monday through Thursday afternoons to accommodate the shooting, which will also occur at night.
The government plans to kill more than 2,000 deer over 15 years to curb tree damage caused by a deer herd it says is eight times too big. The lack of vegetation has raised questions in the past about the security of Camp David.
Source: ABC 7 News
The National Park Service says the shooting will start Monday afternoon in Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont and continue for the next six weeks.
Parts of the park will be closed Monday through Thursday afternoons to accommodate the shooting, which will also occur at night.
The government plans to kill more than 2,000 deer over 15 years to curb tree damage caused by a deer herd it says is eight times too big. The lack of vegetation has raised questions in the past about the security of Camp David.
Source: ABC 7 News
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
MICHIGAN NEWS: Proposal to Divert Fraction of Hunting License Fees to Endangered Species Habitat
Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, sent a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Friday asking her to investigate misuse of the DRIP funds to purchase jack pine forests for Kirtland's warbler.
Each year hunters throughout Michigan invest about $3 million for deer habitats by purchasing licenses.
But, one local lawmaker is asking the state to investigate if some of those funds are being used for an endangered species instead of deer.
About $1.50 of each deer license purchased in the state goes to the Deer Range Improvement Program, or DRIP funds. But, Michigan Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, sent a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Friday asking her to investigate misuse of the DRIP funds to purchase jack pine forests for Kirtland's warbler.
Endangered since 1967, the Kirtland's warbler finds its habitat, jack pine forests, located in Michigan's northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Those same jack pine forests are poor habitats for deer foraging and bedding.
"Hunting is a proud tradition in Michigan, one that is often passed down from generation to generation," McDowell said. "With our harsh winters already causing a decline in our deer population, we must protect the wildlife that we still have to ensure that this tradition can continue. If the (Department of Natural Resources) continues to mishandle funds now and in the future, deer hunting will take a huge hit."
While the DNR director Rebecca Humphries and the Natural Resources Commission is currently investigating the issue, McDowell is urging Granholm and the Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee, State Rep. Mike Lahti, D-Hancock, to hasten the investigation to prevent the additional misuse for funds.
In his letter, McDowell also expresses his concern about the leadership and transparency within the Department of Natural Resources.
Earlier this month, Department Resources Commission member John Madigan told the Detroit News he believes about 10 percent all DRIP funds are used to purchase habitats for the Kirtland's warbler.
"I have nothing against the Kirtland's warbler," said John Hubard, a sportsman from Harbor Springs. "There's not too many of them."
While not speaking for the organization, Hubard is the president of the Emmet County Sportsman Club.
Hubard was unaware about funds being misused for the Kirtland's warbler and said he assumed most hunters would be unaware of the situation.
However, he was wary of diverting funds away from its intended purpose.
"Once it starts — the diversion of funds— who's going to stop it?"
Hubard said if the Kirtland's warbler is in need of money for habitats, there should be fundraising for it specifically.
Source: Petoskey News
Each year hunters throughout Michigan invest about $3 million for deer habitats by purchasing licenses.
But, one local lawmaker is asking the state to investigate if some of those funds are being used for an endangered species instead of deer.
About $1.50 of each deer license purchased in the state goes to the Deer Range Improvement Program, or DRIP funds. But, Michigan Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, sent a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Friday asking her to investigate misuse of the DRIP funds to purchase jack pine forests for Kirtland's warbler.
Endangered since 1967, the Kirtland's warbler finds its habitat, jack pine forests, located in Michigan's northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Those same jack pine forests are poor habitats for deer foraging and bedding.
"Hunting is a proud tradition in Michigan, one that is often passed down from generation to generation," McDowell said. "With our harsh winters already causing a decline in our deer population, we must protect the wildlife that we still have to ensure that this tradition can continue. If the (Department of Natural Resources) continues to mishandle funds now and in the future, deer hunting will take a huge hit."
While the DNR director Rebecca Humphries and the Natural Resources Commission is currently investigating the issue, McDowell is urging Granholm and the Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee, State Rep. Mike Lahti, D-Hancock, to hasten the investigation to prevent the additional misuse for funds.
In his letter, McDowell also expresses his concern about the leadership and transparency within the Department of Natural Resources.
Earlier this month, Department Resources Commission member John Madigan told the Detroit News he believes about 10 percent all DRIP funds are used to purchase habitats for the Kirtland's warbler.
"I have nothing against the Kirtland's warbler," said John Hubard, a sportsman from Harbor Springs. "There's not too many of them."
While not speaking for the organization, Hubard is the president of the Emmet County Sportsman Club.
Hubard was unaware about funds being misused for the Kirtland's warbler and said he assumed most hunters would be unaware of the situation.
However, he was wary of diverting funds away from its intended purpose.
"Once it starts — the diversion of funds— who's going to stop it?"
Hubard said if the Kirtland's warbler is in need of money for habitats, there should be fundraising for it specifically.
Source: Petoskey News
Saturday, January 23, 2010
NORTH CAROLINA NEWS: Deer Culled at Biltmore Estate
Despite the opinion of a biologist that the killing of deer in this town is not necessary from a population-management standpoint, town leaders are again trying to cull the herd.
Town workers have killed 15 white-tailed deer under a state permit issued for 2009 and extended into 2010.
The number of bagged deer is way down from previous hunts. Hunters shot 150 deer in 2003 and 90 in 2005, trying to keep the deer from overrunning the heavily wooded town next to sprawling Biltmore Estate.
