Fewer deer hunting licences will be available this year because of the high mortality rate for deer over the winter, says the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources.
About 25,000 deer died over the winter months in New Brunswick, because of starvation, predation and collisions with cars, said Rod Cumberland, a biologist with the department.
About a quarter of the province's deer population died during the winter, Cumberland said.
In the north, where the most snow fell, the mortality rate reached about 34 per cent, he said.
The heavy snow cover in the province made it difficult for deer to find food, and the crusty snow conditions made them easy prey for predators, Cumberland said.
The mortality rate is about double the usual figure for a winter in the province, he said, which means the province will offer fewer hunting licences for deer.
"Two-thirds of the province will see a decline in their licences," he said. "They might even be as scarce as hen's teeth in some places."
Regulating the number of licences, especially for does, will give the herd time to recuperate from the winter's losses, he said.
"It minimizes what we take as hunters, so the herd can get a jump start and start growing again in some of these areas where we'd like to see more deer."
It will take about two years for the province's deer herd to recover from the winter, Cumberland said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6axf9g
Thursday, May 22, 2008
UK NEWS: Muntjac Cull at Bardney's Limewoods
A TWO-DAY deer cull took place in Bardney's Limewoods, including Chambers Farm Wood in early April, the Forestry Commission revealed. It was part of a county wide ongoing operation.
A spokesperson for the Forestry Commission said: “The aim for this species is to create a sustainable and healthy deer population.“
“If left unchecked, increasing deer numbers would cause significant damage to the biodiversity of our woodlands Muntjac deer in particular uproot wildflowers, like bluebells, and over time destroy the flora of ancient woodlands like Chambers.”
Wildlife ranger Malcolm Armstrong said the growing population of deer was endangering certain species of plant in woodland across the county.
He said reports of road accidents involving deer were also increasing.
"There's certain plants that grow in here that deer favour, so when the deer population expands they are going to eat those plants out of existence.”
Mr Armstrong, who is also head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and carried out by qualified marksmen.
"Shooting is by far the most humane method," he said.
Mr Armstrong said an ongoing cull was also expected to take place next year.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4n2uq3
A spokesperson for the Forestry Commission said: “The aim for this species is to create a sustainable and healthy deer population.“
“If left unchecked, increasing deer numbers would cause significant damage to the biodiversity of our woodlands Muntjac deer in particular uproot wildflowers, like bluebells, and over time destroy the flora of ancient woodlands like Chambers.”
Wildlife ranger Malcolm Armstrong said the growing population of deer was endangering certain species of plant in woodland across the county.
He said reports of road accidents involving deer were also increasing.
"There's certain plants that grow in here that deer favour, so when the deer population expands they are going to eat those plants out of existence.”
Mr Armstrong, who is also head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and carried out by qualified marksmen.
"Shooting is by far the most humane method," he said.
Mr Armstrong said an ongoing cull was also expected to take place next year.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4n2uq3
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Arboretum Considers $142000 Deer Fence
Erecting a deer fence completely around the 22-acre Shaw Arboretum at Holmdel Park may not be neighbor-friendly or cost-efficient, members of the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners said at their meeting at Tatum Park on Monday night.
The project will cost at least $142,000 based on bids that have been received, but the board is not expected to take action until its June 9 meeting.
The proposal was spurred by increasing amounts of damage caused by deer to expensive specimen trees donated to the arboretum local arborists, said Bruce A. Gollnick, assistant director of the parks.
"We're not interested in putting up fences. We don't like it," Gollnick said. "Fences cost money, they cause problems, they need repairs."
A handful of residents have communicated concerns about the placement of a 10-foot-high fence near their properties, though board Chairman Edward Loud said he believes that issue has been exaggerated.
"If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't see it," Loud said of the proposed fence.
But other commissioners pushed for more study of the matter.
"Is it necessary to encapsulate the entire area and spend that kind of money?" Commissioner N. Britt Raynor asked, while fellow board member Michael G. Harmon said such fences tend to corral creatures — not only deer — that enter the fenced property at gate openings but can't escape.
"I'm not sure that fencing in 22 acres is not overreaching," Harmon said. "I also think we do what we can to be good neighbors. I don't think somebody who lives right next to the property should need to get in their car and drive all the way around to an entry point. We also push the deer onto nearby properties if we use the fence."
The $142,000 price was the lower of two bids opened last Friday. It was submitted by Accent Fence Inc. of Egg Harbor City; the other bid was a $202,000 offer from National Fence Systems Inc. of Woodbridge.
The fence would stretch about 1,650 feet. The park system in 2003 spent more than $180,000 to fence the 52-acre Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown.
The arboretum is named for David C. Shaw, former superintendent of the Shade Tree Commission. According to the Monmouth County government Web site, the arboretum was started in 1963 with plantings of crab apples, cherries and hollies, and the area now contains nearly 3,000 trees and shrubs.
Park system officials said future donations of materials could be withheld if steps aren't taken to protect the existing stock.
Source: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/805210427
The project will cost at least $142,000 based on bids that have been received, but the board is not expected to take action until its June 9 meeting.
The proposal was spurred by increasing amounts of damage caused by deer to expensive specimen trees donated to the arboretum local arborists, said Bruce A. Gollnick, assistant director of the parks.
"We're not interested in putting up fences. We don't like it," Gollnick said. "Fences cost money, they cause problems, they need repairs."
A handful of residents have communicated concerns about the placement of a 10-foot-high fence near their properties, though board Chairman Edward Loud said he believes that issue has been exaggerated.
"If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't see it," Loud said of the proposed fence.
But other commissioners pushed for more study of the matter.
"Is it necessary to encapsulate the entire area and spend that kind of money?" Commissioner N. Britt Raynor asked, while fellow board member Michael G. Harmon said such fences tend to corral creatures — not only deer — that enter the fenced property at gate openings but can't escape.
"I'm not sure that fencing in 22 acres is not overreaching," Harmon said. "I also think we do what we can to be good neighbors. I don't think somebody who lives right next to the property should need to get in their car and drive all the way around to an entry point. We also push the deer onto nearby properties if we use the fence."
The $142,000 price was the lower of two bids opened last Friday. It was submitted by Accent Fence Inc. of Egg Harbor City; the other bid was a $202,000 offer from National Fence Systems Inc. of Woodbridge.
The fence would stretch about 1,650 feet. The park system in 2003 spent more than $180,000 to fence the 52-acre Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown.
The arboretum is named for David C. Shaw, former superintendent of the Shade Tree Commission. According to the Monmouth County government Web site, the arboretum was started in 1963 with plantings of crab apples, cherries and hollies, and the area now contains nearly 3,000 trees and shrubs.
Park system officials said future donations of materials could be withheld if steps aren't taken to protect the existing stock.
Source: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/805210427
UK NEWS: Muntjac Deer Cull Underway in Lincolnshire
Hundreds of deer will be killed across Lincolnshire in a bid to control the population.
Malcolm Armstrong, a wildlife ranger for the Forestry Commission and head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and be carried out by qualified marksmen.
He said: "Culls have always happened in the area but deer are becoming more and more prevalent in Lincolnshire."
Around 200 deer are usually killed in Lincolnshire every year in an attempt to manage populations but this year's total may be higher.
A one-off cull in April has already seen the killing of 41 deer.
The small muntjac deer browse on low-lying plant life and have been damaging populations of bluebells and wild orchids.
Mr Armstrong said: "Muntjac really like to eat low ground plants and that really creates a problem with the flora and fauna in some woods.
"If populations get really high then rather than deer being a cute animal that people want to see they can become a pest.
"If the general deer population gets too large then they can start to pick up diseases and we need to strike a balance in management."
Muntjac deer thrive in temperate conditions and have become increasingly common in England due to climatic change and warmer winters.
Any deer killed in the operations will be sold on for human consumption.
To find out more about the cull of Lincolnshire deer, see Wednesday's Echo.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4yj9nw
Malcolm Armstrong, a wildlife ranger for the Forestry Commission and head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and be carried out by qualified marksmen.
He said: "Culls have always happened in the area but deer are becoming more and more prevalent in Lincolnshire."
Around 200 deer are usually killed in Lincolnshire every year in an attempt to manage populations but this year's total may be higher.
A one-off cull in April has already seen the killing of 41 deer.
The small muntjac deer browse on low-lying plant life and have been damaging populations of bluebells and wild orchids.
Mr Armstrong said: "Muntjac really like to eat low ground plants and that really creates a problem with the flora and fauna in some woods.
"If populations get really high then rather than deer being a cute animal that people want to see they can become a pest.
"If the general deer population gets too large then they can start to pick up diseases and we need to strike a balance in management."
Muntjac deer thrive in temperate conditions and have become increasingly common in England due to climatic change and warmer winters.
Any deer killed in the operations will be sold on for human consumption.
To find out more about the cull of Lincolnshire deer, see Wednesday's Echo.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4yj9nw
HOW TO: Build A Deer-Proof Fence For Your Garden
When I moved to our property on Farm To Market Road in Whitefish, Montana, I chose to build a deer-proof fence to last 100 years. Though there is a path around the outside liberally sprinkled with deer dropping, no deer have gotten in for the past seven years. And I did it all myself.
Materials
Field fencing (4 ft. high hog wire)
5 six inch pieces of iron pipe, 10 ft long
Fencing pliers
Roll of smooth wire
Cement and sand/gravel mix
Fence post digger
Chain link gate, or one made from pipe and wire
Drill for hinge attachment
Fence stretcher
Coffee cans
L Bolt for hinge
T posts, 10 ft tall
1. Dig holes 2-3 feet deep (to frost line) at the corners of your garden, and one extra for a gatepost.
2. Mix cement as directed on the package with sand and gravel.
3. Insert the iron pipe into the holes, plumb with a strong and plumb bob.
4. Fill with cement mixture and let set for a couple of days.
5. Run a string between your posts and measure every 8 to 10 feet for placement of T-bars.
6. Pound the T-bars for a 2-foot depth, in line between the iron posts (I stood on the truck cab to do this).
7. Cut vertical cross wires out of two feet of the end of your field fencing.
8. Starting at the bottom, wrap horizontal wires around the post. Secure by twisting ends of wire around the first vertical wire tightly.
9. Unroll wire past the T posts to the gate and corner posts.
10. Attach a fence stretcher to the wire to tighten it along the fence posts, or pull with an attachment to your truck, or use a come along. Attach stretched fencing to the posts with wire fencing clips.
11. On fence corners, use smooth wire to attach each horizontal strand to the pipe.
12. At the end post, cut off vertical cross wires for two feet of horizontal wire to wrap and twist around the end post for secure fastening.
13. Repeat for the top 4 feet of field fence.
14. Wire top to the bottom strands by weaving smooth wire between the middle edges of the two fencing pieces.
15. Fit gate between the gate and corner post. Position so it is 6" off the ground for snow clearance and possible sagging.
16. Mark the hinge placement of the gatepost. Drill holes straight through the gatepost, and fit with a long L shaped bolt that can be tightened on the far side of the gatepost.
