Pennsylvania hunters bagged about 336,000 deer during the most recent hunting seasons, an increase of about 4 percent over the previous year.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission said Wednesday that in many parts of the state, the antlerless deer harvest dropped in 2008-09, while the overall antlered harvest was generally on par with the previous five years.
The agency is studying the effect of its split deer-hunting season.
The total for the 2007-08 seasons was about 324,000. The year before that it was about 362,000, while it was about 354,000 in 2005-06 and about 409,000 four years ago.
Source: Seattle Times
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
WISCONSIN NEWS: Another Municipality Struggles with Deer
City officials in Onalaska are trying to figure out a way to control a booming deer population.
The public had another chance to give their thoughts on the issue Wednesday night. City officials say most people who responded to a recent survey agree something needs to be done to control the number of deer in Onalaska.
Now they have to figure out a way to go about it.
"It appears most people would rather see an archery type hunt, but the parameters of that still has to be figured out," says Joe Barstow, the GIS technician and erosion control inspector for the city of Onalaska.
Some onalaska residents still have questions they want answered before anything is finalized.
"Our concern is that there isnt' a wholesale slaughter of deer, that they maintain property rights, that people don't hunt deer on individual properties and that there's a long term solution, not just like a quick fix type solution," says Michael Strasser, a resident who attended the meeting Wednesday.
If all goes as planned, city officials would like to start a managed hunt by the middle of this fall.
Source: WKBT
The public had another chance to give their thoughts on the issue Wednesday night. City officials say most people who responded to a recent survey agree something needs to be done to control the number of deer in Onalaska.
Now they have to figure out a way to go about it.
"It appears most people would rather see an archery type hunt, but the parameters of that still has to be figured out," says Joe Barstow, the GIS technician and erosion control inspector for the city of Onalaska.
Some onalaska residents still have questions they want answered before anything is finalized.
"Our concern is that there isnt' a wholesale slaughter of deer, that they maintain property rights, that people don't hunt deer on individual properties and that there's a long term solution, not just like a quick fix type solution," says Michael Strasser, a resident who attended the meeting Wednesday.
If all goes as planned, city officials would like to start a managed hunt by the middle of this fall.
Source: WKBT
Monday, March 09, 2009
KANSAS NEWS: Controlled Hunt Proposed for Shawnee Mission Park
A state representative from Eudora has sponsored a bill to create two special bow-hunting seasons to cull the exploding deer population at Shawnee Mission Park in Johnson County.
Republican Anthony Brown wants to allow archers into the 1,280-acre park for nine days in October and nine days in January to shoot deer in a controlled hunt.
The goal of House Bill 2342, he said, is to cull 400 deer from a herd that wildlife officials say is at least eight times larger than the park can support. Any animals not harvested in that time would be killed by sharpshooters, Brown said.
A hearing on the bill is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Overpopulation can be dangerous to the health of the deer, people and the park’s ecosystem, experts say. Supporters of controlled hunts say they are done successfully in the area.
Critics say arrows are cruel and inhumane. They are pleading for a less “barbaric” solution that could involve relocation, sterilization or contraception.
Hunting is not allowed in the park, and any controlled hunt would require a change in state legislation.
“With 200 deer per square mile, this is causing a problem,” Brown said.
Brown estimated that it costs $300 per deer to hire a qualified sniper, $400 per deer to trap and relocate each animal and up to $700 to sterilize a deer.
“These options, given the number of animals in the park and the current economic climate, are not viable,” he said.
Brown’s efforts came as a surprise to county parks Director Michael Meadors.
“Everybody’s wanting to rush in and do something,” Meadors said. “Our caution has been … to slow down, take a step back, gather as much information as we can, but to make sure the process is as transparent as possible and includes the public.”
Meadors said a draft deer-management plan will be given to the park board in April. Public hearings will be held in May before the board decides the fate of the deer, he said.
Meanwhile, after months of debate, the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country, Mo., last month approved a plan to kill deer and sterilize does.
Deer overpopulation has long been a problem there, and officials agreed to hire a firm to bring in sharpshooters to kill some of the animals, starting this fall. The sterilizati0on effort has begun but is expected to take years to become effective.
Source: Kansas City Star
Republican Anthony Brown wants to allow archers into the 1,280-acre park for nine days in October and nine days in January to shoot deer in a controlled hunt.
The goal of House Bill 2342, he said, is to cull 400 deer from a herd that wildlife officials say is at least eight times larger than the park can support. Any animals not harvested in that time would be killed by sharpshooters, Brown said.
A hearing on the bill is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Overpopulation can be dangerous to the health of the deer, people and the park’s ecosystem, experts say. Supporters of controlled hunts say they are done successfully in the area.
Critics say arrows are cruel and inhumane. They are pleading for a less “barbaric” solution that could involve relocation, sterilization or contraception.
Hunting is not allowed in the park, and any controlled hunt would require a change in state legislation.
“With 200 deer per square mile, this is causing a problem,” Brown said.
Brown estimated that it costs $300 per deer to hire a qualified sniper, $400 per deer to trap and relocate each animal and up to $700 to sterilize a deer.
“These options, given the number of animals in the park and the current economic climate, are not viable,” he said.
Brown’s efforts came as a surprise to county parks Director Michael Meadors.
“Everybody’s wanting to rush in and do something,” Meadors said. “Our caution has been … to slow down, take a step back, gather as much information as we can, but to make sure the process is as transparent as possible and includes the public.”
Meadors said a draft deer-management plan will be given to the park board in April. Public hearings will be held in May before the board decides the fate of the deer, he said.
Meanwhile, after months of debate, the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country, Mo., last month approved a plan to kill deer and sterilize does.
Deer overpopulation has long been a problem there, and officials agreed to hire a firm to bring in sharpshooters to kill some of the animals, starting this fall. The sterilizati0on effort has begun but is expected to take years to become effective.