But a local wildlife biologist for the N.C. Wildlife Commission says in his opinion the town doesn't need to shoot any deer. “I don't think they have any problem with deer right now,” Mike Carraway said. Some residents of the town also have misgivings about the culling scheme.
Still, in the opinion of town leaders: “Every year we want to try to take a small harvest so we can control the population. We don't want to get back up to the 400 or 500 deer we had a few years ago,” said Mayor George Goosmann.
The meat doesn't go to waste. It is donated through Hunters for the Hungry, and about 4,000 pounds of venison has gone to Asheville's MANNA Food Bank since the hunts began in 2003, Goosmann said.
Town officials applied directly to Raleigh for the depredation permit, bypassing Carraway, who can issue permits locally. Carraway typically issues those permits to farmers who can show damage to their property with deer eating soybeans or bear eating corn.
Residential property owners can also apply for depredation permits to kill deer if they can show the animals are eating their shrubbery and landscaping.
Full story at: Asheville Citizen-Times
Town workers have killed 15 white-tailed deer under a state permit issued for 2009 and extended into 2010.
The number of bagged deer is way down from previous hunts. Hunters shot 150 deer in 2003 and 90 in 2005, trying to keep the deer from overrunning the heavily wooded town next to sprawling Biltmore Estate.
But a local wildlife biologist for the N.C. Wildlife Commission says in his opinion the town doesn't need to shoot any deer. “I don't think they have any problem with deer right now,” Mike Carraway said. Some residents of the town also have misgivings about the culling scheme.
Still, in the opinion of town leaders: “Every year we want to try to take a small harvest so we can control the population. We don't want to get back up to the 400 or 500 deer we had a few years ago,” said Mayor George Goosmann.
The meat doesn't go to waste. It is donated through Hunters for the Hungry, and about 4,000 pounds of venison has gone to Asheville's MANNA Food Bank since the hunts began in 2003, Goosmann said.
Town officials applied directly to Raleigh for the depredation permit, bypassing Carraway, who can issue permits locally. Carraway typically issues those permits to farmers who can show damage to their property with deer eating soybeans or bear eating corn.
Residential property owners can also apply for depredation permits to kill deer if they can show the animals are eating their shrubbery and landscaping.
Full story at: Asheville Citizen-Times
Friday, January 22, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA NEWS: Deer Remaining on Robben Island to be Removed or Culled
Robben Island has given conservationists until the end of the month to obtain permits for the live capture and removal of about 30 remaining fallow deer, or it will continue the culling process.
Lekgetho James Makola, acting senior manager at Robben Island Museum, said the cut-off date was necessary so a final decision could be taken on whether the culling of the deer would resume.
Robben Island officials have met representatives from animal welfare group Four Paws International, which runs the Lions Rock sanctuary in the Free State, to discuss a proposal for the capture and relocation of the fallow deer.
Makola said Four Paws International presented a proposal for the sterilisation, capture and removal of the deer.
"We have approved their proposal and have given the go-ahead for them to obtain permits for the relocation."
According to Makola, Four Paws International has until the January 31 to come up with the permits.
He said the island had tried for three years to obtain such permits, but all applications had failed.
About 220 deer have been culled in the problem animal control operation under way on the island.
Three months ago, the museum, CapeNature, SPCA, and others were approached by interest groups offering to find an alternative home for the deer, and agreed to suspend the culling.
Makola said he hoped Lions Rock would meet the requirements set by CapeNature.
"We are hoping that their application will be successful, so that we can put this behind us.
"But if they fail to do so, we will have to revert to the culling programme."
Dr Amir Khalil, director of project development at Four Paws, said the organisation had offered "to assist with the capture and removal of the fallow deer, and placement in a sanctuary approved by relevant parties".
"The monitoring and supervision of the capture, sterilisation and translocation will be done exclusively by the SPCA Cape of Good Hope," he said.
Four Paws had agreed to carry the cost of the capture, translocation, logistics and life-long care of the deer.
"The best time to move the animals is in March and April, but we are ready at any time to do the transfer."
Khalil said Four Paws was awaiting a response from Free State Nature Conservation about the permits.
"Once we obtain these, we can summit a full application to CapeNature for a final decision on whether a capture and transport permit will be approved," he said.
Source: Independent Online
Lekgetho James Makola, acting senior manager at Robben Island Museum, said the cut-off date was necessary so a final decision could be taken on whether the culling of the deer would resume.
Robben Island officials have met representatives from animal welfare group Four Paws International, which runs the Lions Rock sanctuary in the Free State, to discuss a proposal for the capture and relocation of the fallow deer.
Makola said Four Paws International presented a proposal for the sterilisation, capture and removal of the deer.
"We have approved their proposal and have given the go-ahead for them to obtain permits for the relocation."
According to Makola, Four Paws International has until the January 31 to come up with the permits.
He said the island had tried for three years to obtain such permits, but all applications had failed.
About 220 deer have been culled in the problem animal control operation under way on the island.
Three months ago, the museum, CapeNature, SPCA, and others were approached by interest groups offering to find an alternative home for the deer, and agreed to suspend the culling.
Makola said he hoped Lions Rock would meet the requirements set by CapeNature.
"We are hoping that their application will be successful, so that we can put this behind us.
"But if they fail to do so, we will have to revert to the culling programme."
Dr Amir Khalil, director of project development at Four Paws, said the organisation had offered "to assist with the capture and removal of the fallow deer, and placement in a sanctuary approved by relevant parties".