17. Use commercial chain link attachments or fit pipe gate with pipe clamps to hook onto the hinge.
Source: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-65-70-1558,00.html
Materials
Field fencing (4 ft. high hog wire)
5 six inch pieces of iron pipe, 10 ft long
Fencing pliers
Roll of smooth wire
Cement and sand/gravel mix
Fence post digger
Chain link gate, or one made from pipe and wire
Drill for hinge attachment
Fence stretcher
Coffee cans
L Bolt for hinge
T posts, 10 ft tall
1. Dig holes 2-3 feet deep (to frost line) at the corners of your garden, and one extra for a gatepost.
2. Mix cement as directed on the package with sand and gravel.
3. Insert the iron pipe into the holes, plumb with a strong and plumb bob.
4. Fill with cement mixture and let set for a couple of days.
5. Run a string between your posts and measure every 8 to 10 feet for placement of T-bars.
6. Pound the T-bars for a 2-foot depth, in line between the iron posts (I stood on the truck cab to do this).
7. Cut vertical cross wires out of two feet of the end of your field fencing.
8. Starting at the bottom, wrap horizontal wires around the post. Secure by twisting ends of wire around the first vertical wire tightly.
9. Unroll wire past the T posts to the gate and corner posts.
10. Attach a fence stretcher to the wire to tighten it along the fence posts, or pull with an attachment to your truck, or use a come along. Attach stretched fencing to the posts with wire fencing clips.
11. On fence corners, use smooth wire to attach each horizontal strand to the pipe.
12. At the end post, cut off vertical cross wires for two feet of horizontal wire to wrap and twist around the end post for secure fastening.
13. Repeat for the top 4 feet of field fence.
14. Wire top to the bottom strands by weaving smooth wire between the middle edges of the two fencing pieces.
15. Fit gate between the gate and corner post. Position so it is 6" off the ground for snow clearance and possible sagging.
16. Mark the hinge placement of the gatepost. Drill holes straight through the gatepost, and fit with a long L shaped bolt that can be tightened on the far side of the gatepost.
17. Use commercial chain link attachments or fit pipe gate with pipe clamps to hook onto the hinge.
Source: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-65-70-1558,00.html
Monday, May 19, 2008
IOWA NEWS: Sustained Cull Reduces Urban Deer in Dubuque
Urban deer-population surveys are inexact science, but the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Commission will present its deer-management plan to the Dubuque City Council on Monday with some good news.
The aerial count conducted in February recorded the fewest deer in the city limits since the bow-hunting program began in 1998, at 219. That figure comes after an unusually high number in 2007, when 466 deer were counted.
Greg Harris, wildlife depredation biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, monitors the aerial surveys in eastern Iowa. He said counts are down or stable everywhere except Muscatine, which saw a spike.
"It's nice to see the numbers down, but you can't explain it by the harvest," Harris said. "There are other factors involved and habitat destruction is one. That's something you can see through the air."
Harris also said the bitter winter probably forced deer to travel farther afield.
"If they're starving and there are food sources outside the city, they will move, and (they) won't move back in right away," Harris said.
The Dubuque City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Historic Federal Building, 350 West Sixth St. "Those does will drift back in."
The bow hunt, which opens in late October and runs through late January, targets does to control population growth. The city's goal is to stabilize the population below 20 deer per square mile. While that measure is often met north of U.S. 20, it hasn't been accomplished south of that line. According to Harris, reaching that "magic number" isn't of high importance.
"The better goal to shoot for is a reduction in damage and in deer/vehicle accidents," Harris said.
Mary Rose Corrigan, public health specialist for the city of Dubuque, reports deer/vehicle crashes dropped significantly in 2007 to 29. There were 48 in 2006, which bucked a trend of fewer accidents in recent years. From 1998 to 2001, deer/vehicle crashes averaged in the 40s, Corrigan said.
The city is divided into 12 deer-management zones. Harris said two zones that regularly have the highest deer concentrations also have some larger-property owners that don't allow hunters. One area encompasses nearly 2,100 acres in the northeast corner of the city, south of John Deere Dubuque Works and east of Central Avenue. The other is 536 acres south of U.S. 20, mostly between Fremont Avenue and Cedar Cross Road.
"The bottom line is there is always going to be a problem because of private-property rights," Harris said. "It would be easier if everyone allowed the hunters in, but that doesn't happen in rural areas, so it sure isn't going to happen in the city.
He said the key to population control is consistency.
"Once you start hunting, you can't stop. Let's say you hit this man-made magical number of 20 per mile and let up for a couple of years -- you're right back to square one. We come up with these parameters and want to fit wildlife into them. Wildlife doesn't play by man's rules."
Source: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=202217
The aerial count conducted in February recorded the fewest deer in the city limits since the bow-hunting program began in 1998, at 219. That figure comes after an unusually high number in 2007, when 466 deer were counted.
Greg Harris, wildlife depredation biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, monitors the aerial surveys in eastern Iowa. He said counts are down or stable everywhere except Muscatine, which saw a spike.
"It's nice to see the numbers down, but you can't explain it by the harvest," Harris said. "There are other factors involved and habitat destruction is one. That's something you can see through the air."
Harris also said the bitter winter probably forced deer to travel farther afield.
"If they're starving and there are food sources outside the city, they will move, and (they) won't move back in right away," Harris said.
The Dubuque City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Historic Federal Building, 350 West Sixth St. "Those does will drift back in."
The bow hunt, which opens in late October and runs through late January, targets does to control population growth. The city's goal is to stabilize the population below 20 deer per square mile. While that measure is often met north of U.S. 20, it hasn't been accomplished south of that line. According to Harris, reaching that "magic number" isn't of high importance.
"The better goal to shoot for is a reduction in damage and in deer/vehicle accidents," Harris said.
Mary Rose Corrigan, public health specialist for the city of Dubuque, reports deer/vehicle crashes dropped significantly in 2007 to 29. There were 48 in 2006, which bucked a trend of fewer accidents in recent years. From 1998 to 2001, deer/vehicle crashes averaged in the 40s, Corrigan said.
The city is divided into 12 deer-management zones. Harris said two zones that regularly have the highest deer concentrations also have some larger-property owners that don't allow hunters. One area encompasses nearly 2,100 acres in the northeast corner of the city, south of John Deere Dubuque Works and east of Central Avenue. The other is 536 acres south of U.S. 20, mostly between Fremont Avenue and Cedar Cross Road.
"The bottom line is there is always going to be a problem because of private-property rights," Harris said. "It would be easier if everyone allowed the hunters in, but that doesn't happen in rural areas, so it sure isn't going to happen in the city.
He said the key to population control is consistency.
"Once you start hunting, you can't stop. Let's say you hit this man-made magical number of 20 per mile and let up for a couple of years -- you're right back to square one. We come up with these parameters and want to fit wildlife into them. Wildlife doesn't play by man's rules."
Source: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=202217
Thursday, May 15, 2008
WISCONSIN NEWS: City Bans Deer Feeding
OSHKOSH, Wis. - Oshkosh residents can no longer feed deer in the city.
The Oshkosh Common Council approved a ban on deer feeding Tuesday in an effort to discourage deer from entering urban areas.
People caught feeding deer can be fined nearly $220, when court costs are added to a base fine of $75.
Council members agreed to seek other suggestions for detering deer from the residents and the Humane Society of the United States. They also are looking at killing some deer in the fall or early winter.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6r94qx
The Oshkosh Common Council approved a ban on deer feeding Tuesday in an effort to discourage deer from entering urban areas.
People caught feeding deer can be fined nearly $220, when court costs are added to a base fine of $75.
Council members agreed to seek other suggestions for detering deer from the residents and the Humane Society of the United States. They also are looking at killing some deer in the fall or early winter.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6r94qx
MINNESOTA NEWS: Over 1200 Deer Killed in TB Cull
A total of 1,207 deer were killed by state and federal sharpshooters, hunters and landowners the past six months in bovine tuberculosis-infected northwest Minnesota, the state Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday.
The sharpshooting effort to remove deer started in February and ended Friday, the DNR said. Free-ranging deer, believed to be carriers of bovine TB to cattle, were targets of removal since the deer-hunting season closed last fall.
The concentrated bovine TB area for deer removal is basically northwest Beltrami County and southeast Roseau County, in the Skime area.
Brad Swenson Archive The deer population in the 164-square-mile core of the bovine TB disease management area was estimated at 800 animals during an aerial survey conducted in January before sharpshooting efforts began, the DNR said. Aerial sharpshooters took 416 deer and ground sharpshooters took 546 deer in and near the core area, bringing the 2008 sharpshooting total to 962 animals.
During the regular deer seasons, 1,449 deer were harvested in the bovine TB deer permit area, the DNR said. Hunters harvested an additional 120 deer a January special hunt. Since the close of the deer hunting seasons, landowners have taken an additional 125 deer in an area that was expanded to include private lands to the north of deer permit Area 101. In total, 2,656 deer have been taken from September 2007 to May 2008.
“The large take is evidence of the extraordinary effort that has been underway since autumn,” Dave Schad, DNR Fish and Wildlife Division director, said in a statement. “This has been a highly successful operation that has gone a long way toward achieving our goal of eliminating bovine TB in deer.”
The state of Minnesota is under the federal designation of Modified Accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the third of five categories which outlines strict regulations for the testing and movement of cattle across state lines for bovine TB.
Hopes are to see the state split into two zones, with a concentrated bovine TB management area in northwest Minnesota, and classifying the rest of the state as TB Free.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law last week measures to allow the Minnesota Board of Animal Health authority to increase livestock testing, tighten restrictions on animal movement, provide cost-share assistance for fencing in certain areas and offers to “buy out” livestock owners in the bovine TB management zone.
“This disease is an economic burden for our beef producers, and we are committed to eradicating it as quickly as possible,” state Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Joe Martin, the state’s bovine TB response coordinator, said last week.
“We had strong, bipartisan support for this legislation from legislators, producers, and industry groups such as the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association,” he said.
“This critical legislation will provide the Board of Animal Health the authority they need to restrict movement of livestock within the bovine TB management zone and implement split-state status,” said Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap. “The bill also provides significant resources to control and eradicate bovine TB, including a voluntary herd buyout for cattle producers in the management zone and cost-share money for fencing.”
Paap added that the new law “bans wildlife feeding in the zone and establishes a temporary assessment of $1 per head on all beef cattle sold in Minnesota. Money collected from this assessment will go to the Board of Animal Health for bovine TB control efforts. This assessment shows how cattlemen across Minnesota are willing to contribute toward the eradication of bovine TB.”
Since the initial 2005 discovery of bovine TB in Minnesota, the state has identified 11 infected beef cattle herds—all in the northwest Minnesota counties of Beltrami and Roseau, the state Animal Health Board said. In addition, 20 infected deer have been confirmed to date in the same area, with several additional suspect deer awaiting final test results.
“This bill puts Minnesota in the position of being a national leader in controlling and combating bovine TB,” said Sen. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, an author of the bill.
“Up to this point, there really has been no road map for dealing with this issue and other states have had only marginal success,” Skoe said. “This bill helps Minnesota lead the way toward eradicating the disease in our state and helping other states develop aggressive and successful plans.”
The final legislative plan will lay the groundwork for USDA split-state status in order to focus bovine TB eradication efforts only in affected areas, he said. The plan offers cattle producers an option to accept an animal-buyout or extensive fencing to control animal movement and help control the spread of the disease.
In addition, herd testing will continue to be required until TB-free status is regained, and deer eradication efforts will continue. The Department of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health and DNR all cooperated on the comprehensive plan, he said.