Source: Kansas City Star
WISCONSIN NEWS: Oshkosh Cull Halted
Attempts to reduce the deer herd in the Vulcan Quarry area are on hold indefinitely.
The city is no longer putting out bait in an attempt to draw the deer into the wooded area near the Oshkosh National Guard Armory, 1415 Armory Place, and a third culling attempt is not planned, Police Chief Scott Greuel said.
He said the factors that played into the city's decision include the limited success the city has seen in the first two attempts, the reduced snow cover and the fact that female deer give birth during the spring.
"The baiting has stopped and no culling is planned," Greuel said.
City-hired sharpshooters with Urban Wildlife Specialists shot six deer on Jan. 30 and Feb. 13. Sharpshooters also made a third attempt to reduce the herd on Feb. 28, but did not fire a shot.
Two other deer were found dead in the area. The state Department of National Resources determined a deer found Feb. 6 died of starvation and preliminary necropsy results indicate a deer found dead on Feb. 14 died from grain overload, which resulted from eating more grain than it could digest.
Source: Appleton Post-Crescent
The city is no longer putting out bait in an attempt to draw the deer into the wooded area near the Oshkosh National Guard Armory, 1415 Armory Place, and a third culling attempt is not planned, Police Chief Scott Greuel said.
He said the factors that played into the city's decision include the limited success the city has seen in the first two attempts, the reduced snow cover and the fact that female deer give birth during the spring.
"The baiting has stopped and no culling is planned," Greuel said.
City-hired sharpshooters with Urban Wildlife Specialists shot six deer on Jan. 30 and Feb. 13. Sharpshooters also made a third attempt to reduce the herd on Feb. 28, but did not fire a shot.
Two other deer were found dead in the area. The state Department of National Resources determined a deer found Feb. 6 died of starvation and preliminary necropsy results indicate a deer found dead on Feb. 14 died from grain overload, which resulted from eating more grain than it could digest.
Source: Appleton Post-Crescent
MAINE NEWS: Lowest Deer Harvest in Decades
After a long winter with record-setting snow packs, Maine 2008 deer harvest was the lowest in decades.
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says preliminary figures put the deer kill at 21,062, or 27 percent below the 2007 total.
Deer biologist Lee Kantar says deer yarded up on average for 140 days, compared to the normal 84 days. The result was extremely low survival rates for fawns, reflected in a 45 percent decline in the fawn harvest.
Kantar says the current winter looks similar to last year, which could mean a further decrease in any-deer permits and a reduced deer harvest in 2009.
Source: Burlington Free Press
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says preliminary figures put the deer kill at 21,062, or 27 percent below the 2007 total.
Deer biologist Lee Kantar says deer yarded up on average for 140 days, compared to the normal 84 days. The result was extremely low survival rates for fawns, reflected in a 45 percent decline in the fawn harvest.
Kantar says the current winter looks similar to last year, which could mean a further decrease in any-deer permits and a reduced deer harvest in 2009.
Source: Burlington Free Press
Friday, March 06, 2009
UTAH NEWS: Another Case of Rising Suburban Deer Populations
Prancing deer in Bountiful are becoming a more common sight, these days.
For some, it reminds them that nature is still close at hand. For others, it means their gardens are eaten up.
“We have had a lot of complaints about the growth of an urban deer herd in Bountiful,” said City Manager Tom Hardy.
He was talking about the city’s critters in relation to approval given by the city council to a five-year contract with Davis County Animal Control Services.
Deer actually fall under jurisdiction of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
“There is no natural predator, only the cold and snow” to deter deer population from growing, Hardy said.
“The population is exploding, and not just on the east bench,” he said. “There is a problem all the way down to the freeway.
“Seven to eight years ago, we had deer hitting cars,” plus the more usual cars hitting deer, he said. “The division thinned the herd, killed several hundred deer.”
The thought of killing deer, obviously, doesn’t come down well with everyone, the city manager said.
“To thin the herd, they (division staff) have to literally go into people’s backyards” and take the deer out.
Source: Clipper Today
For some, it reminds them that nature is still close at hand. For others, it means their gardens are eaten up.
“We have had a lot of complaints about the growth of an urban deer herd in Bountiful,” said City Manager Tom Hardy.
He was talking about the city’s critters in relation to approval given by the city council to a five-year contract with Davis County Animal Control Services.
Deer actually fall under jurisdiction of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
“There is no natural predator, only the cold and snow” to deter deer population from growing, Hardy said.
“The population is exploding, and not just on the east bench,” he said. “There is a problem all the way down to the freeway.
“Seven to eight years ago, we had deer hitting cars,” plus the more usual cars hitting deer, he said. “The division thinned the herd, killed several hundred deer.”
The thought of killing deer, obviously, doesn’t come down well with everyone, the city manager said.
“To thin the herd, they (division staff) have to literally go into people’s backyards” and take the deer out.
Source: Clipper Today
KANSAS NEWS: More CWD Cases Show Up
Five more Kansas white-tailed deer have been confirmed positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), bringing to eight the total number of CWD incidents from the 2008 Kansas deer seasons.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is still awaiting final lab results on about 100 more tissue samples from hunter-killed deer during the past deer season, according to Shane Hesting, KDWP wildlife disease coordinator. Tissue samples were collected from hunters around the state during the past deer season, as KDWP continued annual sampling begun in 1996 to help track the occurrence of CWD in the state’s wild deer. More than 10,000 tissue samples have undergone lab analysis since annual sampling began.
All eight deer confirmed as CWD-positive were taken by hunters in northwest Kansas. Of the five additional CWD-positive deer confirmed by KDWP this week, two came from Sheridan County, two from Rawlins County, and one from Cheyenne County.