"The monitoring and supervision of the capture, sterilisation and translocation will be done exclusively by the SPCA Cape of Good Hope," he said.
Four Paws had agreed to carry the cost of the capture, translocation, logistics and life-long care of the deer.
"The best time to move the animals is in March and April, but we are ready at any time to do the transfer."
Khalil said Four Paws was awaiting a response from Free State Nature Conservation about the permits.
"Once we obtain these, we can summit a full application to CapeNature for a final decision on whether a capture and transport permit will be approved," he said.
Source: Independent Online
VIRGINIA NEWS: Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in State
Chronic wasting disease has been found for the first time in a Virginia white-tailed deer.
A hunter in Frederick County killed the sickened deer this month, less than a mile from where the disease was found several years ago in West Virginia.
The illness affects portions of the deer's brain and causes a general decrease in body condition, behavioral changes, excess salivation and death.
The disease affects deer only and is not transmittable to humans or other animals, including livestock, dogs or cats.
Virginia now joins 17 states and Canadian provinces where the illness has been found.
Source: NBC29
A hunter in Frederick County killed the sickened deer this month, less than a mile from where the disease was found several years ago in West Virginia.
The illness affects portions of the deer's brain and causes a general decrease in body condition, behavioral changes, excess salivation and death.
The disease affects deer only and is not transmittable to humans or other animals, including livestock, dogs or cats.
Virginia now joins 17 states and Canadian provinces where the illness has been found.
Source: NBC29
Thursday, January 21, 2010
ILLINOIS NEWS: Near Record Deer Harvest in 2009
Officials say hunters killed nearly 200,000 deer in the latest deer hunting season.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources says a still-preliminary figure of 189,277 deer for the 2009-2010 season compares with a similar total of 188,901 for the 2008-2009 period.
The agency says hunters took 50.5 percent does and 49.5 percent males in the latest harvest.
Illinois' record deer harvest occurred in 2005-2006 season, when 201,301 deer were taken.
Source: BND.com
Illinois Department of Natural Resources says a still-preliminary figure of 189,277 deer for the 2009-2010 season compares with a similar total of 188,901 for the 2008-2009 period.
The agency says hunters took 50.5 percent does and 49.5 percent males in the latest harvest.
Illinois' record deer harvest occurred in 2005-2006 season, when 201,301 deer were taken.
Source: BND.com
MISSOURI NEWS: 2009 Marks Fourth Largest Harvest in State History
The Missouri Department of Conservation reported Wednesday that this year’s harvest of white-tailed deer was the fourth-largest in state history.
The season closed Friday with Missouri hunters checking a total of 299,461 deer during the 152 days of hunting, according to a department news release. Hunters took most of the deer during the November portion of the season. During those 10 days, 193,155 deer were checked with the department.
Despite the brutally cold weather that gripped Missouri for the past few months, every portion of the season was up from the previous season. Muzzleloader kills went up by 55 percent from last season, and youth kills went up by 44 percent. Both set new state records. Archers took 7,538 more deer than in 2008.
Source: Columbia Missourian
The season closed Friday with Missouri hunters checking a total of 299,461 deer during the 152 days of hunting, according to a department news release. Hunters took most of the deer during the November portion of the season. During those 10 days, 193,155 deer were checked with the department.
Despite the brutally cold weather that gripped Missouri for the past few months, every portion of the season was up from the previous season. Muzzleloader kills went up by 55 percent from last season, and youth kills went up by 44 percent. Both set new state records. Archers took 7,538 more deer than in 2008.
Source: Columbia Missourian
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
IOWA NEWS: Deer Feeding Illegal in Clive
Residents intentionally setting out food for deer would have 24 hours to remove it or face fines.
Officials hope a proposed law against deer feeding will lower Clive's deer population to recommended levels.
The Clive City Council voted 5-0 on Jan. 7 to approve the first reading of an ordinance that would create fines for residents caught leaving food out for deer. The council will have to vote on the ordinance at least one more meeting before it can be enacted.
The Parks and Recreation Board met several times in recent months to discuss deer feeding. According to the Polk County Deer Task Force, the city has 50 deer per square mile of habitat. The Department of Natural Resources recommends holding the deer population to 15 per square mile.
Overpopulation comes with an increased risk of Lyme disease for people and pets, and of course, damage to vehicles.
"They are wonderful animals to look at and everyone enjoys them, but we have plenty of them in the city of Clive," Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Canfield told the council.
Canfield said his department has received reports of Clive residents putting out mineral blocks, fruit and grain to attract deer to their yards.
"My hands are pretty well tied," he said. "I can't really go out and do anything with that."
If the ordinance is enacted, residents caught feeding deer will be given 24 hours to remove the deer feed before incurring a fine. The ordinance would create a $750 fine for the first time someone was found feeding deer, and a $1,000 fine for the second offense. Canfield said his department would hope to convince residents to stop feeding deer without having to actually fine anyone.
The ordinance would not prohibit bird feeders, which can sometimes attract deer. Nor would it prohibit fruit trees or vegetable gardens that deer might enjoy.
Urbandale enacted a similar ordinance in November 2007. Councilman Eric Klein said Urbandale's policy drove deer to neighboring cities where residents can still put out food for them.
"Inadvertently, we've become a magnet for more deer," Klein said.
Source: DeMoines Register
Officials hope a proposed law against deer feeding will lower Clive's deer population to recommended levels.