“With this bill, we’ll make significant progress toward no additional TB-positive test results in the state,” Skoe said.
Landowners and tenants, and their agents designated in writing, can continue to take deer without a permit in the landowner/tenant area under the provisions of a special emergency rule that took effect March 31, said the DNR’s Schad. The rule is currently scheduled to expire Aug. 31, but the rule may be modified or ended earlier in the summer based on discussions with local residents and landowners. A final decision will be made in the next several weeks.
The DNR will finalize plans for the fall hunting seasons in that area by July, he said. Specific details on permit area boundaries, special and regular hunts, and other provisions will be announced mid-summer.
Schad added that he appreciates the cooperation of private landowners during a difficult time. “We couldn’t have accomplished what we did without the assistance of local citizens and federal sharpshooters. Both deserve our thanks,” he said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5ez2s5
The sharpshooting effort to remove deer started in February and ended Friday, the DNR said. Free-ranging deer, believed to be carriers of bovine TB to cattle, were targets of removal since the deer-hunting season closed last fall.
The concentrated bovine TB area for deer removal is basically northwest Beltrami County and southeast Roseau County, in the Skime area.
Brad Swenson Archive The deer population in the 164-square-mile core of the bovine TB disease management area was estimated at 800 animals during an aerial survey conducted in January before sharpshooting efforts began, the DNR said. Aerial sharpshooters took 416 deer and ground sharpshooters took 546 deer in and near the core area, bringing the 2008 sharpshooting total to 962 animals.
During the regular deer seasons, 1,449 deer were harvested in the bovine TB deer permit area, the DNR said. Hunters harvested an additional 120 deer a January special hunt. Since the close of the deer hunting seasons, landowners have taken an additional 125 deer in an area that was expanded to include private lands to the north of deer permit Area 101. In total, 2,656 deer have been taken from September 2007 to May 2008.
“The large take is evidence of the extraordinary effort that has been underway since autumn,” Dave Schad, DNR Fish and Wildlife Division director, said in a statement. “This has been a highly successful operation that has gone a long way toward achieving our goal of eliminating bovine TB in deer.”
The state of Minnesota is under the federal designation of Modified Accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the third of five categories which outlines strict regulations for the testing and movement of cattle across state lines for bovine TB.
Hopes are to see the state split into two zones, with a concentrated bovine TB management area in northwest Minnesota, and classifying the rest of the state as TB Free.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law last week measures to allow the Minnesota Board of Animal Health authority to increase livestock testing, tighten restrictions on animal movement, provide cost-share assistance for fencing in certain areas and offers to “buy out” livestock owners in the bovine TB management zone.
“This disease is an economic burden for our beef producers, and we are committed to eradicating it as quickly as possible,” state Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Joe Martin, the state’s bovine TB response coordinator, said last week.
“We had strong, bipartisan support for this legislation from legislators, producers, and industry groups such as the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association,” he said.
“This critical legislation will provide the Board of Animal Health the authority they need to restrict movement of livestock within the bovine TB management zone and implement split-state status,” said Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap. “The bill also provides significant resources to control and eradicate bovine TB, including a voluntary herd buyout for cattle producers in the management zone and cost-share money for fencing.”
Paap added that the new law “bans wildlife feeding in the zone and establishes a temporary assessment of $1 per head on all beef cattle sold in Minnesota. Money collected from this assessment will go to the Board of Animal Health for bovine TB control efforts. This assessment shows how cattlemen across Minnesota are willing to contribute toward the eradication of bovine TB.”
Since the initial 2005 discovery of bovine TB in Minnesota, the state has identified 11 infected beef cattle herds—all in the northwest Minnesota counties of Beltrami and Roseau, the state Animal Health Board said. In addition, 20 infected deer have been confirmed to date in the same area, with several additional suspect deer awaiting final test results.
“This bill puts Minnesota in the position of being a national leader in controlling and combating bovine TB,” said Sen. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, an author of the bill.
“Up to this point, there really has been no road map for dealing with this issue and other states have had only marginal success,” Skoe said. “This bill helps Minnesota lead the way toward eradicating the disease in our state and helping other states develop aggressive and successful plans.”
The final legislative plan will lay the groundwork for USDA split-state status in order to focus bovine TB eradication efforts only in affected areas, he said. The plan offers cattle producers an option to accept an animal-buyout or extensive fencing to control animal movement and help control the spread of the disease.
In addition, herd testing will continue to be required until TB-free status is regained, and deer eradication efforts will continue. The Department of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health and DNR all cooperated on the comprehensive plan, he said.
“With this bill, we’ll make significant progress toward no additional TB-positive test results in the state,” Skoe said.
Landowners and tenants, and their agents designated in writing, can continue to take deer without a permit in the landowner/tenant area under the provisions of a special emergency rule that took effect March 31, said the DNR’s Schad. The rule is currently scheduled to expire Aug. 31, but the rule may be modified or ended earlier in the summer based on discussions with local residents and landowners. A final decision will be made in the next several weeks.
The DNR will finalize plans for the fall hunting seasons in that area by July, he said. Specific details on permit area boundaries, special and regular hunts, and other provisions will be announced mid-summer.
Schad added that he appreciates the cooperation of private landowners during a difficult time. “We couldn’t have accomplished what we did without the assistance of local citizens and federal sharpshooters. Both deserve our thanks,” he said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5ez2s5
Friday, May 09, 2008
WEST VIRGINIA NEWS: More CWD Appears in Hampshire County
BECKLEY, W.Va. — Hampshire County remains an enigma to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources in its campaign to track down and understand why Chronic Wasting Disease is haunting deer in that popular hunting region.
Now that 11 more deer the DNR killed this spring have tested positive, the mystery has only deepened.
All told, 31 deer now have been afflicted with the ailment, a fatal neurological disorder found in deer and elk. To date, the only affected deer have turned up in Hampshire — a fact that puzzles the DNR’s assistant wildlife chief, Paul Johansen.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” he said Thursday.
“I’ve stayed up nights pondering that question. Why did it show up? How did it get here? The reality is we may never know. I guess the important thing is to make sure we do engage our management plan to try to put in place appropriate management strategies to try to address the disease.”
While not harmful to humans, cattle or other domestic animals, CWD is a death sentence to any deer or elk that contracts it.
Some hunter-harvested deer tested positive last fall in Hampshire, but so far, not a single CWD-infected whitetail has been discovered outside that county.
“We’re pleased to see from a distribution standpoint, looking at the landscape, all of those positives were pretty tightly confined to that geographic area around Slanesville, where the original index animal was,” Johansen said.
“We did not pick up any additional positives in that Yellow Springs area.”
For the past few years, the DNR has performed a statewide surveillance program but hasn’t found any CWD outside a small pocket of Hampshire, he said.
In fact, the original index animal surfaced Sept. 2, 2005, as part of the DNR’s roadkill surveillance, Johansen pointed out.
Besides roadkill vigilance, the DNR looks for the disease in targeted areas, seeking out any animals that exhibit the clinical signs of it.
“We try to get our hands on those as well,” he said.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by abnormal, proteinaceous particles known as prions engaged in a slow assault of the brain, causing deer and elk to progressively become emaciated, display bizarre behavior and invariably die.
DNR Director Frank Jezioro said in a statement from his office that “some of the best wildlife biologists and veterinarians in the world” are working on CWD, including those at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Ga.
“Landowner and hunter cooperation throughout this entire CWD surveillance effort in Hampshire County has been excellent,” he said.
“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.”
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3gm9j3
Now that 11 more deer the DNR killed this spring have tested positive, the mystery has only deepened.
All told, 31 deer now have been afflicted with the ailment, a fatal neurological disorder found in deer and elk. To date, the only affected deer have turned up in Hampshire — a fact that puzzles the DNR’s assistant wildlife chief, Paul Johansen.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” he said Thursday.
“I’ve stayed up nights pondering that question. Why did it show up? How did it get here? The reality is we may never know. I guess the important thing is to make sure we do engage our management plan to try to put in place appropriate management strategies to try to address the disease.”
While not harmful to humans, cattle or other domestic animals, CWD is a death sentence to any deer or elk that contracts it.
Some hunter-harvested deer tested positive last fall in Hampshire, but so far, not a single CWD-infected whitetail has been discovered outside that county.
“We’re pleased to see from a distribution standpoint, looking at the landscape, all of those positives were pretty tightly confined to that geographic area around Slanesville, where the original index animal was,” Johansen said.
“We did not pick up any additional positives in that Yellow Springs area.”
For the past few years, the DNR has performed a statewide surveillance program but hasn’t found any CWD outside a small pocket of Hampshire, he said.
In fact, the original index animal surfaced Sept. 2, 2005, as part of the DNR’s roadkill surveillance, Johansen pointed out.
Besides roadkill vigilance, the DNR looks for the disease in targeted areas, seeking out any animals that exhibit the clinical signs of it.
“We try to get our hands on those as well,” he said.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by abnormal, proteinaceous particles known as prions engaged in a slow assault of the brain, causing deer and elk to progressively become emaciated, display bizarre behavior and invariably die.
DNR Director Frank Jezioro said in a statement from his office that “some of the best wildlife biologists and veterinarians in the world” are working on CWD, including those at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Ga.
“Landowner and hunter cooperation throughout this entire CWD surveillance effort in Hampshire County has been excellent,” he said.
“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.”
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3gm9j3
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
NEW YORK NEWS: Deer Sightings on Staten Island Continue to Rise
There will be no deer hunting on Staten Island. Not anytime soon, probably not ever.
But there are deer aplenty, and in growing numbers, on Staten Island, the closest thing New York City has to a suburban borough, browsing in people’s yards, drawing double-takes at highway interchanges, getting hit by cars. There are so many deer that the state decided it needed to study them and figure out what to do about them.
According to the study, released on Friday, there are at least 24 deer, concentrated on the western side of the island, including at least two fawns. It is enough to constitute an unusual pest-control challenge in the nation’s largest city.
“Deer are beautiful animals, and we love to see them in the wild,” Suzanne Mattei, the regional director for the State Department of Environmental Conservation, said at an outdoor news conference at the Greenbelt Nature Center in the island’s lushly wooded heart. “But when they come into urban areas, we have to manage them carefully.”
The proposals made in the study are modest ones: more deer-crossing signs (eight were installed along the West Shore Expressway last year at the urging of Assemblyman Michael Cusick), some fencing and a public-education campaign.
“We want Staten Islanders to be deer-savvy,” said the deputy borough president, Ed Burke.
Officials warn that in addition to endangering drivers, deer are host to the ticks that carry Lyme disease.
And if unchecked, the deer could put a serious dent in Staten Island’s greenery, which is already threatened by development, said Joseph Pane, the state biologist who conducted the survey by traipsing through the woods for most of January and February.
“They’ll eat everything within reach, to the point where you have nothing growing,” Mr. Pane said, as if describing an attack by 350-pound rats with antlers. “They go after things as soon as they sprout and you have no seed source.”
While the survey took in only a fraction of the island’s wooded areas, Ms. Mattei said the department felt that 24 deer counted represented most of the herd.
“At least now we have data,” she said. “We have something more than just, ‘Golly gee, I saw a deer.’ ”
Deer sightings began to be reported with some frequency on Staten Island around 2000. State officials say the deer swam across the Arthur Kill from New Jersey, decades after having been wiped out on the island.