The five newly-reported incidents are in addition to three Decatur County CWD-positive deer documented in early January by KDWP.
CWD has been detected previously in Kansas. During the 2007 season, three Decatur County whitetails were confirmed as CWD-positive. The first occurrence in a wild Kansas deer was a white-tailed doe killed by a Kansas hunter in 2005 in Cheyenne County.
For the full story see: Infozine.com
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is still awaiting final lab results on about 100 more tissue samples from hunter-killed deer during the past deer season, according to Shane Hesting, KDWP wildlife disease coordinator. Tissue samples were collected from hunters around the state during the past deer season, as KDWP continued annual sampling begun in 1996 to help track the occurrence of CWD in the state’s wild deer. More than 10,000 tissue samples have undergone lab analysis since annual sampling began.
All eight deer confirmed as CWD-positive were taken by hunters in northwest Kansas. Of the five additional CWD-positive deer confirmed by KDWP this week, two came from Sheridan County, two from Rawlins County, and one from Cheyenne County.
The five newly-reported incidents are in addition to three Decatur County CWD-positive deer documented in early January by KDWP.
CWD has been detected previously in Kansas. During the 2007 season, three Decatur County whitetails were confirmed as CWD-positive. The first occurrence in a wild Kansas deer was a white-tailed doe killed by a Kansas hunter in 2005 in Cheyenne County.
For the full story see: Infozine.com
NEW YORK NEWS: Biggest Harvest in Five Years, Harvest Goal Still Missed
Hunters in New York harvested nearly 223,000 deer last year, the state's most bountiful season since 2003, according to numbers released this week by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The deer take in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties increased by 5 percent. The statewide increase was 2 percent.
Orange County posted an especially fruitful hunting season, according to DEC statistics, which showed Orange had the third highest number of bucks killed per square mile of any county in the state. Local hunters said the ranking is not a coincidence; sportsmen in Sullivan and Ulster were restricted to hunting bucks with a minimum of three points on one antler under a program being tested by the state. The restriction did not cover Orange County.
Despite the final tally — which comes from hunters' reports, DEC check stations and meat processors — local hunters said the season was largely a bust.
"The local sportsmen feel they had a poor season," said Carmen Heitczman, president of the Orange County Federation of Sportsman Clubs. "I don't know what formula the DEC is using, but they ought to change it."
Locals said the deer take among their friends and hunting camps was low, citing bad weather (fog and rain tainted opening weekend) and dwindling open land for hunting. The DEC also said the total fell short of the 5 percent to 10 percent kill increase it had hoped for.
For the full article see: Record Online
The deer take in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties increased by 5 percent. The statewide increase was 2 percent.
Orange County posted an especially fruitful hunting season, according to DEC statistics, which showed Orange had the third highest number of bucks killed per square mile of any county in the state. Local hunters said the ranking is not a coincidence; sportsmen in Sullivan and Ulster were restricted to hunting bucks with a minimum of three points on one antler under a program being tested by the state. The restriction did not cover Orange County.
Despite the final tally — which comes from hunters' reports, DEC check stations and meat processors — local hunters said the season was largely a bust.
"The local sportsmen feel they had a poor season," said Carmen Heitczman, president of the Orange County Federation of Sportsman Clubs. "I don't know what formula the DEC is using, but they ought to change it."
Locals said the deer take among their friends and hunting camps was low, citing bad weather (fog and rain tainted opening weekend) and dwindling open land for hunting. The DEC also said the total fell short of the 5 percent to 10 percent kill increase it had hoped for.
For the full article see: Record Online
Monday, March 02, 2009
AUSTRALIA NEWS: Sport hunting Unlikely to Control Deer
The National Parks Association says deer hunters in the New South Wales Illawarra region need to view the pest as an environmental threat rather than a hunting resource.
The state's third annual deer season, which is open to recreational hunters, started yesterday and runs until the end of October.
The association's executive officer Andrew Cox says recreational hunting is not an effective feral animal control because it is too selective.
Mr Cox says while there is some reduction in deer numbers, hunters need to take stronger action.
"With feral animals acting early and with lots of resources is the way to deal with this," he said.
"I think we can act to stop new populations growing, expanding in areas that weren't covered.
"They certainly are well adapted to many of the coastal wet forests of the east coast of New South Wales."
Source: ABC News (Australia)
The state's third annual deer season, which is open to recreational hunters, started yesterday and runs until the end of October.
The association's executive officer Andrew Cox says recreational hunting is not an effective feral animal control because it is too selective.
Mr Cox says while there is some reduction in deer numbers, hunters need to take stronger action.
"With feral animals acting early and with lots of resources is the way to deal with this," he said.
"I think we can act to stop new populations growing, expanding in areas that weren't covered.
"They certainly are well adapted to many of the coastal wet forests of the east coast of New South Wales."
Source: ABC News (Australia)
Friday, February 20, 2009
WISCONSIN NEWS: Venison Donations to State Hunger Programs Drop 33%
Deer donations to state hunger programs dropped about a third in 2008.
Laurie Fike, Department of Natural Resources deer donation program coordinator, said the drop coincides with the state’s lower deer kill in 2008.
Hunters donated 7,627 deer to Wisconsin’s venison donation programs during the 2008 deer hunting seasons. Through license sales, hunters also donated $17,183 to partially cover the cost of processing deer for the venison program.
Fike said through 2008 hunters have donated more than 69,000 deer, resulting in more than 3.1 million pounds of ground venison in the first nine years of the program.
Wisconsin hunters may donate to Hunt for the Hungry, operating in the Green Bay area, Target Hunger, which handles donations from the chronic wasting disease management zone, or the Wisconsin Venison Donation Program, covering all remaining areas of the state.
Read the full story at: The LaCrosse Tribune
Laurie Fike, Department of Natural Resources deer donation program coordinator, said the drop coincides with the state’s lower deer kill in 2008.