The Clive City Council voted 5-0 on Jan. 7 to approve the first reading of an ordinance that would create fines for residents caught leaving food out for deer. The council will have to vote on the ordinance at least one more meeting before it can be enacted.
The Parks and Recreation Board met several times in recent months to discuss deer feeding. According to the Polk County Deer Task Force, the city has 50 deer per square mile of habitat. The Department of Natural Resources recommends holding the deer population to 15 per square mile.
Overpopulation comes with an increased risk of Lyme disease for people and pets, and of course, damage to vehicles.
"They are wonderful animals to look at and everyone enjoys them, but we have plenty of them in the city of Clive," Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Canfield told the council.
Canfield said his department has received reports of Clive residents putting out mineral blocks, fruit and grain to attract deer to their yards.
"My hands are pretty well tied," he said. "I can't really go out and do anything with that."
If the ordinance is enacted, residents caught feeding deer will be given 24 hours to remove the deer feed before incurring a fine. The ordinance would create a $750 fine for the first time someone was found feeding deer, and a $1,000 fine for the second offense. Canfield said his department would hope to convince residents to stop feeding deer without having to actually fine anyone.
The ordinance would not prohibit bird feeders, which can sometimes attract deer. Nor would it prohibit fruit trees or vegetable gardens that deer might enjoy.
Urbandale enacted a similar ordinance in November 2007. Councilman Eric Klein said Urbandale's policy drove deer to neighboring cities where residents can still put out food for them.
"Inadvertently, we've become a magnet for more deer," Klein said.
Source: DeMoines Register
ARKANSAS NEWS: Hope Considers Urban Cull
City officials in Hope are considering an urban deer hunting season with bows and arrows.
The high concentration of deer roaming the city's street has the Board of Directors seriously considering an urban hunt for the fall, which should be decided on by no later than March, said City Manager Catherine Cook.
If approved, Hope would join Bull Shoals, Hot Springs Village, Cherokee Village and Heber Springs as the only Arkansas cities with urban hunts.
In the past six years, 28 deer have collided with vehicles within Hope city limits, including one collision with a police patrol car, according to a report from Police Chief J.R. Wilson.
City officials say manicured lawns, flowers, fruit-bearing trees and shrubs within city limits lure the deer out of the woods.
Early last fall, Board Member Don Still proposed the city consider ways to deal with deer living in the city limits. The board soon after consulted with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, which suggested an urban hunt, incorporating the city limits into the regular bow hunting season and restricting feeding deer within the city.
"A special season was picked for this hunt. There is a no bag limit, although the goal is to bag at least 150 deer to keep up with the births from the previous year," according to a report from the Game & Fish Commission.
Source: FoxNews
The high concentration of deer roaming the city's street has the Board of Directors seriously considering an urban hunt for the fall, which should be decided on by no later than March, said City Manager Catherine Cook.
If approved, Hope would join Bull Shoals, Hot Springs Village, Cherokee Village and Heber Springs as the only Arkansas cities with urban hunts.
In the past six years, 28 deer have collided with vehicles within Hope city limits, including one collision with a police patrol car, according to a report from Police Chief J.R. Wilson.
City officials say manicured lawns, flowers, fruit-bearing trees and shrubs within city limits lure the deer out of the woods.
Early last fall, Board Member Don Still proposed the city consider ways to deal with deer living in the city limits. The board soon after consulted with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, which suggested an urban hunt, incorporating the city limits into the regular bow hunting season and restricting feeding deer within the city.
"A special season was picked for this hunt. There is a no bag limit, although the goal is to bag at least 150 deer to keep up with the births from the previous year," according to a report from the Game & Fish Commission.
Source: FoxNews
Monday, January 18, 2010
OHIO NEWS: Salon Suspends Deer Cull, Cites Cost
Deer need not fear sharpshooters in Solon for now. One of the few cities in northeast Ohio that contracted for culling has suspended the practice for at least this year.
Mayor Susan Drucker said a tighter budget and the need to examine how often culling is necessary are the major reasons council halted the program.
But the thinning of deer herds continues. Park districts in Cuyahoga and Summit still use sharpshooters and a number of municipalities allow residents to bow hunt in-season.
Culling is expensive. Solon spent $782,925 over the past five years. The city paid for the shooters, meat processing, and police overtime
The program, hotly contested by animal-rights activists and residents concerned with safety, was started in 2005 because of the high number of deer-vehicle accidents and complaints of yard damage.
The arguments in favor of culling are echoed in other communities where deer are multiplying.
Before hunting season last year, Ohio counted 650,000 deer, said Scott Peters of the Department of Wildlife, and 252,000 were harvested.
In 2008, deer-vehicle collisions numbered 25,000 statewide (459 of those in Cuyahoga County), and have dropped because of culling, Mr. Peters said.
In Solon, deer-vehicle collisions dipped to 54 last year from 161 in 2004, Ms. Drucker said, and the city's deer population as of September was 450 compared to 1,200 in 2005.
Cleveland Metroparks will spend $45,000 to thin herds with sharpshooters through February, spokesman Jane Christyson said.
A total of 343 deer will be taken in the Metroparks' Bedford, Bradley Woods, Brecksville, Mill Stream Run, North Chagrin, and Rocky River reservations, she said.
The park district has tried to reduce its deer numbers for 11 years, but for a different reason.
Mr. Peters said more than 15 communities in Cuyahoga and Summit counties allow residents to bow hunt, which costs less than a formal management program because hunters pay the cost of permits and meat processing.