But old-timers in the island’s rugged southwest corner say the deer never left. “There have always been deer on Staten Island,” said Cherryl Mitchell, who runs a stable called Richer Farm in Charleston, just north of the Outerbridge Crossing. “My husband is a native Staten Islander, he’s 66 years old, and he’s seen them since he was 6 years old.”
Mrs. Mitchell, 57, said that when she moved to Charleston in 1979, she would see deer tracks, but after a wave of construction nearby, she started to see deer. She said she had been spotting one deer, which she named Grandpa, recognizable by a distinctly crooked nostril, for 18 years.
Mrs. Mitchell said she had also seen men with bows and arrows hunting the deer in Clay Pit Ponds State Park, adjoining her property. Last year, the conservation department received a spate of complaints about hunters shooting at deer.
Hunting, whether with bow and arrow or firearm, is illegal in New York City, which is why a harvest is not among the management options the state is considering. And though deer have natural predators elsewhere in the state, there are no plans to introduce bears or coyotes to Staten Island either.
“I think it’s going to be challenging enough dealing with the coexistence of the deer and the people,” Ms. Mattei said.
The deer survey, which will become an annual event, was based on sightings called in by residents in January and February. The sighting log reads like a tour of the island’s back roads and parking lots.
“Three deer, gully behind Target near Englewood Ave.”
“1/27/2008, six deer, skating pavilion, Arthur Kill Road.”
The sightings were concentrated in four areas: near Howland Hook in the northwest corner of the island, near Clay Pit Ponds State Park, near Mount Loretto and Tottenville at the southern tip, and around the Greenbelt. Mr. Pane bundled up, took clipboard in hand and went on the prowl.
Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mitchell led a reporter on her own deer tour in the woods just beyond her riding ring. In five minutes, she pointed out the tracks of at least six deer: does with rounded hoofprints, bucks with big pointy prints the length of a man’s finger, fawns with little prints.
Mrs. Mitchell had little use for the state and its scientist-bureaucrats. But she said she agreed with the conclusions of the study.
“They need to just properly put some fences along the highways, put some signs up and leave them the hell alone,” she said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5doymf
But there are deer aplenty, and in growing numbers, on Staten Island, the closest thing New York City has to a suburban borough, browsing in people’s yards, drawing double-takes at highway interchanges, getting hit by cars. There are so many deer that the state decided it needed to study them and figure out what to do about them.
According to the study, released on Friday, there are at least 24 deer, concentrated on the western side of the island, including at least two fawns. It is enough to constitute an unusual pest-control challenge in the nation’s largest city.
“Deer are beautiful animals, and we love to see them in the wild,” Suzanne Mattei, the regional director for the State Department of Environmental Conservation, said at an outdoor news conference at the Greenbelt Nature Center in the island’s lushly wooded heart. “But when they come into urban areas, we have to manage them carefully.”
The proposals made in the study are modest ones: more deer-crossing signs (eight were installed along the West Shore Expressway last year at the urging of Assemblyman Michael Cusick), some fencing and a public-education campaign.
“We want Staten Islanders to be deer-savvy,” said the deputy borough president, Ed Burke.
Officials warn that in addition to endangering drivers, deer are host to the ticks that carry Lyme disease.
And if unchecked, the deer could put a serious dent in Staten Island’s greenery, which is already threatened by development, said Joseph Pane, the state biologist who conducted the survey by traipsing through the woods for most of January and February.
“They’ll eat everything within reach, to the point where you have nothing growing,” Mr. Pane said, as if describing an attack by 350-pound rats with antlers. “They go after things as soon as they sprout and you have no seed source.”
While the survey took in only a fraction of the island’s wooded areas, Ms. Mattei said the department felt that 24 deer counted represented most of the herd.
“At least now we have data,” she said. “We have something more than just, ‘Golly gee, I saw a deer.’ ”
Deer sightings began to be reported with some frequency on Staten Island around 2000. State officials say the deer swam across the Arthur Kill from New Jersey, decades after having been wiped out on the island.
But old-timers in the island’s rugged southwest corner say the deer never left. “There have always been deer on Staten Island,” said Cherryl Mitchell, who runs a stable called Richer Farm in Charleston, just north of the Outerbridge Crossing. “My husband is a native Staten Islander, he’s 66 years old, and he’s seen them since he was 6 years old.”
Mrs. Mitchell, 57, said that when she moved to Charleston in 1979, she would see deer tracks, but after a wave of construction nearby, she started to see deer. She said she had been spotting one deer, which she named Grandpa, recognizable by a distinctly crooked nostril, for 18 years.
Mrs. Mitchell said she had also seen men with bows and arrows hunting the deer in Clay Pit Ponds State Park, adjoining her property. Last year, the conservation department received a spate of complaints about hunters shooting at deer.
Hunting, whether with bow and arrow or firearm, is illegal in New York City, which is why a harvest is not among the management options the state is considering. And though deer have natural predators elsewhere in the state, there are no plans to introduce bears or coyotes to Staten Island either.
“I think it’s going to be challenging enough dealing with the coexistence of the deer and the people,” Ms. Mattei said.
The deer survey, which will become an annual event, was based on sightings called in by residents in January and February. The sighting log reads like a tour of the island’s back roads and parking lots.
“Three deer, gully behind Target near Englewood Ave.”
“1/27/2008, six deer, skating pavilion, Arthur Kill Road.”
The sightings were concentrated in four areas: near Howland Hook in the northwest corner of the island, near Clay Pit Ponds State Park, near Mount Loretto and Tottenville at the southern tip, and around the Greenbelt. Mr. Pane bundled up, took clipboard in hand and went on the prowl.
Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mitchell led a reporter on her own deer tour in the woods just beyond her riding ring. In five minutes, she pointed out the tracks of at least six deer: does with rounded hoofprints, bucks with big pointy prints the length of a man’s finger, fawns with little prints.
Mrs. Mitchell had little use for the state and its scientist-bureaucrats. But she said she agreed with the conclusions of the study.
“They need to just properly put some fences along the highways, put some signs up and leave them the hell alone,” she said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5doymf
Monday, April 28, 2008
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Lowest Deer Harvest in 16 Years
During the 2007 and 2008 hunting seasons, New Jersey's deer hunters killed the least amount of whitetails in 16 years, according to newly released statistics.
The finding is reported in the state Division of Fish and Wildlife's just-published tally of the latest deer harvest. In it, the division says hunters took 47,017 animals in the Fall Bow, Youth Hunt, Permit Bow, 6-Day Firearm, Permit Muzzleloader, Permit Shotgun and Winter Bow hunting seasons.
That figure represents the fewest deer shot by hunters since the 1991 and 1992 seasons when 45,416 whitetails were culled. It falls far short of the 56,673 deer in 2006 and 2007, and pales in comparison to the high-water mark set in 2000 and 2001, when 77,444 deer were taken.
According to Fish and Wildlife, 17,467 of the most recent seasons' harvested deer were antlered and 29,549 were antlerless. As has been the case since the 1987 and 1988 seasons, most of the deer -- 17,094 -- were killed during the Permit Shotgun season. In 1999 and 2000, 28,498 deer were removed from the herd during Permit Shotgun season.
To find a Fall Bow season as slow as last year's, when 9,994 deer were arrowed, one needs to look to 1987 and 1988, when the tally was 8,483.
The anemic numbers are pretty much the same across the board: The 725 deer taken during the Youth Hunt is the second-lowest number since the hunt was initiated in 2001 and 2002; Permit Bow hunters, who took 6,086, fared worse than any Permit Bow participants since 1995 and 1996; 6-Day Firearm ("Buck Season") hunters managed 8,338 deer, fewer than in any season since 1995 and 1996.
However, there is one bright spot in the new numbers: The Winter Bow number of 1,232 is actually the third-best on record and is 110 more than reported for the comparable 2006-07 season.
Division of Fish and Wildlife assistant director Larry Herrighty said he'd like to see another year's worth of data before hypothesizing why the deer harvest is down so much.
"We don't see a pattern," he said. Herrighty added that a number of factors go into annual deer hunt numbers, including weather and hunter participation.
"During the early muzzleloader season there were heavy rains," he noted. "Even on opening day of buck season, the weather wasn't ideal."
The lower numbers could just be a sign that the efforts, by the division and the state Fish and Game Council, to winnow New Jersey's deer population are working. "We are attempting to decrease the population and, as we do, the harvest will go down," Herrighty said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3nbp6c
The finding is reported in the state Division of Fish and Wildlife's just-published tally of the latest deer harvest. In it, the division says hunters took 47,017 animals in the Fall Bow, Youth Hunt, Permit Bow, 6-Day Firearm, Permit Muzzleloader, Permit Shotgun and Winter Bow hunting seasons.
That figure represents the fewest deer shot by hunters since the 1991 and 1992 seasons when 45,416 whitetails were culled. It falls far short of the 56,673 deer in 2006 and 2007, and pales in comparison to the high-water mark set in 2000 and 2001, when 77,444 deer were taken.
According to Fish and Wildlife, 17,467 of the most recent seasons' harvested deer were antlered and 29,549 were antlerless. As has been the case since the 1987 and 1988 seasons, most of the deer -- 17,094 -- were killed during the Permit Shotgun season. In 1999 and 2000, 28,498 deer were removed from the herd during Permit Shotgun season.
To find a Fall Bow season as slow as last year's, when 9,994 deer were arrowed, one needs to look to 1987 and 1988, when the tally was 8,483.
The anemic numbers are pretty much the same across the board: The 725 deer taken during the Youth Hunt is the second-lowest number since the hunt was initiated in 2001 and 2002; Permit Bow hunters, who took 6,086, fared worse than any Permit Bow participants since 1995 and 1996; 6-Day Firearm ("Buck Season") hunters managed 8,338 deer, fewer than in any season since 1995 and 1996.
However, there is one bright spot in the new numbers: The Winter Bow number of 1,232 is actually the third-best on record and is 110 more than reported for the comparable 2006-07 season.
Division of Fish and Wildlife assistant director Larry Herrighty said he'd like to see another year's worth of data before hypothesizing why the deer harvest is down so much.
"We don't see a pattern," he said. Herrighty added that a number of factors go into annual deer hunt numbers, including weather and hunter participation.
"During the early muzzleloader season there were heavy rains," he noted. "Even on opening day of buck season, the weather wasn't ideal."
The lower numbers could just be a sign that the efforts, by the division and the state Fish and Game Council, to winnow New Jersey's deer population are working. "We are attempting to decrease the population and, as we do, the harvest will go down," Herrighty said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3nbp6c
Monday, April 21, 2008
WISCONSIN OPINION: The Science Says "Stop Baiting and Feeding"
It’s rarely a good idea to feed a wild animal, but it’s an especially bad idea to feed a wild deer.
That notion has gotten through to Wisconsin sportsmen. Now, it needs to get through to the state Legislature.
Last week, Wisconsin sportsmen vote, 54-46 percent, to ban the feeding and baiting of deer statewide. Baiting and feeding is already illegal in the 26 southern Wisconsin counties nearest to the 2002 outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease.
The research is clear that baiting and feeding artificially concentrate deer and facilitate the spread of CWD and other diseases. Since deer, unlike bears, often move in groups, they feed together at the same locations. Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Ron Lichtie compares bait and feed piles to human beings at a buffet eating off the same plate.