Hunters donated 7,627 deer to Wisconsin’s venison donation programs during the 2008 deer hunting seasons. Through license sales, hunters also donated $17,183 to partially cover the cost of processing deer for the venison program.
Fike said through 2008 hunters have donated more than 69,000 deer, resulting in more than 3.1 million pounds of ground venison in the first nine years of the program.
Wisconsin hunters may donate to Hunt for the Hungry, operating in the Green Bay area, Target Hunger, which handles donations from the chronic wasting disease management zone, or the Wisconsin Venison Donation Program, covering all remaining areas of the state.
Read the full story at: The LaCrosse Tribune
Thursday, February 19, 2009
MARYLAND NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2008
Hunters in Maryland killed more than 100,000 deer in a single season for the first time since modern deer management began in the early 1900s, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The record 100,437 deer taken during the 2008-09 season eclipsed the previous record of 94,114 deer set in 2002-03 and is 9 percent higher than last year's count of 92,208 deer.
Agency officials said the number represents good news for families during tough economic times and for the state's efforts to reduce the deer population.
"Hunting license sales increased slightly this year, but we believe the major factor for the record harvest was that hunters increased their efforts to put more venison in the freezer during these lean economic times," said deer project leader Brian Eyler. "The 10 percent increase in the antlerless harvest is great news and will aid us in managing deer numbers across the state."
Source: Washington Post
Agency officials said the number represents good news for families during tough economic times and for the state's efforts to reduce the deer population.
"Hunting license sales increased slightly this year, but we believe the major factor for the record harvest was that hunters increased their efforts to put more venison in the freezer during these lean economic times," said deer project leader Brian Eyler. "The 10 percent increase in the antlerless harvest is great news and will aid us in managing deer numbers across the state."
Source: Washington Post
IRELAND NEWS: Deer Culling Plans Under Development
Landowners and animal preservation societies are planning to cull the number of wild deer, which is said to have increased dramatically in the past few years.
A deer management programme has been devised both to conserve the number of deer and to advise farmers.
The Irish Farmers' Association, the Irish Deer Society and the Wild Deer Association of Ireland are participating in the plan.
IFA Deputy President Derek Deane said the rise in deer numbers has posed problems for farmers, including fence damage, encroaching on crops, grazing of pastureland and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
Chairman of the Irish Deer Society Paul Wood said while they want to conserve wild deer, there is a need for effective management of deer numbers, which can increase annually by 30%.
President of the Wild Deer Association of Ireland Pat Scully said hunters often concentrate on culling male deer because they want a set of trophy antlers.
However, he said this does very little to control deer numbers as female numbers escalate.
SOURCE: RTE News
A deer management programme has been devised both to conserve the number of deer and to advise farmers.
The Irish Farmers' Association, the Irish Deer Society and the Wild Deer Association of Ireland are participating in the plan.
IFA Deputy President Derek Deane said the rise in deer numbers has posed problems for farmers, including fence damage, encroaching on crops, grazing of pastureland and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
Chairman of the Irish Deer Society Paul Wood said while they want to conserve wild deer, there is a need for effective management of deer numbers, which can increase annually by 30%.
President of the Wild Deer Association of Ireland Pat Scully said hunters often concentrate on culling male deer because they want a set of trophy antlers.
However, he said this does very little to control deer numbers as female numbers escalate.
SOURCE: RTE News
WISCONSIN NEWS: City Revisits Deer Feeding Ban Ordinance
Waupun Common Council next week will renew discussions on the possibility of a deer-feeding ban in the city.
Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in its Committee of the Whole workshop at the auditorium at City Hall, 201 E. Main St.
Last year, the city failed to pass an ordinance that would prohibit the feeding of white-tailed deer that are wreaking havoc on trees and shrubs on the northwest side of the city.
Now, with the extent of damage and large sizes of herds, officials believe it is time to revisit the matter.
"We've had snow from November on," said Waupun City Administrator Gary Rogers Jr. "The deer are not that dumb. They've got food, a warm place to sleep, they're not running from hunters and they're coming into town."
Rogers said a couple of herds of deer are roaming the community, causing a great deal of damage.
The ordinance, if passed, would ban residents from setting food plots in yards.
"It's kind of nice to see deer in the countryside," Rogers said. "Now, we're seeing deer (in the city) can be as common as rabbits. They can become a nuisance."
Residents say even barking dogs don't seem to bother the deer, seen walking down streets and through yards — sometimes in groups as many as 20 strong.
Despite testimony last year from Department of Natural Resources officials recommending a ban, the Council voted to keep the feeding of deer in Waupun a legal activity.
Source: Fond du Lac Reporter
Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in its Committee of the Whole workshop at the auditorium at City Hall, 201 E. Main St.
Last year, the city failed to pass an ordinance that would prohibit the feeding of white-tailed deer that are wreaking havoc on trees and shrubs on the northwest side of the city.
Now, with the extent of damage and large sizes of herds, officials believe it is time to revisit the matter.
"We've had snow from November on," said Waupun City Administrator Gary Rogers Jr. "The deer are not that dumb. They've got food, a warm place to sleep, they're not running from hunters and they're coming into town."
Rogers said a couple of herds of deer are roaming the community, causing a great deal of damage.
The ordinance, if passed, would ban residents from setting food plots in yards.
"It's kind of nice to see deer in the countryside," Rogers said. "Now, we're seeing deer (in the city) can be as common as rabbits. They can become a nuisance."
Residents say even barking dogs don't seem to bother the deer, seen walking down streets and through yards — sometimes in groups as many as 20 strong.
Despite testimony last year from Department of Natural Resources officials recommending a ban, the Council voted to keep the feeding of deer in Waupun a legal activity.
