WYOMING NEWS: Cody Residents Split on Urban Deer Problem

The results of Cody's urban deer survey were unveiled Wednesday night in a poorly attended but sharply divided public meeting.

At the Cody Auditorium with about a dozen people in attendance, City Parks Director Rick Manchester presented the findings of the survey, which was mailed to utility customers earlier this year.

The city sent out more than 5,000 surveys and 1,546 were returned.

Manchester said 56 percent of those who returned their survey said they were concerned about the city's population of urban deer, while 44 percent said they had no concerns.

Yet when asked if they'd like to see the city adopt an action plan to reduce the deer herd, 50 percent of the respondents said yes while 50 percent said no.

The even split in the survey set the tone of disagreement for much of the meeting, leaving committee members to decide what the results mean.

You would get a nearly identical response anywhere in the country with a high urban deer population.

Read more: Billings Gazette

PENNSYLVANIA OPINION: Unified Sportsman Case Ends, Deer Wars Continue

An opinion piece from Bob Frye:

The Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management program has survived a challenge.

But don't expect to see peace in this fight.

This past week, Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Barry Feudale dismissed the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania's lawsuit against the commission, which alleged that the commission had acted fraudulently and abused its discretion in reducing deer populations.

The judge ruled that the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management program was not based on bad science, fraud, or bad faith. While the legal issue at hand has been resolved, the losing side is not satisfied. They are now entering the ninth decade of opposition to Pennsylvania's deer management.

Pennsylvania's "deer wars" — which date to the 1930s and have earned the state a national reputation as the worst example of how deer hunters and deer managers can argue like bitter divorcees — have lasted for generations, through audits, reviews, lawsuits, changes in staff and changes in board members.

Read more: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Ruling on Unified Sportsman of Pennsylvania Case

I am not sure how this slipped past me, but here is an update on the Unified Sportsman of Pennsylvania case from last February (h/t to Stan):

A Commonwealth Court ruling handed down Feb. 8 dismissed the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania’s legal challenge to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer management program.

Another so-called “Deer Wars” battle is over, with the USP losing again.

“This court ruling is a strong statement that the Game Commission’s deer management program is being conducted in a sound and scientific manner,” PGC executive director Carl Roe said. “In essence, Commonwealth Court’s latest ruling dismissed the challenge because it lacked merit.

“Our hope is that this second ruling will cease the unnecessary expenditure of sportsmen’s dollars and tax dollars fighting frivolous and baseless lawsuits.”

Read more: Centre Daily Times

NEW BRUNSWICK NEWS: Deer Feeding Bans Might Not Aid In Lyme Fight

Municipal bylaws banning people from feeding deer may not help prevent the spread of Lyme disease, according to a public health official.

Saint John council voted on Tuesday to refer the idea of a bylaw banning people from feeding deer to the city's legal department for advice.

Coun. Bill Farren said the deer cause a wide range of problems, such as carrying ticks infected with Lyme disease. But the proposal to ban the public from feeding deer is receiving mixed reviews.

Dr. Scott Giffin, a provincial medical officer of health in Saint John, said he isn't convinced the proposed bylaw would help prevent the spread of Lyme disease.

"I think the evidence for culling deer herds as a way to control ticks is weak at best and there may be many other reasons for culling deer herds that fall ahead of Lyme disease, that's for sure," he said.

The relationship between deer densities and Lyme is not simple, in part because so many other animals also serve as both hosts for deer ticks and reservoirs of Lyme Disease.

The full story is here: CBC

MICHIGAN NEWS: Baiting Rules Changing

Michigan wildlife policymakers tentatively agreed Thursday to remove a ban on baiting and feeding whitetail deer in most of the Lower Peninsula that was designed to prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases.

The state Natural Resources Commission scheduled a final vote for June 9 on its plan, which would allow hunters to spread up to 2 gallons of feed at each hunting site in the
Lower Peninsula except for a section of northeastern Michigan where bovine tuberculosis remains a problem. The existing 2-gallon limit in the Upper Peninsula would continue.
The plan also would allow people to feed deer for recreational viewing everywhere except the bovine TB zone.

Deer baiting has been banned in the lower peninsula since 2008.

Source: Times Union

MAINE NEWS: Fewer Antlerless Permits to be Available

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Chandler Woodcock is proposing to cut the number of such permits in the state's 29 wildlife management areas from 48,825 to 26,390, a drop of 46 percent. The antlerless permits are also known as "any-deer" or "doe" permits.

Antlerless permits are issued when the goal is to reduce deer numbers, and withdrawn when the goal is to increase deer numbers.

In the past five years, the deer harvest has dropped sharply, from 29,918 in 2006 to 20,063 in 2010, officials say. For 2011, the department is recommending that only bucks be harvested in 17 of the state's 29 wildlife districts.

Source: mbpn.net

DELAWARE NEWS: Harvest in 2010 Third Highest

The state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced the third highest deer harvest of all time for the 2010-11 hunting season.

Deer season runs Sept. 1 through Jan. 31.

A total of 14,183 deer were harvested, a 14.4 percent increase over last year's season.

The record harvest is 14,401 deer, so the record was missed by just 218 deer.

For those keeping track, 2009 had a lower than expected harvest, due largely to poor weather. The 14.4% jump is a bit misleading.