Baiting also interferes with the normal deer hunt. Research shows:
* Feeding of deer increases reproduction and survival, which makes traditional herd control methods less effective and increases the need for earn-a-buck and October hunting seasons.
* Baiting and feeding cause deer to go nocturnal and concentrate deer on refuges, which makes a successful hunting experience more difficult.
* Baiting and feeding concentrate deer on private property -- especially parcels with the most bait -- and hinder opportunities for sportsmen who rely on public hunting lands.
But if you’re not inclined to believe the DNR, then perhaps you’ll believe the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. It raised the spectre of bovine tuberculosis, which has already been identified in Michigan and Minnesota, and the real possibility that the artificial concentration of deer threatens domestic livestock. The loss of Wisconsin’s TB-free status would cost state farmers nearly $2 million annually in additional testing costs.
Sportsmen and farmers have spoken up, but only the state Legislature can enact a baiting and feeding ban. It’s time for area lawmakers -- state Sens. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), and state Reps. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls), Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg) and Lee Nerison (R-Westby)-- to take a visible leadership role on this issue. The science is indisputable, and it should trump politics.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5xvuzc
That notion has gotten through to Wisconsin sportsmen. Now, it needs to get through to the state Legislature.
Last week, Wisconsin sportsmen vote, 54-46 percent, to ban the feeding and baiting of deer statewide. Baiting and feeding is already illegal in the 26 southern Wisconsin counties nearest to the 2002 outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease.
The research is clear that baiting and feeding artificially concentrate deer and facilitate the spread of CWD and other diseases. Since deer, unlike bears, often move in groups, they feed together at the same locations. Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Ron Lichtie compares bait and feed piles to human beings at a buffet eating off the same plate.
Baiting also interferes with the normal deer hunt. Research shows:
* Feeding of deer increases reproduction and survival, which makes traditional herd control methods less effective and increases the need for earn-a-buck and October hunting seasons.
* Baiting and feeding cause deer to go nocturnal and concentrate deer on refuges, which makes a successful hunting experience more difficult.
* Baiting and feeding concentrate deer on private property -- especially parcels with the most bait -- and hinder opportunities for sportsmen who rely on public hunting lands.
But if you’re not inclined to believe the DNR, then perhaps you’ll believe the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. It raised the spectre of bovine tuberculosis, which has already been identified in Michigan and Minnesota, and the real possibility that the artificial concentration of deer threatens domestic livestock. The loss of Wisconsin’s TB-free status would cost state farmers nearly $2 million annually in additional testing costs.
Sportsmen and farmers have spoken up, but only the state Legislature can enact a baiting and feeding ban. It’s time for area lawmakers -- state Sens. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), and state Reps. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls), Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg) and Lee Nerison (R-Westby)-- to take a visible leadership role on this issue. The science is indisputable, and it should trump politics.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5xvuzc
Thursday, April 10, 2008
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Game Commission Approves Management Audit
Rooney: Get ready for a repeat of the Wisconsin experience.
Dan Moul used to hunt near Sinnemahoning in northcentral part of the state, but he stopped going a few years ago.
"There were more deer down here than there were up there," said Moul, a Republican state House representative from Conewago Township.
Other hunters stopped going, too, and several businesses in the Cameron County town have shut down as a result.
"The white-tailed deer is what a lot of these towns survive on," Moul said.
Moul said he's talked to representatives from the Game Commission about how displeased constituents are, but "I may as well have been hitting my head on the wall."
The state House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution earlier this week that calls for an independent, out-of-state party to conduct a study on the controversial deer-management program.
The Game Commission's goal has been to reduce the white-tailed deer population to ensure the herd is healthy, that the forest habitat can sustain wildlife and that the run-ins between humans and deer would diminish.
But some hunters argue the Game Commission has gone too far in reducing the herd, especially in the northern tier of the state.
Stephen Mohr, president of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, said he's pleased the House approved the audit, which his organization pushed for. He questions how the Game Commission can determine how many tags should be sold if the management of the herd isn't based on numbers.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources hired a company several years ago to use video cameras and infrared equipment to help take a census of the deer during a flyover.
In some places in the northcentral area of the state, it found zero deer per square mile, Mohr said.
Anything below 15 deer per square mile is not considered a huntable population, he said.
The Game Commission welcomes the independent audit as long as it's done by a scientific group, spokesman Joe Kosack said.
If the study validates the Game Commission's program, that's great, Kosack said. If there are changes to consider, "we'd be willing to listen to them," Kosack said.
He said things are constantly changing and, in looking at the history of deer management, the Game Commission cannot please everyone.
Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8876115
Dan Moul used to hunt near Sinnemahoning in northcentral part of the state, but he stopped going a few years ago.
"There were more deer down here than there were up there," said Moul, a Republican state House representative from Conewago Township.
Other hunters stopped going, too, and several businesses in the Cameron County town have shut down as a result.
"The white-tailed deer is what a lot of these towns survive on," Moul said.
Moul said he's talked to representatives from the Game Commission about how displeased constituents are, but "I may as well have been hitting my head on the wall."
The state House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution earlier this week that calls for an independent, out-of-state party to conduct a study on the controversial deer-management program.
The Game Commission's goal has been to reduce the white-tailed deer population to ensure the herd is healthy, that the forest habitat can sustain wildlife and that the run-ins between humans and deer would diminish.
But some hunters argue the Game Commission has gone too far in reducing the herd, especially in the northern tier of the state.
Stephen Mohr, president of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, said he's pleased the House approved the audit, which his organization pushed for. He questions how the Game Commission can determine how many tags should be sold if the management of the herd isn't based on numbers.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources hired a company several years ago to use video cameras and infrared equipment to help take a census of the deer during a flyover.
In some places in the northcentral area of the state, it found zero deer per square mile, Mohr said.
Anything below 15 deer per square mile is not considered a huntable population, he said.
The Game Commission welcomes the independent audit as long as it's done by a scientific group, spokesman Joe Kosack said.
If the study validates the Game Commission's program, that's great, Kosack said. If there are changes to consider, "we'd be willing to listen to them," Kosack said.
He said things are constantly changing and, in looking at the history of deer management, the Game Commission cannot please everyone.
Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8876115
Monday, April 07, 2008
VIRGINIA NEWS: Deer Population Threatens Vinyards
The deer population is on the rise, and many experts say it's due to a number of different factors, like their high reproductive rate, the absence of predators, and the increased nutrition from several plants - including grapes vonifera grapes to be exact, and that's why vineyards are gearing up for this year's growing season.
"The deer fence will go right along through here," says Chris Breiner, who manages the Stone Mountain Vineyard. He says deer are becoming more and more of a problem, "In the past we had an electric fence right there and then we had garlic sticks and other things to keep them out, last year that did not work as well since there was nothing in the woods they were moving more."
As the deer population rises, Breiner has to think of other means to protect his grapes, so this past week, he came up with a different plan.
"This is the plastic deer mesh, it comes with a roll that's a hundred feet and eight feet tall, it's supposedly can withstand 900 pounds of pressure before it will tear or rip," says Breiner. He hopes that 1800 feet of fence will deter deer from feasting on his grapes, "Deer are claustrophobic, they have bad peripheral vision so they stay on the top rows and the bottom rows and they come in on the edges they will not really go along the rows because they are very skittish animals, although sometimes they do get in there and panic"
Breiner's customers depend on the quality of his grapes, so keeping deer out is a huge priority.
"They were just on the move more we spent way too many man hours keeping them out, we probably lost, I estimate, last year 6 to 7 tons of fruit to the deer damage," says Breiner.
According to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, deer vehicle collisions and deer damage to agricultural and residential property continue to increase in the Commonwealth.
Source: http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/17342629.html
"The deer fence will go right along through here," says Chris Breiner, who manages the Stone Mountain Vineyard. He says deer are becoming more and more of a problem, "In the past we had an electric fence right there and then we had garlic sticks and other things to keep them out, last year that did not work as well since there was nothing in the woods they were moving more."
As the deer population rises, Breiner has to think of other means to protect his grapes, so this past week, he came up with a different plan.
"This is the plastic deer mesh, it comes with a roll that's a hundred feet and eight feet tall, it's supposedly can withstand 900 pounds of pressure before it will tear or rip," says Breiner. He hopes that 1800 feet of fence will deter deer from feasting on his grapes, "Deer are claustrophobic, they have bad peripheral vision so they stay on the top rows and the bottom rows and they come in on the edges they will not really go along the rows because they are very skittish animals, although sometimes they do get in there and panic"
Breiner's customers depend on the quality of his grapes, so keeping deer out is a huge priority.
"They were just on the move more we spent way too many man hours keeping them out, we probably lost, I estimate, last year 6 to 7 tons of fruit to the deer damage," says Breiner.
According to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, deer vehicle collisions and deer damage to agricultural and residential property continue to increase in the Commonwealth.
Source: http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/17342629.html
Thursday, April 03, 2008
MISSISSIPPI NEWS: Governor to Veto Deer Baiting Ban Bill
House bill 1089, the so-called "Deer Baiting Bill," has passed both the house and the senate. But word from the governor's office is that Haley Barbour plans to veto the bill, keeping it from becoming law.
But it may not matter whether it's law or not, because deer baiting is already a common practice here in Mississippi.
"When you go outside and you're in the woods, I just love being outdoors myself," said hunter, Bill McKee.
Many hunters like Bill McKee enjoy the thrill of the hunt, whether they bag the big buck or not, just hunting deer is enough for them. Still, McKee also keeps a feeder on his property.
"We have a lot of people that do it, matter of fact, I've got a feeder I keep out year round just to supplement the food for the deer," said McKee.
And McKee's not alone, I spoke with many hunter's who didn't want to talk on camera who say they may not hunt over corn feed or bait but they'll keep it on their property to keep the deer on their property. House wildlife committee chair, Bo Eaton says hunters want an even playing field.
"In Louisiana, it's legal, in Arkansas,it's legal and Texas and these hunters in the state want to have the same opportunity as those hunters in the other states that adjoin Mississippi," said Eaton.
For some it comes down to a matter of ethics, they say there's no fair chase no sportsmanship in killing a deer over bait.
But Eaton believes the decision to bait or not, should be left up to the hunter.
"What's best for the hunting public and this is an ethical issue that's before us and the hunters, in my opinion, if you feel like it's unethical then don't do it," said Eaton.
Last year, the wildlife commission was given authority to allow deer baiting. At this point, they are doing field tests to study how it affects the deer population.
Source: http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8108723&nav=1L7u
But it may not matter whether it's law or not, because deer baiting is already a common practice here in Mississippi.
"When you go outside and you're in the woods, I just love being outdoors myself," said hunter, Bill McKee.
Many hunters like Bill McKee enjoy the thrill of the hunt, whether they bag the big buck or not, just hunting deer is enough for them. Still, McKee also keeps a feeder on his property.
"We have a lot of people that do it, matter of fact, I've got a feeder I keep out year round just to supplement the food for the deer," said McKee.
And McKee's not alone, I spoke with many hunter's who didn't want to talk on camera who say they may not hunt over corn feed or bait but they'll keep it on their property to keep the deer on their property. House wildlife committee chair, Bo Eaton says hunters want an even playing field.
"In Louisiana, it's legal, in Arkansas,it's legal and Texas and these hunters in the state want to have the same opportunity as those hunters in the other states that adjoin Mississippi," said Eaton.