Source: Fond du Lac Reporter
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
MISSOURI NEWS: Deer Harvest Down 21% Versus 2007
During the 2008 firearms season, Missouri hunters took 238,819 deer.
In Taney County, the count was down by 67 compared to last year’s total of 2,278.
In Stone County, the count was up 112 for a total of 1,203 deer harvested.
Quinten Fronterhouse, Missouri Department of Conservation’s Taney County conservation agent, said it was pretty much an average season for both counties.
“The first day of the season was slow,” Fronterhouse said. “As the season progressed we had more hunters getting out and I did see more big bucks taken from the area.”
He said the number of deer hunters in southwest Missouri has declined a bit over the past couple of seasons and attributes that to the unlimited number of antlerless permits available to hunters in counties to the north.
“More hunters are going north for bigger deer,” Fronterhouse said.
Deer hunters are allowed one antlerless permit in Stone and Taney counties.
Fronterhouse said even though the harvest numbers were down by 67 in Taney County this past season, it was still considered a successful harvest.
“With less hunters, our buck population in both counties is reaching a higher age class and that is making for better quality deer,” he said.
Source: BransonDailyNews
In Taney County, the count was down by 67 compared to last year’s total of 2,278.
In Stone County, the count was up 112 for a total of 1,203 deer harvested.
Quinten Fronterhouse, Missouri Department of Conservation’s Taney County conservation agent, said it was pretty much an average season for both counties.
“The first day of the season was slow,” Fronterhouse said. “As the season progressed we had more hunters getting out and I did see more big bucks taken from the area.”
He said the number of deer hunters in southwest Missouri has declined a bit over the past couple of seasons and attributes that to the unlimited number of antlerless permits available to hunters in counties to the north.
“More hunters are going north for bigger deer,” Fronterhouse said.
Deer hunters are allowed one antlerless permit in Stone and Taney counties.
Fronterhouse said even though the harvest numbers were down by 67 in Taney County this past season, it was still considered a successful harvest.
“With less hunters, our buck population in both counties is reaching a higher age class and that is making for better quality deer,” he said.
Source: BransonDailyNews
INDIANA NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2008
Indiana deer hunters bagged a record amount of deer this season, surpassing a high mark set in 2005.
The state Department of Natural Resources says hunters killed 129,748 deer in 2008, a 4 percent increase over last year's total. The previous record was 125,526 in 2005.
Despite bad weather the opening day of November's firearms season, that segment accounted for about two-thirds of the total harvest.
Northeastern Indiana's Steuben County had the most deer killed of any county in the state for a fourth straight year. The 2008 season was the fifth straight year in which the state's deer harvest topped 120,000.
Source: Chicago Tribune
The state Department of Natural Resources says hunters killed 129,748 deer in 2008, a 4 percent increase over last year's total. The previous record was 125,526 in 2005.
Despite bad weather the opening day of November's firearms season, that segment accounted for about two-thirds of the total harvest.
Northeastern Indiana's Steuben County had the most deer killed of any county in the state for a fourth straight year. The 2008 season was the fifth straight year in which the state's deer harvest topped 120,000.
Source: Chicago Tribune
WYOMING NEWS: The Elk Winter Feeding Dilemma
When the mighty elk herds of the West were facing the possibility of extinction from overhunting, settlement and neglect a century ago, people here stepped forward and began what has turned out to be a profound biological experiment.
They offered food to the straggling survivors.
Now a new and tightening circle of challenges is closing in on the elk and the human system that has sustained them, forcing a debate over the science, emotion and economics of protecting these magnificent animals and the landscape they inhabit. At the center is a critical question: Did human kindness backfire, setting the elk up for disaster?
A federal lawsuit filed last year by a coalition of environmental groups charges that feeding the elk violates the Fish and Wildlife Service’s charter to manage refuges for healthy populations and biological integrity. Feeding programs, the suit argues, endanger the elk and create monocultures that degrade the landscape for other creatures, like birds, which can no longer nest on feeding grounds stripped of willows by the ravenous herd.
Biological threats that could devastate the elk are also looming on the horizon, especially chronic wasting disease, or C.W.D., a neural disorder that spreads by mutated proteins, not unlike mad cow disease. Chronic wasting disease, found in an infected moose last year only about 45 miles from Jackson, has moved in an inexorable line in recent years from Wyoming’s southeast corner, where it first appeared, to the rest of the state. The disease was discovered in Colorado in the 1960s.
Read the full story at the New York Times
They offered food to the straggling survivors.
Now a new and tightening circle of challenges is closing in on the elk and the human system that has sustained them, forcing a debate over the science, emotion and economics of protecting these magnificent animals and the landscape they inhabit. At the center is a critical question: Did human kindness backfire, setting the elk up for disaster?
A federal lawsuit filed last year by a coalition of environmental groups charges that feeding the elk violates the Fish and Wildlife Service’s charter to manage refuges for healthy populations and biological integrity. Feeding programs, the suit argues, endanger the elk and create monocultures that degrade the landscape for other creatures, like birds, which can no longer nest on feeding grounds stripped of willows by the ravenous herd.
Biological threats that could devastate the elk are also looming on the horizon, especially chronic wasting disease, or C.W.D., a neural disorder that spreads by mutated proteins, not unlike mad cow disease. Chronic wasting disease, found in an infected moose last year only about 45 miles from Jackson, has moved in an inexorable line in recent years from Wyoming’s southeast corner, where it first appeared, to the rest of the state. The disease was discovered in Colorado in the 1960s.
Read the full story at the New York Times
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
WASHINGTON STATE NEWS: State Considers Feeding Ban For Some Wildlife, Including Deer
DIAMOND POINT -- For the last three years, Jerry and Anne Stiles say they have been living with an infestation.
But it's not the creepy, crawly kind that infests their property.