Twinsburg Mayor Katherine Procop said she has not heard any complaints about bow hunting in the city, which is regulated. Hunters must pass an archery proficiency test, hunt in an area 4 acres or larger, and get written permission from the landowner.
Broadview Heights will vote Feb. 16 on a measure to permit bow hunting starting next season. Bow hunting in Ohio ends Feb. 7.
Source: Toledo Blade
Mayor Susan Drucker said a tighter budget and the need to examine how often culling is necessary are the major reasons council halted the program.
But the thinning of deer herds continues. Park districts in Cuyahoga and Summit still use sharpshooters and a number of municipalities allow residents to bow hunt in-season.
Culling is expensive. Solon spent $782,925 over the past five years. The city paid for the shooters, meat processing, and police overtime
The program, hotly contested by animal-rights activists and residents concerned with safety, was started in 2005 because of the high number of deer-vehicle accidents and complaints of yard damage.
The arguments in favor of culling are echoed in other communities where deer are multiplying.
Before hunting season last year, Ohio counted 650,000 deer, said Scott Peters of the Department of Wildlife, and 252,000 were harvested.
In 2008, deer-vehicle collisions numbered 25,000 statewide (459 of those in Cuyahoga County), and have dropped because of culling, Mr. Peters said.
In Solon, deer-vehicle collisions dipped to 54 last year from 161 in 2004, Ms. Drucker said, and the city's deer population as of September was 450 compared to 1,200 in 2005.
Cleveland Metroparks will spend $45,000 to thin herds with sharpshooters through February, spokesman Jane Christyson said.
A total of 343 deer will be taken in the Metroparks' Bedford, Bradley Woods, Brecksville, Mill Stream Run, North Chagrin, and Rocky River reservations, she said.
The park district has tried to reduce its deer numbers for 11 years, but for a different reason.
Mr. Peters said more than 15 communities in Cuyahoga and Summit counties allow residents to bow hunt, which costs less than a formal management program because hunters pay the cost of permits and meat processing.
Twinsburg Mayor Katherine Procop said she has not heard any complaints about bow hunting in the city, which is regulated. Hunters must pass an archery proficiency test, hunt in an area 4 acres or larger, and get written permission from the landowner.
Broadview Heights will vote Feb. 16 on a measure to permit bow hunting starting next season. Bow hunting in Ohio ends Feb. 7.
Source: Toledo Blade
Friday, January 15, 2010
MICHIGAN NEWS: Ella Sharp Park Cull Winding Down
The third annual deer harvest at Ella Sharp Park and the Cascades Golf Course is nearly over.
Eric Terrian, Ella Sharp Park superintendent, said sharpshooters with Aaron's Nuisance, a local animal control company, killed 16 deer Thursday, bringing the total to 67 since the harvest started Sunday.
"Last night was a good night," Terrian said. "Obviously because of the weather, the deer are on the move."
The goal is again 80 deer. If sharpshooters can take another 13 deer Friday, the harvest will be over. If not, it will not resume until 4 p.m. Monday to let people use the parks over the weekend, Terrian said.
An unknown person firing a rifle at the park Monday night slowed the harvest. Terrian said the shooter still has not been identified.
When the harvest is over, 240 deer will have been killed in two years. Terrian said there are still hundreds of deer in the parks and if not for the harvest there would be several hundred more.
"The harvest is helping," Terrian said.
Source: MLive
Eric Terrian, Ella Sharp Park superintendent, said sharpshooters with Aaron's Nuisance, a local animal control company, killed 16 deer Thursday, bringing the total to 67 since the harvest started Sunday.
"Last night was a good night," Terrian said. "Obviously because of the weather, the deer are on the move."
The goal is again 80 deer. If sharpshooters can take another 13 deer Friday, the harvest will be over. If not, it will not resume until 4 p.m. Monday to let people use the parks over the weekend, Terrian said.
An unknown person firing a rifle at the park Monday night slowed the harvest. Terrian said the shooter still has not been identified.
When the harvest is over, 240 deer will have been killed in two years. Terrian said there are still hundreds of deer in the parks and if not for the harvest there would be several hundred more.
"The harvest is helping," Terrian said.
Source: MLive
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Deer Culled in Norristown Farm Park
Hunters killed 44 deer in Norristown Farm Park Wednesday during a controlled hunt to trim the herd.
Forty people were picked in a public lottery Dec. 5 at the park’s headquarters to participate, but fewer showed up, according to Montgomery County Communications Director John Corcoran.
“Forty hunters were selected and five standbys, but there were only 32 hunters (Wednesday),” he said.
Overpopulation of deer in the Farm Park has wreaked havoc on the ecosystem, totally denuding wooded tracts of vegetation up to five feet above the ground, making the hunt necessary, said Corcoran.
The hunters were armed with 12-gauge shotguns containing slug ammunition; no buckshot was allowed. Shotguns using slug loads have a limited range but more stopping power, thus reducing the chance of a wounded a deer fleeing the park and onto nearby roadways. Also, all participants were required to hunt from a tree stands equipped with safety harnesses.
The county’s Parks and Heritage Services seeks to bring the deer herd, which now numbers between 200 and 300, into balance with the one-square-mile park’s available resources. That still leaves much higher deer density than the nine to 20 deer per square mile level recommended by wildlife biologists.
“For us, it’s a land management issue,” Corcoran said.