For some it comes down to a matter of ethics, they say there's no fair chase no sportsmanship in killing a deer over bait.
But Eaton believes the decision to bait or not, should be left up to the hunter.
"What's best for the hunting public and this is an ethical issue that's before us and the hunters, in my opinion, if you feel like it's unethical then don't do it," said Eaton.
Last year, the wildlife commission was given authority to allow deer baiting. At this point, they are doing field tests to study how it affects the deer population.
Source: http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8108723&nav=1L7u
WISCONSIN OPINION: October Deer Hunt is Back
Pat Durkin's latest column:
Now that Wisconsin again will offer an October gun season for antlerless deer — our second-most popular hunt when held statewide in recent years — critics say the state Department of Natural Resources is ignoring its customers.
Let's pause for those who seldom follow deer hunting's inner debates.
OK, you guys. Let's concede the lead paragraph is a contradiction that makes no sense. But critics believe hunters hate this early season, even though harvest data shows the four-day hunt trailed only the traditional November season for participation.
Got it? OK. Let's continue.
To make this hunt even more popular, the DNR will move it to Oct. 16-19. Previous October gun hunts were closer to Halloween, which overlapped bowhunting's prime time.
Readers might recall why the agency canceled these hunts in 2006 and 2007: A stakeholders committee, which included all state deer hunting groups, wanted to show the DNR we didn't need October gun hunts to reduce deer numbers.
The committee voted in July 2005 to try these tools instead during the two-year experiment: extra free antlerless tags, a statewide December antlerless gun-hunt, a longer archery season and a two-day October youth hunt.
The experiment included this benchmark: Hunters must achieve a two-year antlerless-to-buck harvest ratio of 2-to-1, or the October season would return in 2008.
The results are in, and only the Central Forest region met the 2-to-1 ratio. Well, technically, it didn't, but the DNR figured a 1.95-to-1 ratio was good enough for the government. (Remember, the DNR ignores its customers.) Therefore, the five deer-management units in this small area won't have an October gun hunt.
The antlerless-to-buck ratios averaged 1.6- to 1.75-to-1 in the other four DNR districts. If not for widespread earn-a-buck regulations, which hunting groups opposed, those averages would have been worse. The ratio was 1.2-to-1 for deer units without free antlerless tags, 1.7-to-1 for areas with unlimited free tags and 3-to-1 for earn-a-buck areas.
Further, in CWD (chronic wasting disease) zones, the ratio was 2.8-to-1 with earn-a-buck and 1.2-to-1 without it. This, despite hunters' promises to shoot more does and fawns if the DNR dropped earn-a-buck regulations in 2006.
It did, and they didn't. Lesson learned.
An objective person would agree hunters failed to meet goals set by their representatives. But objectivity is irrelevant in deer hunting. This is Ford vs. Chevy, Packers vs. Vikings, Gordon vs. Earnhardt.
That's why seven of 18 members on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress'big-game committee voted Saturday to reject the DNR's proposed 2008 deer regulations during a meeting at the Mead Wildlife Area near Milladore.
Before voting, they reviewed a lot of DNR data without dispute. For instance, the 2007 harvest showed a combined gun-archery kill of 518,573, Wisconsin's second-highest kill on record. The archery kill, 116,042, was a record.
They even heard appeals to their integrity from fellow committee members, reminding them that their representatives approved the 2006-07 experiment.
Ken Anderson of Eagle River said: "I don't enjoy someone saying the October hunt is being shoved down our throat. We had two years of warning. You guys all agreed to it; 2-to-1 was the ratio. We didn't get it done. Now you want to go back on what we agreed to?"
The opposition's response: The DNR shouldn't bully them. Hunter harmony and customer satisfaction would improve if the DNR dropped the October gun hunt.
It's odd that professed businessmen in the group made that argument. Whether it's the DNR, Wal-Mart or Joe's Tavern, few can define — and none can measure — customer satisfaction.
In deer hunting, we can't even link it to success. Some hunters weren't happy in 1971 when archers and gun-hunters combined to kill 77,357 deer. Judging by today's malcontents, a kill of nearly 520,000 deer didn't make hunters seven times happier than 37 years ago.
This much is certain: The big-game committee's majority realized that sacrificing October's gun season would not satisfy such a crowd.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/yrkfq6
Now that Wisconsin again will offer an October gun season for antlerless deer — our second-most popular hunt when held statewide in recent years — critics say the state Department of Natural Resources is ignoring its customers.
Let's pause for those who seldom follow deer hunting's inner debates.
OK, you guys. Let's concede the lead paragraph is a contradiction that makes no sense. But critics believe hunters hate this early season, even though harvest data shows the four-day hunt trailed only the traditional November season for participation.
Got it? OK. Let's continue.
To make this hunt even more popular, the DNR will move it to Oct. 16-19. Previous October gun hunts were closer to Halloween, which overlapped bowhunting's prime time.
Readers might recall why the agency canceled these hunts in 2006 and 2007: A stakeholders committee, which included all state deer hunting groups, wanted to show the DNR we didn't need October gun hunts to reduce deer numbers.
The committee voted in July 2005 to try these tools instead during the two-year experiment: extra free antlerless tags, a statewide December antlerless gun-hunt, a longer archery season and a two-day October youth hunt.
The experiment included this benchmark: Hunters must achieve a two-year antlerless-to-buck harvest ratio of 2-to-1, or the October season would return in 2008.
The results are in, and only the Central Forest region met the 2-to-1 ratio. Well, technically, it didn't, but the DNR figured a 1.95-to-1 ratio was good enough for the government. (Remember, the DNR ignores its customers.) Therefore, the five deer-management units in this small area won't have an October gun hunt.
The antlerless-to-buck ratios averaged 1.6- to 1.75-to-1 in the other four DNR districts. If not for widespread earn-a-buck regulations, which hunting groups opposed, those averages would have been worse. The ratio was 1.2-to-1 for deer units without free antlerless tags, 1.7-to-1 for areas with unlimited free tags and 3-to-1 for earn-a-buck areas.
Further, in CWD (chronic wasting disease) zones, the ratio was 2.8-to-1 with earn-a-buck and 1.2-to-1 without it. This, despite hunters' promises to shoot more does and fawns if the DNR dropped earn-a-buck regulations in 2006.
It did, and they didn't. Lesson learned.
An objective person would agree hunters failed to meet goals set by their representatives. But objectivity is irrelevant in deer hunting. This is Ford vs. Chevy, Packers vs. Vikings, Gordon vs. Earnhardt.
That's why seven of 18 members on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress'big-game committee voted Saturday to reject the DNR's proposed 2008 deer regulations during a meeting at the Mead Wildlife Area near Milladore.
Before voting, they reviewed a lot of DNR data without dispute. For instance, the 2007 harvest showed a combined gun-archery kill of 518,573, Wisconsin's second-highest kill on record. The archery kill, 116,042, was a record.
They even heard appeals to their integrity from fellow committee members, reminding them that their representatives approved the 2006-07 experiment.
Ken Anderson of Eagle River said: "I don't enjoy someone saying the October hunt is being shoved down our throat. We had two years of warning. You guys all agreed to it; 2-to-1 was the ratio. We didn't get it done. Now you want to go back on what we agreed to?"
The opposition's response: The DNR shouldn't bully them. Hunter harmony and customer satisfaction would improve if the DNR dropped the October gun hunt.
It's odd that professed businessmen in the group made that argument. Whether it's the DNR, Wal-Mart or Joe's Tavern, few can define — and none can measure — customer satisfaction.
In deer hunting, we can't even link it to success. Some hunters weren't happy in 1971 when archers and gun-hunters combined to kill 77,357 deer. Judging by today's malcontents, a kill of nearly 520,000 deer didn't make hunters seven times happier than 37 years ago.
This much is certain: The big-game committee's majority realized that sacrificing October's gun season would not satisfy such a crowd.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/yrkfq6
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
MINNESOTA NEWS: Emergency Bovine TB Rule Targets Deer, No Permit Required
Landowners, tenants and their designated agents can shoot deer without a permit in an expanded area surrounding where bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been found in cattle or deer in northwestern Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Sharpshooters will also be used as part of an overall strategy to significantly reduce deer population density in and around the bovine TB management zone.
An emergency rule effective March 31 and continuing through Aug. 31 allows landowners, tenants and their agents designated in writing to take deer on their property with a firearm, bow or muzzleloader at any time.
The new landowner/tenant zone comprises a 934-square mile area of portions of Beltrami, Marshall, Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties. The area includes deer permit area 101 and an expanded area north to the Canadian border. The expanded area is bounded on the west by state highways 89 and 310 and on the east by the Thompson Forest Road, County Road 5 and state highways 11 and 313. Details, including a map of the area and the specific rule restrictions, are available from area DNR offices or on the DNR Web site at mndnr.gov/bovinetb.
"Implementing this emergency rule is another tool to help get ahead of this disease and ensure it doesn't persist in Minnesota's deer population," said Paul Telander, regional wildlife manager in northwestern Minnesota.
Provisions of the emergency landowner/tenant shooting rule allow deer of any age or sex to be taken without limit or license provided that before transporting the deer, landowners and tenants tag each deer taken with their name; the township, range, and section where the kill took place; and the date of the kill.
All deer must be field dressed at the time of the kill and carcasses - or heads if deer are retained in possession - must be taken to the Wannaska Forestry Office, Grygla Forestry Office, Thief Lake Wildlife Office, Olson's Skime Store or DJ's Salol Store within 48 hours of the kill so they can be tested. Possession tags are required for all deer retained in possession. Tags for both possession and transport will be available at drop-off points.
As the weather warms and deer carcass salvage becomes more difficult, a refrigerated truck will be stationed at Olson's Skime Store. Landowners and tenants are encouraged to
promptly bring deer to this station to help preserve as many carcasses as possible.
The emergency rule was enacted as part of an overall strategy that also includes expanded and special hunts as well as contracting with U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters. Sharpshooters have taken 351 deer as of March 27.
During the first two weeks of April, the DNR will hire an aircraft to supplement sharpshooting efforts, Telander said, resulting in the closure of all wildlife management area lands within the TB management zone (deer permit area 101). WMAs scheduled to be closed include Golden Valley, Grygla, Hayes, Marbel, Mickinock, Moose River, Palmville, Wannaska, Wapiti, and portions of Reed Lake and Thief Lake. The following state forest roads will be signed closed beginning Monday morning: Morehouse, Stotts, Winner, Neheim, Penturen, Summer, North Moose River Dike, Moose River West, Moose River East, Luxemberger, Highwood East and West, Tofte,Palsberg, Black's Winner, Root, Mortenson, River Road (east of the private cabins), Thompson.
Permits allowing landowners to shoot deer have been available since March 18. To date, 50 permits have been issued and 33 deer taken. The new emergency rule replaces the permitting process, Telander said. Samples also have been obtained from three elk.
DNR officials tested more than 1,100 hunter-harvested deer for bovine TB in 2007. They discovered four infected animals, bringing the total number of infected deer to 17 since surveillance efforts began in 2005. Telander said sharpshooters and landowners have taken 384 deer so far in 2008. Two of those deer, all adults taken within the 164-square mile core area, showed signs of potential TB but lab tests are required to determine whether any infection is present.