The pests, they say, are deer.
They say the blacktail deer population near their home at Diamond Point has tripled because about three or four neighbors intentionally feed the animals regularly.
The result, they say, is that the deer that have lost their natural fear of people and have become increasingly aggressive.
That is why the couple testified at the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee of the state Legislature in Olympia last week in support of House Bill 1885.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, at the request of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, would allow law enforcement to fine people $104 for feeding certain types of wildlife if they fail to heed an earlier warning.
Wildlife listed in Van De Wege's bill includes deer, bears, cougars, wolves, ¬ opossum, skunks, raccoons, elk and turkey.
The bill would exempt farmers and hunters who unintentionally feed those animals.
"We don't mind the deer, per se," said Anne Stiles, 55.
"It's the feeding and behavioral changes that are really alarming."
Jerry Stiles said the deer walk up to people expecting to be fed, and they can be aggressive.
Anne Stiles said deer have nearly attacked her four times.
One of those incidents occurred about a year ago when she was walking her small poodle-mix dog, she said.
A doe, about 75 feet up the road, began moving toward her in a threatening way, she said.
Jerry Stiles said that after he heard his wife scream, he ran outside with an umbrella to try to scare the doe off.
The doe ran into an adjacent lot -- "and the next thing I know, it was charging at me full force."
"I really thought she was going to kill me," Ann said.
"I froze, screaming."
Jerry Stiles said the deer didn't stop its charge until he opened the umbrella in front of his wife.
This, he said, startled the animal, which ran away.
Bruce Bjork, Fish and Wildlife enforcement chief, said the biggest problem with feeding wildlife is that they become "habituated."
"Once they get habituated, they lose their fear of humans . . . then we end up posing a public health and safety risk," Bjork said.
"They are causing more disease, and more aggressiveness causes potential harm to humans."
Bjork said he was not aware of a particular problem in the Diamond Point area.
He said Fish and Wildlife warn people of the dangers of feeding wildlife, but without approval of Van De Wege's bill, the department can't impose penalties.
Jerry and Anne Stiles said other neighbors have felt threatened by the neighborhood's aggressive deer, but they don't know of any people or pets who have been injured by the animals.
Jerry Stiles said they and other people who live in the community of about 500 homes have tried to talk their neighbors out of feeding the deer.
"We do like the deer," he said," but this is an infestation."
Source: Peninsula Daily News
But it's not the creepy, crawly kind that infests their property.
The pests, they say, are deer.
They say the blacktail deer population near their home at Diamond Point has tripled because about three or four neighbors intentionally feed the animals regularly.
The result, they say, is that the deer that have lost their natural fear of people and have become increasingly aggressive.
That is why the couple testified at the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee of the state Legislature in Olympia last week in support of House Bill 1885.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, at the request of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, would allow law enforcement to fine people $104 for feeding certain types of wildlife if they fail to heed an earlier warning.
Wildlife listed in Van De Wege's bill includes deer, bears, cougars, wolves, ¬ opossum, skunks, raccoons, elk and turkey.
The bill would exempt farmers and hunters who unintentionally feed those animals.
"We don't mind the deer, per se," said Anne Stiles, 55.
"It's the feeding and behavioral changes that are really alarming."
Jerry Stiles said the deer walk up to people expecting to be fed, and they can be aggressive.
Anne Stiles said deer have nearly attacked her four times.
One of those incidents occurred about a year ago when she was walking her small poodle-mix dog, she said.
A doe, about 75 feet up the road, began moving toward her in a threatening way, she said.
Jerry Stiles said that after he heard his wife scream, he ran outside with an umbrella to try to scare the doe off.
The doe ran into an adjacent lot -- "and the next thing I know, it was charging at me full force."
"I really thought she was going to kill me," Ann said.
"I froze, screaming."
Jerry Stiles said the deer didn't stop its charge until he opened the umbrella in front of his wife.
This, he said, startled the animal, which ran away.
Bruce Bjork, Fish and Wildlife enforcement chief, said the biggest problem with feeding wildlife is that they become "habituated."
"Once they get habituated, they lose their fear of humans . . . then we end up posing a public health and safety risk," Bjork said.
"They are causing more disease, and more aggressiveness causes potential harm to humans."
Bjork said he was not aware of a particular problem in the Diamond Point area.
He said Fish and Wildlife warn people of the dangers of feeding wildlife, but without approval of Van De Wege's bill, the department can't impose penalties.
Jerry and Anne Stiles said other neighbors have felt threatened by the neighborhood's aggressive deer, but they don't know of any people or pets who have been injured by the animals.
Jerry Stiles said they and other people who live in the community of about 500 homes have tried to talk their neighbors out of feeding the deer.
"We do like the deer," he said," but this is an infestation."
Source: Peninsula Daily News
NEVADA NEWS: Fractal Stupidity in Deer Management
Fractal stupidity - exhibiting stupidity at every level of analysis.
State wildlife officials have announced a plan to kill more mountain lions to help increase the deer population, a move criticized by animal advocates who say drought and development are more important factors in the decrease of deer numbers.
The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners told agency staff last week to employ the help of sport hunters and contract employees from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services for the state wildlife department's new "program of intensive, sustained predator reduction."
Ken Mayer, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said his agency would use science to figure out the number of lions to be killed in areas where the predators have been found to adversely affect deer numbers.
"It's not an effort to exterminate mountain lions," Mayer said. "It's an effort to better manage lions with the prey base. Some hunters think the solution to the deer problem is to kill a lot of lions and the deer will come back."
The state's deer population fell from 240,000 in 1988 to 108,000 in 2008, while its current lion population ranges from 1,500 to 2,400, according to the wildlife department.
Nevada already allows lion hunts, each year issuing a quota of lion tags that a hunter can obtain. Commissioners set the quota at 306 tags for the year beginning March 1 and increased the number of tags allowed each hunter from two to three.