The 44 deer culled from the herd included doe and buck, called “button buck,” too young to have grown antlers.
Hunters selected in the lottery were permitted to scout the prospective hunting area, and with park approval, choose a tree where they wanted set up their portable climber the day of the hunt. As well, hunters were prohibited from firing in the direction of roadways.
“They have regulations as to which direction you can shoot,” Corcoran said.
The Farm Park, which was be closed to the general public during the hunt, was closely monitored by law enforcement officials for safety and compliance.
Norristown Farm Park, located at the intersection of Germantown Pike and North Wales Road, is owned by the state and is operated by the Montgomery County Department of Parks and Heritage Services. The park is typically open for passive recreation seven days a week from sunrise to sunset. The park is also used for farming operations.
Each November, the county permits bow hunters to shoot deer in Lorimer Park near Abington.
Source: Times Herald
Forty people were picked in a public lottery Dec. 5 at the park’s headquarters to participate, but fewer showed up, according to Montgomery County Communications Director John Corcoran.
“Forty hunters were selected and five standbys, but there were only 32 hunters (Wednesday),” he said.
Overpopulation of deer in the Farm Park has wreaked havoc on the ecosystem, totally denuding wooded tracts of vegetation up to five feet above the ground, making the hunt necessary, said Corcoran.
The hunters were armed with 12-gauge shotguns containing slug ammunition; no buckshot was allowed. Shotguns using slug loads have a limited range but more stopping power, thus reducing the chance of a wounded a deer fleeing the park and onto nearby roadways. Also, all participants were required to hunt from a tree stands equipped with safety harnesses.
The county’s Parks and Heritage Services seeks to bring the deer herd, which now numbers between 200 and 300, into balance with the one-square-mile park’s available resources. That still leaves much higher deer density than the nine to 20 deer per square mile level recommended by wildlife biologists.
“For us, it’s a land management issue,” Corcoran said.
The 44 deer culled from the herd included doe and buck, called “button buck,” too young to have grown antlers.
Hunters selected in the lottery were permitted to scout the prospective hunting area, and with park approval, choose a tree where they wanted set up their portable climber the day of the hunt. As well, hunters were prohibited from firing in the direction of roadways.
“They have regulations as to which direction you can shoot,” Corcoran said.
The Farm Park, which was be closed to the general public during the hunt, was closely monitored by law enforcement officials for safety and compliance.
Norristown Farm Park, located at the intersection of Germantown Pike and North Wales Road, is owned by the state and is operated by the Montgomery County Department of Parks and Heritage Services. The park is typically open for passive recreation seven days a week from sunrise to sunset. The park is also used for farming operations.
Each November, the county permits bow hunters to shoot deer in Lorimer Park near Abington.
Source: Times Herald
WEST VIRGINIA NEWS: 2009 Deer Harvest Down 5% Compared to 2008
The Division of Natural Resources says West Virginia hunters bagged fewer deer in 2009 then they did the year before.
According to figures released Thursday, hunters killed 154,524 deer during the state's multiple deer seasons. In 2008 hunters killed 163,603 deer.
Overall, hunters killed 63,590 deer during the 2009 buck season, 54,617 during the antlerless season, 27,558 during the bow season and 8,759 during muzzleloader season.
Source: Philly Burbs
According to figures released Thursday, hunters killed 154,524 deer during the state's multiple deer seasons. In 2008 hunters killed 163,603 deer.
Overall, hunters killed 63,590 deer during the 2009 buck season, 54,617 during the antlerless season, 27,558 during the bow season and 8,759 during muzzleloader season.
Source: Philly Burbs
WEST VIRGINIA NEWS: Recent CWD Cases in Hampshire County
Preliminary test results indicate the Chronic Wasting Disease agent was present in 16 hunter-harvested deer collected in Hampshire County during the 2009 deer firearms hunting season.
“As part of our agency’s ongoing CWD monitoring effort, samples were collected from 1,091 hunter-harvested deer brought to game checking stations in Hampshire County and one station near the southern Hampshire County line in Hardy County,” notes Frank Jezioro, Director for the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources.
The 16 CWD positive deer included one 4.5 year-old doe, one 2.5 year-old doe, one 1.5 year-old buck, ten 2.5 year-old bucks and three 3.5 year-old bucks. Thirteen of the latest positive deer were harvested within the Hampshire County CWD Containment Area (i.e., that portion of Hampshire County located North of U.S. Route 50). However, three were located outside the containment area but still within Hampshire County.
The area in Hampshire County from which CWD has been detected continues to expand, and the number of infected deer detected this year is 2.5 times more than last year.
CWD has now been detected in a total of 62 deer in Hampshire County (i.e., two road-killed deer, one in 2005 and one in 2008; four deer collected by the WVDNR in 2005; five deer collected by the WVDNR in 2006; one hunter-harvest deer taken during the 2006 deer season; three deer collected by the WVDNR in 2007; six hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2007 deer season; 11 deer collected by the WVDNR in 2008; six hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2008 deer season; eight deer collected by the WVDNR in 2009; and 16 hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2009 deer season).
“The WVDNR will continue to update management actions designed to control the spread of this disease, prevent further introduction of the disease, and possibly eliminate the disease from the state as information from deer testing within West Virginia is gathered and scientists across the country provide more information on how to combat CWD in white-tailed deer,” says Jezioro.
So far, the following disease management actions have been placed into operation by the WVDNR within Hampshire County:
- Implemented CWD testing efforts designed to determine the prevalence and distribution of the disease.