"We need to keep the pressure on deer within this small area to reduce the risk of this disease becoming established in the deer population," Telander said. "The prevalence of the disease in wild deer remains low and is restricted to a small geographic region."
Source: http://www.crookstontimes.com/articles/2008/04/01/news/26news3.txt
An emergency rule effective March 31 and continuing through Aug. 31 allows landowners, tenants and their agents designated in writing to take deer on their property with a firearm, bow or muzzleloader at any time.
The new landowner/tenant zone comprises a 934-square mile area of portions of Beltrami, Marshall, Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties. The area includes deer permit area 101 and an expanded area north to the Canadian border. The expanded area is bounded on the west by state highways 89 and 310 and on the east by the Thompson Forest Road, County Road 5 and state highways 11 and 313. Details, including a map of the area and the specific rule restrictions, are available from area DNR offices or on the DNR Web site at mndnr.gov/bovinetb.
"Implementing this emergency rule is another tool to help get ahead of this disease and ensure it doesn't persist in Minnesota's deer population," said Paul Telander, regional wildlife manager in northwestern Minnesota.
Provisions of the emergency landowner/tenant shooting rule allow deer of any age or sex to be taken without limit or license provided that before transporting the deer, landowners and tenants tag each deer taken with their name; the township, range, and section where the kill took place; and the date of the kill.
All deer must be field dressed at the time of the kill and carcasses - or heads if deer are retained in possession - must be taken to the Wannaska Forestry Office, Grygla Forestry Office, Thief Lake Wildlife Office, Olson's Skime Store or DJ's Salol Store within 48 hours of the kill so they can be tested. Possession tags are required for all deer retained in possession. Tags for both possession and transport will be available at drop-off points.
As the weather warms and deer carcass salvage becomes more difficult, a refrigerated truck will be stationed at Olson's Skime Store. Landowners and tenants are encouraged to
promptly bring deer to this station to help preserve as many carcasses as possible.
The emergency rule was enacted as part of an overall strategy that also includes expanded and special hunts as well as contracting with U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters. Sharpshooters have taken 351 deer as of March 27.
During the first two weeks of April, the DNR will hire an aircraft to supplement sharpshooting efforts, Telander said, resulting in the closure of all wildlife management area lands within the TB management zone (deer permit area 101). WMAs scheduled to be closed include Golden Valley, Grygla, Hayes, Marbel, Mickinock, Moose River, Palmville, Wannaska, Wapiti, and portions of Reed Lake and Thief Lake. The following state forest roads will be signed closed beginning Monday morning: Morehouse, Stotts, Winner, Neheim, Penturen, Summer, North Moose River Dike, Moose River West, Moose River East, Luxemberger, Highwood East and West, Tofte,Palsberg, Black's Winner, Root, Mortenson, River Road (east of the private cabins), Thompson.
Permits allowing landowners to shoot deer have been available since March 18. To date, 50 permits have been issued and 33 deer taken. The new emergency rule replaces the permitting process, Telander said. Samples also have been obtained from three elk.
DNR officials tested more than 1,100 hunter-harvested deer for bovine TB in 2007. They discovered four infected animals, bringing the total number of infected deer to 17 since surveillance efforts began in 2005. Telander said sharpshooters and landowners have taken 384 deer so far in 2008. Two of those deer, all adults taken within the 164-square mile core area, showed signs of potential TB but lab tests are required to determine whether any infection is present.
"We need to keep the pressure on deer within this small area to reduce the risk of this disease becoming established in the deer population," Telander said. "The prevalence of the disease in wild deer remains low and is restricted to a small geographic region."
Source: http://www.crookstontimes.com/articles/2008/04/01/news/26news3.txt
Saturday, March 29, 2008
UNITED STATES NEWS: Number of Hunters and Anglers Declines
Rooney: At a time when the United States population is growing by 2.5 million people per year, there has been a decline in the number of people engaging in hunting and fishing. While animal rights activists may look at this as a positive development, paradoxically I do not think this bodes well for animals. The dwindling number of hunters and anglers I fear mirrors the broader trend of Americans distancing themselves from nature. This is being driven mostly (I think) by a new generation of kids with more interest in video games than the outdoors (see http://tinyurl.com/2mbcpn).
STOWE, Vt. - Bob Shannon is an avid hunter, a fishing guide and owns a tackle shop, but he sometimes struggles to get his own son out into Vermont's woods and fields.
"He'll be sitting there with the video games," Shannon said of 9-year-old Alexander. "I finally had to lay down the law last summer: 'If it's a nice day, you're outside.'"
Shannon's challenge reflects a larger problem plaguing many state governments: Revenue from hunting and fishing license sales is plunging because of waning interest in the outdoors.
"We're losing our rural culture," said Steve Wright, a regional representative for the National Wildlife Federation. "There are so many distractions, and we're not recruiting young people into hunting and fishing."
Sales of Vermont hunting and fishing licenses have dropped more than 20 percent over the last 20 years, leaving the Fish and Wildlife Department pleading with lawmakers for extra funding.
Other states report similar drop-offs:
Arkansas hunting license sales dropped from about 345,000 in 1999 to about 319,000 in 2003.
Pennsylvania sold about 946,000 hunting licenses in 2006, down from just over a million in 1999, and a peak of 1.3 million in 1981.
Oregon had 100,000 fewer licensed anglers last year than in 1987, and 70,000 fewer licensed hunters.
West Virginia sold 154,763 resident hunting permits in 2006, a 17 percent decrease from 1997.
The trend means trouble for some fish and wildlife agencies, which use license revenue to finance preservation programs for endangered species like peregrine falcons, bald eagles and loons. Game wardens also help with law enforcement, joining searches for lost hikers and skiers.
In the search for new sources of revenue to support fish and wildlife programs, Vermont lawmakers are weighing legislation that would dedicate part of the state's sales tax revenues to the Fish and Wildlife Department.
"The issue here is that most of our fish and wildlife agencies were set up to fund conservation, based predominantly or entirely on one set of users" — hunters and anglers who pay license fees, according to Dave Chadwick, senior program associate with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Washington.
"They're shouldering the whole burden for a benefit and an amenity that we all enjoy," Chadwick said.
Other fundraising strategies range from sales taxes on outdoor sporting goods, as in Texas, to Florida's surcharges on speeding tickets, said Douglas Shinkle, a policy associate at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Some states are trying to boost efforts to recruit new people — especially young people — into hunting and fishing.
A West Virginia legislator has proposed offering hunters' training courses in public schools, allowing seventh- through ninth-graders to opt for instruction in topics ranging from survival skills to gun safety.
Arkansas has used some of its dedicated sales tax revenue to recruit new hunters. However, the state's hunter education program graduated 11,891 people under 30 years old last year, down from 16,596 in 1998.
Vermont sponsors youth hunting weekends, typically three a year. Oregon has started youth mentoring programs that match kids up with experienced hunters. Minnesota has two staff members reaching out to the state's burgeoning Southeast Asian population, said Jay Johnson of the state Department of Natural Resources' hunter recruitment and retention program.
Wright said it might be an uphill battle because of everything from video games to the growth in structured activities like team sports and music lessons.
But Shannon said he has met with some success. After he laid down the law with Alexander last summer, the boy went out fishing almost every morning, he said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080329/ap_on_re_us/hunting_s_decline_2
STOWE, Vt. - Bob Shannon is an avid hunter, a fishing guide and owns a tackle shop, but he sometimes struggles to get his own son out into Vermont's woods and fields.
"He'll be sitting there with the video games," Shannon said of 9-year-old Alexander. "I finally had to lay down the law last summer: 'If it's a nice day, you're outside.'"
Shannon's challenge reflects a larger problem plaguing many state governments: Revenue from hunting and fishing license sales is plunging because of waning interest in the outdoors.
"We're losing our rural culture," said Steve Wright, a regional representative for the National Wildlife Federation. "There are so many distractions, and we're not recruiting young people into hunting and fishing."
Sales of Vermont hunting and fishing licenses have dropped more than 20 percent over the last 20 years, leaving the Fish and Wildlife Department pleading with lawmakers for extra funding.
Other states report similar drop-offs:
Arkansas hunting license sales dropped from about 345,000 in 1999 to about 319,000 in 2003.
Pennsylvania sold about 946,000 hunting licenses in 2006, down from just over a million in 1999, and a peak of 1.3 million in 1981.
Oregon had 100,000 fewer licensed anglers last year than in 1987, and 70,000 fewer licensed hunters.
West Virginia sold 154,763 resident hunting permits in 2006, a 17 percent decrease from 1997.
The trend means trouble for some fish and wildlife agencies, which use license revenue to finance preservation programs for endangered species like peregrine falcons, bald eagles and loons. Game wardens also help with law enforcement, joining searches for lost hikers and skiers.
In the search for new sources of revenue to support fish and wildlife programs, Vermont lawmakers are weighing legislation that would dedicate part of the state's sales tax revenues to the Fish and Wildlife Department.
"The issue here is that most of our fish and wildlife agencies were set up to fund conservation, based predominantly or entirely on one set of users" — hunters and anglers who pay license fees, according to Dave Chadwick, senior program associate with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Washington.
"They're shouldering the whole burden for a benefit and an amenity that we all enjoy," Chadwick said.
Other fundraising strategies range from sales taxes on outdoor sporting goods, as in Texas, to Florida's surcharges on speeding tickets, said Douglas Shinkle, a policy associate at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Some states are trying to boost efforts to recruit new people — especially young people — into hunting and fishing.
A West Virginia legislator has proposed offering hunters' training courses in public schools, allowing seventh- through ninth-graders to opt for instruction in topics ranging from survival skills to gun safety.
Arkansas has used some of its dedicated sales tax revenue to recruit new hunters. However, the state's hunter education program graduated 11,891 people under 30 years old last year, down from 16,596 in 1998.
Vermont sponsors youth hunting weekends, typically three a year. Oregon has started youth mentoring programs that match kids up with experienced hunters. Minnesota has two staff members reaching out to the state's burgeoning Southeast Asian population, said Jay Johnson of the state Department of Natural Resources' hunter recruitment and retention program.
Wright said it might be an uphill battle because of everything from video games to the growth in structured activities like team sports and music lessons.
But Shannon said he has met with some success. After he laid down the law with Alexander last summer, the boy went out fishing almost every morning, he said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080329/ap_on_re_us/hunting_s_decline_2
Monday, March 24, 2008
CONNECTICUT OPINION: Reducing Deer Population Key to Fighting Lyme Disease
Winston Churchill famously remarked to Franklin D. Roosevelt that Hitler's war ought to be called "The Unnecessary War" because responsible governments of the democracies could so easily have prevented it, had they acted in time. Connecticut's decades-old Lyme disease epidemic can be accurately called "The Unnecessary Epidemic" because it too could have been nipped in the bud.
From 1996 to 2006 there have been 29,000 reported cases of Lyme in Connecticut, the majority among children and many with tragic, long-term effects. A great many more cases go unreported or are misdiagnosed. A more realistic number of cases is estimated by some to be 29,000 every year.
The root cause of Connecticut's epidemic is an unnatural, environmentally destructive population explosion of deer. The deer are not infected with the disease themselves, but they feed, transport and disperse the deer ticks that pass it on to humans. Just one tick-infested deer can facilitate the delivery of about 1 million deer tick eggs that it scatters as it walks through our backyards, parks, playgrounds, meadows and playing fields. The eggs hatch and turn into ticks that then infect their victims.