Lion advocates compared the new policy to the "Sarah Palin method of wildlife management," which wildlife biologist D.J. Schubert described as removing "animals with big teeth in order to promote the animals hunters like to shoot."
"It's an archaic form of wildlife management," said Schubert, of the Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute. "Unfortunately, they're making the mountain lion a scapegoat, despite the importance of the mountain lion as a top-line predator in any ecosystem."
Palin, Alaska's governor, supports a predator control program that allows private citizens with permits to shoot wolves from the air in an effort to reverse a decline in moose and caribou numbers.
Don Molde, a former board member of the Defenders of Wildlife and a member of the Humane Society of the United States, called the plans "nonsense."
"This is a nonscientific effort to kill an animal just because they don't like it," he said. "It's an irrational dislike of an animal that has every right to live here."
He said similar programs in Washington, Oregon and New Mexico were cut back because of unintended damage to lion numbers.
Wildlife commissioner Scott Raine of Eureka said no one was trying to eliminate the population of mountain lions. He cited studies that showed lions eat one "deer-size"
animal a week.
"We just want to bring them down to a reasonable number, a sustainable number. Otherwise, deer will continue to die off," said Raine, a hunter.
In 2007, hunters killed 145 lions and Wildlife Services killed 37 lions in the state.
Commission chairman Gerald Lent did not return phone calls seeking comment over the weekend.
Source: AP (Google Hosted)
State wildlife officials have announced a plan to kill more mountain lions to help increase the deer population, a move criticized by animal advocates who say drought and development are more important factors in the decrease of deer numbers.
The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners told agency staff last week to employ the help of sport hunters and contract employees from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services for the state wildlife department's new "program of intensive, sustained predator reduction."
Ken Mayer, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said his agency would use science to figure out the number of lions to be killed in areas where the predators have been found to adversely affect deer numbers.
"It's not an effort to exterminate mountain lions," Mayer said. "It's an effort to better manage lions with the prey base. Some hunters think the solution to the deer problem is to kill a lot of lions and the deer will come back."
The state's deer population fell from 240,000 in 1988 to 108,000 in 2008, while its current lion population ranges from 1,500 to 2,400, according to the wildlife department.
Nevada already allows lion hunts, each year issuing a quota of lion tags that a hunter can obtain. Commissioners set the quota at 306 tags for the year beginning March 1 and increased the number of tags allowed each hunter from two to three.
Lion advocates compared the new policy to the "Sarah Palin method of wildlife management," which wildlife biologist D.J. Schubert described as removing "animals with big teeth in order to promote the animals hunters like to shoot."
"It's an archaic form of wildlife management," said Schubert, of the Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute. "Unfortunately, they're making the mountain lion a scapegoat, despite the importance of the mountain lion as a top-line predator in any ecosystem."
Palin, Alaska's governor, supports a predator control program that allows private citizens with permits to shoot wolves from the air in an effort to reverse a decline in moose and caribou numbers.
Don Molde, a former board member of the Defenders of Wildlife and a member of the Humane Society of the United States, called the plans "nonsense."
"This is a nonscientific effort to kill an animal just because they don't like it," he said. "It's an irrational dislike of an animal that has every right to live here."
He said similar programs in Washington, Oregon and New Mexico were cut back because of unintended damage to lion numbers.
Wildlife commissioner Scott Raine of Eureka said no one was trying to eliminate the population of mountain lions. He cited studies that showed lions eat one "deer-size"
animal a week.
"We just want to bring them down to a reasonable number, a sustainable number. Otherwise, deer will continue to die off," said Raine, a hunter.
In 2007, hunters killed 145 lions and Wildlife Services killed 37 lions in the state.
Commission chairman Gerald Lent did not return phone calls seeking comment over the weekend.
Source: AP (Google Hosted)
Monday, February 16, 2009
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Large Cull Planned for Valley Forge National Historical Park
When drivers approach Valley Forge National Historical Park from the south on Thomas Road, they're often greeted by hordes of attentive, long-eared hosts:
Deer.
The animals don't run from the noise of car engines. They don't bolt at the prospect of human contact. They stand and stare.
Soon those sentries may be gone.
Valley Forge officials plan a massive sharpshooting operation to kill up to 1,300 deer during the next four years, eliminating more than 80 percent of the herd and maintaining a much smaller pack through contraceptives.
Administrators say lethal actions are necessary because deer are devouring so many plants, shrubs, and saplings that the forest cannot regenerate.
"Our goal is to restore a natural, healthy, functioning ecosystem," said Kristina Heister, park natural-resource manager. "We feel we need to act now, and we need to act quickly."
The first shoot would take place next winter. Federal employees or contractors would fire high-powered rifles mostly at night, dispatching deer baited to areas with apples and grain. The rifles would have silencers. Some shooting likely would take place during the day in areas closed to the public.
Technically, park administrators are considering four plans to manage deer, with options ranging from doing nothing to killing most of the herd. But they've already identified sharpshooting as the best alternative.
The period for public comment ends Tuesday.
Angry animal-rights activists insist that shooting the deer is unnecessary, unethical, and dangerous to nearby residents.
"Free-living animals can control their numbers, and they do control their numbers," said Lee Hall of Devon, legal director of the international advocacy group Friends of Animals. "The best way to enable them to do this is to respect how they are, and where they are, because nature works."
She's unsure whether the park's count of 1,023 deer is accurate. Even if it is, she said, to say there are too many deer is to impose a human construct on a vital, healthy group of animals governed by larger, natural forces. [Editors note: at 5.3 square miles, this is over 200 deer per square mile]
The deer at Valley Forge, Hall said, get all the blame for environmental degradation, which is at least partly caused by auto emissions, construction, and trampling tourists. The Friends of Animals has urged park managers to think about bloodless alternatives, such as extensive fencing - measures that administrators have rejected.