- Established antlerless deer hunting regulations designed to increase hunter opportunity to harvest female deer, adjust deer populations to desired levels and reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer.
- Established deer carcass transport restrictions designed to lower the risk of moving the disease to other locations.
- Established regulations designed to prohibit the feeding and baiting of deer within the affected area and reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer.
“Despite our agency’s best efforts, we continue to struggle with CWD in Hampshire County,” says Jezioro. “I am particularly concerned that some individuals are not complying with regulations prohibiting the feeding and baiting of deer within the Hampshire County CWD Containment Area.”
The WVDNR intends to renew its outreach efforts with the public on the critical need for compliance with this regulation. In addition, appropriate enforcement actions will be taken if these problems are not resolved.
“As we strive to meet this wildlife disease challenge and implement appropriate management strategies, the continued support and involvement of landowners and hunters will be essential,” says Jezioro. “The WVDNR remains committed to keeping the public informed and involved in these wildlife disease management actions as we go forward.”
Source: WHSV
“As part of our agency’s ongoing CWD monitoring effort, samples were collected from 1,091 hunter-harvested deer brought to game checking stations in Hampshire County and one station near the southern Hampshire County line in Hardy County,” notes Frank Jezioro, Director for the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources.
The 16 CWD positive deer included one 4.5 year-old doe, one 2.5 year-old doe, one 1.5 year-old buck, ten 2.5 year-old bucks and three 3.5 year-old bucks. Thirteen of the latest positive deer were harvested within the Hampshire County CWD Containment Area (i.e., that portion of Hampshire County located North of U.S. Route 50). However, three were located outside the containment area but still within Hampshire County.
The area in Hampshire County from which CWD has been detected continues to expand, and the number of infected deer detected this year is 2.5 times more than last year.
CWD has now been detected in a total of 62 deer in Hampshire County (i.e., two road-killed deer, one in 2005 and one in 2008; four deer collected by the WVDNR in 2005; five deer collected by the WVDNR in 2006; one hunter-harvest deer taken during the 2006 deer season; three deer collected by the WVDNR in 2007; six hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2007 deer season; 11 deer collected by the WVDNR in 2008; six hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2008 deer season; eight deer collected by the WVDNR in 2009; and 16 hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2009 deer season).
“The WVDNR will continue to update management actions designed to control the spread of this disease, prevent further introduction of the disease, and possibly eliminate the disease from the state as information from deer testing within West Virginia is gathered and scientists across the country provide more information on how to combat CWD in white-tailed deer,” says Jezioro.
So far, the following disease management actions have been placed into operation by the WVDNR within Hampshire County:
- Implemented CWD testing efforts designed to determine the prevalence and distribution of the disease.
- Established antlerless deer hunting regulations designed to increase hunter opportunity to harvest female deer, adjust deer populations to desired levels and reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer.
- Established deer carcass transport restrictions designed to lower the risk of moving the disease to other locations.
- Established regulations designed to prohibit the feeding and baiting of deer within the affected area and reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer.
“Despite our agency’s best efforts, we continue to struggle with CWD in Hampshire County,” says Jezioro. “I am particularly concerned that some individuals are not complying with regulations prohibiting the feeding and baiting of deer within the Hampshire County CWD Containment Area.”
The WVDNR intends to renew its outreach efforts with the public on the critical need for compliance with this regulation. In addition, appropriate enforcement actions will be taken if these problems are not resolved.
“As we strive to meet this wildlife disease challenge and implement appropriate management strategies, the continued support and involvement of landowners and hunters will be essential,” says Jezioro. “The WVDNR remains committed to keeping the public informed and involved in these wildlife disease management actions as we go forward.”
Source: WHSV
TEXAS NEWS: Town Advised to Elimiate 400 Deer
HOLLY LAKE RANCH, TX (KLTV) - Residents of an East Texas community are torn, after being told the way to fix their deer problem is to kill 400 of the furry critters.
The over population problem has gardeners in the community upset, but animals lovers say that they enjoy seeing the deer.
Texas Parks and Wildlife was called in to advise the community on a solution, and suggested 400 deer needed to be put down in order to maintain a balance in the deer population.
Residents also received a letter saying those who continue to feed the deer will be fined $150.
A meeting will take place at 2pm today to discuss the issues and make a decision.
Source: KLTV
The over population problem has gardeners in the community upset, but animals lovers say that they enjoy seeing the deer.
Texas Parks and Wildlife was called in to advise the community on a solution, and suggested 400 deer needed to be put down in order to maintain a balance in the deer population.
Residents also received a letter saying those who continue to feed the deer will be fined $150.
A meeting will take place at 2pm today to discuss the issues and make a decision.
Source: KLTV
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
NORTH CAROLINA NEWS: Chapel Hill City Council Considers Deer Hunt
The Chapel Hill town council agreed Monday night to take applications for an urban deer hunt as it studies the issue further.
Residents have submitted a petition asking the town to hire professional deer bow hunters to reduce the population of deer. Residents said the deer have become a nuisance.
The council called for a public hearing on the issue and asked for more input from experts and residents.
In the meantime, professional bow hunters can submit applications to hold an urban deer hunt with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. No action will be taken on the applications until after the public hearing.
Source: WRAL
Residents have submitted a petition asking the town to hire professional deer bow hunters to reduce the population of deer. Residents said the deer have become a nuisance.