Deer numbers have gone from an estimated 12 (yes, you read that correctly, 12) in 1896 to approximately 150,000 today. Neither this number, nor the resulting Lyme epidemic, needs to continue any longer. It started in Connecticut; it can end here.
What to do? Controlling the deer population, which means culling the herd, has ended Lyme epidemics in parts of three New England states — Great Island, a peninsula on Cape Cod; Monhegan Island in Maine; and Mumford Cove in Groton. No other method has reduced Lyme case numbers, either in New England or elsewhere.
When deer populations are reduced to around 10 per square mile, the deer ticks that spread Lyme and other diseases become locally extinct. It takes a lot of deer to keep the tick species reproducing successfully in an area. But when there are no ticks left, there is no Lyme disease.
Much of the work that led to this understanding was done here by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, funded by the state. We now need a policy to let people know about this research and why it should lead to legislation to control the deer population.
The Connecticut Coalition to Eradicate Lyme Disease was recently formed for just this reason. It is supported by the Connecticut Audubon Society, the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, seven of Connecticut's Regional Councils of Government representing more than 70 towns, plus emergency physicians, pediatricians, Lyme disease task forces, veterinarians and many others.
But what may seem obvious to most people is not so to others. Some believe that ticks do not need large numbers of deer for survival, but can live just as well on other animals. Others claim that deer management only works on islands; or that it doesn't work at all and tick numbers go up instead of down when deer numbers decline.
Even more far-fetched is the notion that all the white-footed mice, mammals and songbirds in Connecticut would have to be killed to end Lyme disease. None of this is true. The towns that are now free of their epidemics liberated themselves by controlling deer numbers, nothing else. And the animals and birds are all thriving and do not sustain the deer tick populations.
According to a recent joint publication of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Yale University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, current attempts at prevention of Lyme disease through personal protection such as inspecting one's body for ticks and using tick-killing chemicals on one's property were "not found to be an effective strategy to prevent Lyme disease." These measures failed to stop the growth or spread of the Lyme disease epidemic.
This is why we need a reliable source of information, promulgated by the state Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control. We can then develop a strategy based upon the work of our research scientists with 25 years of experience in Connecticut.
As the good news and its implications become more widely known, the next steps should include a public airing of the alternatives that confront us: Do we act now to control deer numbers and the incidence of Lyme disease? Or do we let both continue to rise inexorably?
It is to be hoped that Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state legislators will lead new statewide efforts to bring an end to Lyme disease. House Bill 5852, sponsored by the Environment Committee, is currently under review in Hartford to address the issue, but it needs the support of citizens and concerned legislators.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/273szl
From 1996 to 2006 there have been 29,000 reported cases of Lyme in Connecticut, the majority among children and many with tragic, long-term effects. A great many more cases go unreported or are misdiagnosed. A more realistic number of cases is estimated by some to be 29,000 every year.
The root cause of Connecticut's epidemic is an unnatural, environmentally destructive population explosion of deer. The deer are not infected with the disease themselves, but they feed, transport and disperse the deer ticks that pass it on to humans. Just one tick-infested deer can facilitate the delivery of about 1 million deer tick eggs that it scatters as it walks through our backyards, parks, playgrounds, meadows and playing fields. The eggs hatch and turn into ticks that then infect their victims.
Deer numbers have gone from an estimated 12 (yes, you read that correctly, 12) in 1896 to approximately 150,000 today. Neither this number, nor the resulting Lyme epidemic, needs to continue any longer. It started in Connecticut; it can end here.
What to do? Controlling the deer population, which means culling the herd, has ended Lyme epidemics in parts of three New England states — Great Island, a peninsula on Cape Cod; Monhegan Island in Maine; and Mumford Cove in Groton. No other method has reduced Lyme case numbers, either in New England or elsewhere.
When deer populations are reduced to around 10 per square mile, the deer ticks that spread Lyme and other diseases become locally extinct. It takes a lot of deer to keep the tick species reproducing successfully in an area. But when there are no ticks left, there is no Lyme disease.
Much of the work that led to this understanding was done here by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, funded by the state. We now need a policy to let people know about this research and why it should lead to legislation to control the deer population.
The Connecticut Coalition to Eradicate Lyme Disease was recently formed for just this reason. It is supported by the Connecticut Audubon Society, the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, seven of Connecticut's Regional Councils of Government representing more than 70 towns, plus emergency physicians, pediatricians, Lyme disease task forces, veterinarians and many others.
But what may seem obvious to most people is not so to others. Some believe that ticks do not need large numbers of deer for survival, but can live just as well on other animals. Others claim that deer management only works on islands; or that it doesn't work at all and tick numbers go up instead of down when deer numbers decline.
Even more far-fetched is the notion that all the white-footed mice, mammals and songbirds in Connecticut would have to be killed to end Lyme disease. None of this is true. The towns that are now free of their epidemics liberated themselves by controlling deer numbers, nothing else. And the animals and birds are all thriving and do not sustain the deer tick populations.
According to a recent joint publication of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Yale University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, current attempts at prevention of Lyme disease through personal protection such as inspecting one's body for ticks and using tick-killing chemicals on one's property were "not found to be an effective strategy to prevent Lyme disease." These measures failed to stop the growth or spread of the Lyme disease epidemic.
This is why we need a reliable source of information, promulgated by the state Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control. We can then develop a strategy based upon the work of our research scientists with 25 years of experience in Connecticut.
As the good news and its implications become more widely known, the next steps should include a public airing of the alternatives that confront us: Do we act now to control deer numbers and the incidence of Lyme disease? Or do we let both continue to rise inexorably?
It is to be hoped that Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state legislators will lead new statewide efforts to bring an end to Lyme disease. House Bill 5852, sponsored by the Environment Committee, is currently under review in Hartford to address the issue, but it needs the support of citizens and concerned legislators.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/273szl
Friday, March 21, 2008
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: 2007 Harvest Down 11%
HARRISBURG, Pa., March 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania
Game Commission today reported that hunters harvested an estimated 323,070
deer in the state's 2007-08 seasons. That's down 11 percent from the
previous seasons' harvest.
Hunters took 109,200 antlered deer in the 2007-08 seasons, down 19
percent from the previous license year's harvest of 135,290. Also, hunters
harvested 213,870 antlerless deer in 2007-08, a five percent drop from the
226,270 antlerless deer taken in 2006-07.
"What stands out most when looking over the harvest data is the
difference in the opening day deer kill of the two-week firearms season,"
said Dr. Christopher Rosenberry, Game Commission Deer Section Supervisor.
"Report cards sent in by hunters show the antlered deer harvest on the
opening day, Nov. 26, dropped more than 50 percent from 2006. Daily
harvests for the rest of the two-week season, Nov. 27-Dec. 8, were similar
to 2006.
"The firearms season's opening day antlerless deer harvest also dropped
nearly 50 percent from 2006. However, the antlerless harvest throughout the
remainder of the two-week season increased and, in due course, erased some
of the opening day's harvest shortfall."
Based on past year's results, Rosenberry noted that it wasn't
surprising that the drop in opening day harvests had a larger effect on the
antlered harvest than the antlerless harvest.
"Historically, a majority of the antlered deer harvest occurs on
opening day, whereas the antlerless harvest is typically more evenly
distributed across the entire two weeks," Rosenberry said.
Bureau of Wildlife Management personnel currently are working to
develop antlerless deer license allocation recommendations for the April
Board meeting. Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife
Management director, said that in addition to harvest data, the staff will
be looking at population trend data, deer reproduction data, forest
regeneration data, input from five new Citizen Advisory Committees, and
hunter survey results.
Harvest estimates for 2007-08 seasons are based on 124,569 usable
harvest report cards (40,482 antlered; 84,087 antlerless) returned by
hunters to the Commission and 25,400 deer (7,338 antlered; 18,062
antlerless) examined by Game Commission personnel in the field and at
processors.
For an explanation of the agency's deer harvest estimating procedure,
visit the Game Commission's website (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Deer
Program" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the right-hand corner of the
homepage, then scroll down and select "Deer Harvest Estimates" brochure. To
view a peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Wildlife
Management (2004) about the agency's deer harvest estimating procedure, go
the "Deer Program" section, scroll down and choose "Communication,
Education and Outreach to Citizens," and then select "Reporting rate
variability and precision of white-tailed deer harvest estimates in
Pennsylvania" in the "Science Publications" listing.
Yearling bucks comprised 56 percent of the 2007-08 antlered harvest,
which is the same percentage posted in 2006-07. Button bucks and doe fawns
were 24 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of the antlerless harvest,
and almost identical to 2006-07 season rates.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/2jfunm
Game Commission today reported that hunters harvested an estimated 323,070
deer in the state's 2007-08 seasons. That's down 11 percent from the
previous seasons' harvest.
Hunters took 109,200 antlered deer in the 2007-08 seasons, down 19
percent from the previous license year's harvest of 135,290. Also, hunters
harvested 213,870 antlerless deer in 2007-08, a five percent drop from the
226,270 antlerless deer taken in 2006-07.
"What stands out most when looking over the harvest data is the
difference in the opening day deer kill of the two-week firearms season,"
said Dr. Christopher Rosenberry, Game Commission Deer Section Supervisor.
"Report cards sent in by hunters show the antlered deer harvest on the
opening day, Nov. 26, dropped more than 50 percent from 2006. Daily
harvests for the rest of the two-week season, Nov. 27-Dec. 8, were similar
to 2006.
"The firearms season's opening day antlerless deer harvest also dropped
nearly 50 percent from 2006. However, the antlerless harvest throughout the
remainder of the two-week season increased and, in due course, erased some
of the opening day's harvest shortfall."
Based on past year's results, Rosenberry noted that it wasn't
surprising that the drop in opening day harvests had a larger effect on the
antlered harvest than the antlerless harvest.
"Historically, a majority of the antlered deer harvest occurs on
opening day, whereas the antlerless harvest is typically more evenly
distributed across the entire two weeks," Rosenberry said.
Bureau of Wildlife Management personnel currently are working to
develop antlerless deer license allocation recommendations for the April
Board meeting. Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife
Management director, said that in addition to harvest data, the staff will
be looking at population trend data, deer reproduction data, forest
regeneration data, input from five new Citizen Advisory Committees, and
hunter survey results.
Harvest estimates for 2007-08 seasons are based on 124,569 usable
harvest report cards (40,482 antlered; 84,087 antlerless) returned by
hunters to the Commission and 25,400 deer (7,338 antlered; 18,062
antlerless) examined by Game Commission personnel in the field and at
processors.
For an explanation of the agency's deer harvest estimating procedure,
visit the Game Commission's website (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Deer
Program" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the right-hand corner of the
homepage, then scroll down and select "Deer Harvest Estimates" brochure. To
view a peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Wildlife
Management (2004) about the agency's deer harvest estimating procedure, go
the "Deer Program" section, scroll down and choose "Communication,
Education and Outreach to Citizens," and then select "Reporting rate
variability and precision of white-tailed deer harvest estimates in
Pennsylvania" in the "Science Publications" listing.
Yearling bucks comprised 56 percent of the 2007-08 antlered harvest,
which is the same percentage posted in 2006-07. Button bucks and doe fawns
were 24 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of the antlerless harvest,
and almost identical to 2006-07 season rates.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/2jfunm
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