For the full story visit: The Inquirer
Deer.
The animals don't run from the noise of car engines. They don't bolt at the prospect of human contact. They stand and stare.
Soon those sentries may be gone.
Valley Forge officials plan a massive sharpshooting operation to kill up to 1,300 deer during the next four years, eliminating more than 80 percent of the herd and maintaining a much smaller pack through contraceptives.
Administrators say lethal actions are necessary because deer are devouring so many plants, shrubs, and saplings that the forest cannot regenerate.
"Our goal is to restore a natural, healthy, functioning ecosystem," said Kristina Heister, park natural-resource manager. "We feel we need to act now, and we need to act quickly."
The first shoot would take place next winter. Federal employees or contractors would fire high-powered rifles mostly at night, dispatching deer baited to areas with apples and grain. The rifles would have silencers. Some shooting likely would take place during the day in areas closed to the public.
Technically, park administrators are considering four plans to manage deer, with options ranging from doing nothing to killing most of the herd. But they've already identified sharpshooting as the best alternative.
The period for public comment ends Tuesday.
Angry animal-rights activists insist that shooting the deer is unnecessary, unethical, and dangerous to nearby residents.
"Free-living animals can control their numbers, and they do control their numbers," said Lee Hall of Devon, legal director of the international advocacy group Friends of Animals. "The best way to enable them to do this is to respect how they are, and where they are, because nature works."
She's unsure whether the park's count of 1,023 deer is accurate. Even if it is, she said, to say there are too many deer is to impose a human construct on a vital, healthy group of animals governed by larger, natural forces. [Editors note: at 5.3 square miles, this is over 200 deer per square mile]
The deer at Valley Forge, Hall said, get all the blame for environmental degradation, which is at least partly caused by auto emissions, construction, and trampling tourists. The Friends of Animals has urged park managers to think about bloodless alternatives, such as extensive fencing - measures that administrators have rejected.
For the full story visit: The Inquirer
Friday, February 13, 2009
UK NEWS: Proposal to Reintroduce Lynx to Control Deer
Lynx should be reintroduced into Britain to control rising deer populations, a senior Oxford University ecologist has said.
The big cats, which were hunted to extinction in this country 500 years ago, would be the most effective way of enforcing the annual cull of 500,000 deer that experts say is necessary to protect the countryside, according to Professor David Macdonald.
The head of the university's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit said that the predators would pose no risk to humans, and has urged for dozens of the animals to be imported from eastern Europe.
East Anglia and the Highlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland would be among the prime candidates for lynx restoration, which has previously been tried in countries including France, Italy and Austria.
"As far as I am aware there has not been any recorded case of a lynx being a danger to people and they are the most practical candidates for reintroduction into the UK," Prof Macdonald said.
"There are all these deer that people are having to control and the lynx could help out. A few sheep would be killed but experience on the Continent shows that it is manageable."
There are thought to be more than two million deer in Britain, the highest level for a thousand years. Farmers blame them for eating crops, destroying woodland and threatening native bird and animal life.
The population rise is partly blamed on the lack of natural predators but Peter Watson, director of the Deer Initiative which is charged with managing the deer population, said that a lynx reintroduction would not solve the problem. Currently 350,000 deer are culled in Britain a year, mostly by shotgun.
"Despite current deer management programme the population is still increasing, so if you want to see the numbers stabilise or decline you need to do something else. But I'm not convinced that natural predators can provide the scale of culling that is necessary," he said.
"There is clearly an issue with domestic livestock and pets as well. In Switzerland, nearly 200 sheep were killed by lynx in one year."
Any lynx reintroduction scheme should first be trialed in Scotland where deer populations are highest compared to human habitation, he added.
A spokesman for Natural England was cautious about the plan.
"Lynx are also territorial and you would need some pretty large home ranges for them – if you are going to introduce up to 100 animals which is what would be needed, then only a vast tract of land would be suitable."
Source: Telegraph
The big cats, which were hunted to extinction in this country 500 years ago, would be the most effective way of enforcing the annual cull of 500,000 deer that experts say is necessary to protect the countryside, according to Professor David Macdonald.
The head of the university's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit said that the predators would pose no risk to humans, and has urged for dozens of the animals to be imported from eastern Europe.
East Anglia and the Highlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland would be among the prime candidates for lynx restoration, which has previously been tried in countries including France, Italy and Austria.
"As far as I am aware there has not been any recorded case of a lynx being a danger to people and they are the most practical candidates for reintroduction into the UK," Prof Macdonald said.
"There are all these deer that people are having to control and the lynx could help out. A few sheep would be killed but experience on the Continent shows that it is manageable."
There are thought to be more than two million deer in Britain, the highest level for a thousand years. Farmers blame them for eating crops, destroying woodland and threatening native bird and animal life.
The population rise is partly blamed on the lack of natural predators but Peter Watson, director of the Deer Initiative which is charged with managing the deer population, said that a lynx reintroduction would not solve the problem. Currently 350,000 deer are culled in Britain a year, mostly by shotgun.
"Despite current deer management programme the population is still increasing, so if you want to see the numbers stabilise or decline you need to do something else. But I'm not convinced that natural predators can provide the scale of culling that is necessary," he said.
"There is clearly an issue with domestic livestock and pets as well. In Switzerland, nearly 200 sheep were killed by lynx in one year."
Any lynx reintroduction scheme should first be trialed in Scotland where deer populations are highest compared to human habitation, he added.
A spokesman for Natural England was cautious about the plan.
"Lynx are also territorial and you would need some pretty large home ranges for them – if you are going to introduce up to 100 animals which is what would be needed, then only a vast tract of land would be suitable."
Source: Telegraph
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