The council called for a public hearing on the issue and asked for more input from experts and residents.
In the meantime, professional bow hunters can submit applications to hold an urban deer hunt with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. No action will be taken on the applications until after the public hearing.
Source: WRAL
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
US NEWS: A Smart Move by Two Politicians
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold is backing legislation to help boost venison donations to the hungry.
The Wisconsin Democrat is co-sponsoring a proposal crafted by New York Democrat Charles Schumer. It would let deer hunters deduct the cost of processing game from their taxable income, when the meat is donated to a soup kitchen or food pantry.
Wisconsin Public Radio says processing fees typically range from $60 to $90.
The senators say the proposal could help charities that have been hurt by the flagging economy.
Edie Miller works for a meat processor in Columbia County. She says she's seen firsthand the dip in venison donations.
She says her company processed about 100 deer last year for food-donation programs, down from more than 200 in previous years.
Source: Chicago Tribune
The Wisconsin Democrat is co-sponsoring a proposal crafted by New York Democrat Charles Schumer. It would let deer hunters deduct the cost of processing game from their taxable income, when the meat is donated to a soup kitchen or food pantry.
Wisconsin Public Radio says processing fees typically range from $60 to $90.
The senators say the proposal could help charities that have been hurt by the flagging economy.
Edie Miller works for a meat processor in Columbia County. She says she's seen firsthand the dip in venison donations.
She says her company processed about 100 deer last year for food-donation programs, down from more than 200 in previous years.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
MANITOBA NEWS: Towns Experience Growth in Deer Population
People in Killarney, Man., are trying to figure out how to deal with a population explosion of roaming deer.
The hungry animals are stripping cedar trees and creating a hazard on the streets, where at least six drivers have collided with them, according to Mayor Rick Pauls.
"We definitely have [had] numerous vehicle accidents around here and it's not just on the highway anymore — you can be driving down the street and hitting a deer," Pauls said.
And now coyotes, which prey on deer, have started to wander into town of about 2,300 people, Pauls said.
Killarney is about 220 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba border with North Dakota.
Pauls said his Killarney-Turtle council is working with Manitoba Conservation on a plan to deal with the animals. Conservation officers will soon head out in a helicopter to get a better handle on what they're up against.
"They're going to count exactly how many deer are located within the town limits," he said. "Then we'll be able to come up with a number of what we want to take them down to. We're either going to trap and relocate them or trap and destroy them."
But some disgruntled residents have already taken matters into their own hands by poisoning or shooting the deer or putting up illegal electric fences, he said.
Pauls isn't sure how the town will pay for the animal control measures, which he estimates could cost close to $1,000 a deer.
He also isn't sure why the deer have come to Killarney but suspects a decline in the number of hunters might have something to do with it.
Pinawa has problem, too
Manitoba deer have also taken up residence in another Manitoba town in recent years. The animals have become so tame around people in Pinawa, about 110 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, that they pester school kids for their lunches.
Deer in Pinawa, Man., have become tame enough to eat from people's hands. (CBC)They can be seen in backyards, on the sidewalks, in schoolyards and sometimes even in the kitchens of local homes.
Jacquelyn Landry told CBC News earlier this year that she came home one day to find her children feeding one in the family kitchen.
The school in Pinawa had to implement new rules after the deer went after kids' lunches. Students must now eat in the school before going out to play.
Anyone caught feeding deer is subject to a $500 fine, although no tickets have been handed out since the town adopted the bylaw in 2002, according to Deputy Mayor Lynn Patterson. Several warnings have been issued instead.
Source: CBC
The hungry animals are stripping cedar trees and creating a hazard on the streets, where at least six drivers have collided with them, according to Mayor Rick Pauls.
"We definitely have [had] numerous vehicle accidents around here and it's not just on the highway anymore — you can be driving down the street and hitting a deer," Pauls said.
And now coyotes, which prey on deer, have started to wander into town of about 2,300 people, Pauls said.
Killarney is about 220 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba border with North Dakota.
Pauls said his Killarney-Turtle council is working with Manitoba Conservation on a plan to deal with the animals. Conservation officers will soon head out in a helicopter to get a better handle on what they're up against.
"They're going to count exactly how many deer are located within the town limits," he said. "Then we'll be able to come up with a number of what we want to take them down to. We're either going to trap and relocate them or trap and destroy them."
But some disgruntled residents have already taken matters into their own hands by poisoning or shooting the deer or putting up illegal electric fences, he said.
Pauls isn't sure how the town will pay for the animal control measures, which he estimates could cost close to $1,000 a deer.
He also isn't sure why the deer have come to Killarney but suspects a decline in the number of hunters might have something to do with it.
Pinawa has problem, too
Manitoba deer have also taken up residence in another Manitoba town in recent years. The animals have become so tame around people in Pinawa, about 110 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, that they pester school kids for their lunches.
Deer in Pinawa, Man., have become tame enough to eat from people's hands. (CBC)They can be seen in backyards, on the sidewalks, in schoolyards and sometimes even in the kitchens of local homes.
Jacquelyn Landry told CBC News earlier this year that she came home one day to find her children feeding one in the family kitchen.
The school in Pinawa had to implement new rules after the deer went after kids' lunches. Students must now eat in the school before going out to play.
Anyone caught feeding deer is subject to a $500 fine, although no tickets have been handed out since the town adopted the bylaw in 2002, according to Deputy Mayor Lynn Patterson. Several warnings have been issued instead.
Source: CBC
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