Source: Delmarvanow

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Valley Forge Cull Underway

The long-contested cull is underway, and it has yielded a lot of deer.

In the first season of the hotly controversial four-year culling program, federal sharpshooters have reduced the deer population at Valley Forge National Historical Park by about half, killing 600, park officials announced Monday.

Since November, the operation had yielded more than nine tons of meat for food banks across the state - including 3,000 pounds in Chester County.

The park is 2300 acres, or about 5.5 square miles. So my calculator tells me over 100 deer were removed per square mile!

Park officials had estimated that 1,277 deer were living on the revered Revolutionary War site before the culling began in November. The ultimate goal is to reduce the herd to well under 200.

There is still a way to go.

MAINE NEWS: Deer Harveest Up

The initial tally was 11 percent above last year's harvest, but still 4 percent lower than state biologists had expected.

Maine hunters harvested 11 percent more deer last season than they did the previous year. That's according to Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Department officials say the initial tally for 2010 was 20,063 deer. State biologist Lee Kantar says the mild winter was a factor

Source: MPBN

VIRGINIA NEWS: State Deer Harvest Down 15%

The preliminary numbers are in, and the total deer kill numbers for Virginia dropped significantly last hunting season--15 percent below the 259,147 reported killed in 2009 and 3 percent lower than the annual average for the last decade.

Hunters reported 219,797 deer last year, of which 95,543 were antlered bucks, 19,191 were button bucks, and 105,063 were does.

Source: Fredericksburg.com

KENTUCKY NEWS: Mayor Disbands Deer Study Committee

I think this story ends with "and they lived happily ever after."

To some they may be cute to look at or feed, but for the city of Prospect, the growing population of deer is a serious problem.

After the mayor disbanded a committee to study the issue, many were left wondering what happens next.

"The mayor has decided that maybe its best to disband the committee, sit back, let everybody calm down and revisit it a little bit later on,” Prospect city councilman Alan Simon said. "I can see the issues on both sides, but I think we have to be doing it in a sensible manner and not have everyone hollering and carrying on."

Source: WLKY

OHIO NEWS: Deer Harvest in 2010-11 Not Record-Setting

A total of 239,260 deer were killed during Ohio’s 2010-11 hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife. This season’s total was below the record 2009-10 total of 261,260.

Counties reporting the highest number of deer checked during the season were: Coshocton 8,837, Tuscarawas-8,164, Licking- 7,819, Muskingum 7,130, Guernsey-6,990, Harrison 6,965, Knox-6,335, Carroll 5,721, Holmes-5,635 and Ashtabula-5,333. The other two lake-area counties were: Fairfield - 3,022 and Perry - 3,874.

Source: Buckeye Lake Beacon

SCOTLAND NEWS: Wild Muntjac Not Welcome

There are no wild populations of muntjac deer in Scotland, and a recent order (Muntjac Keeping-Scotland Order 2011) was decreed to keep it that way. Any muntjac in the wild is to be killed on sight.

According to Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead:

"They're widespread in south and central England but have a patchy distribution between the Humber and the Scottish borders. They are destructive animals, or invasive species to use the more modern term. They can have significant negative impacts in the wild, both to biodiversity and economic interest."

They can damage orchards, cereal crops, coppice woods and bluebells, he said, and have been known to add to accident risks on roads.

Source: The Press Association

INDIANA NEWS: Another Record Deer Harvest

Indiana hunters established a record for the third straight year by reporting an overall harvest of 134,004 deer taken during the 2010 seasons, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Reports submitted from 461 check stations across Indiana topped the 2009 total by 1,252 deer, a 1 percent increase, and bettered the 2008 total by more than 4,200 deer.

"We're seeing a healthy number of deer throughout much of the state, and that is translating into success by our hunters during the hunting season" DNR deer biologist Chad Stewart said.

Source: Courier Press

MICHIGAN NEWS: Who Are the Predators of Deer?

Wolf, bear, coyote or bobcat.

If you had to name the carnivore that kills the most white-tailed deer in the Upper Midwest, which would you pick?

If you are thinking smaller rather than larger, you're on the right track.

The answer is coyote, at least according to preliminary data from a study in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The sample sizes were rather small, and I am somewhat skeptical of how robust or generalizable these findings are. As for the data:

In all, 57 adult deer and 44 fawns have been captured and fitted with tracking devices.

The data are from Jan. 1, 2009 through Aug. 31, 2010. Though preliminary, they are showing some very interesting results.

Coyotes in the study area were responsible for 13 fawn mortalities, followed by bobcat (9), unknown predator (5), abandonment (4), unknown agent (3), black bear (2), vehicle collision (2), wolf (2) and bald eagle (1).

Among adult and yearling female deer, coyote killed 6, followed by wolf (3), black bear (2), drowning (2), birthing complications (1), vehicle collision (1) and unknown predator (1).

Source: MJOnline

MINNESOTA NEWS: Deer Harvest Up 7% Over 2009

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says thanks to ideal hunting weather during opening weekend of the firearms season, hunters harvested a total of 207,000 deer during the 2010 season. That's the 13th largest harvest on record.

Source: NECN.com

MINNESOTA NEWS: CWD Detected in Wild Deer

Posted without comment.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources may have found the state's first wild deer infected with chronic wasting disease.

The deer was among 524 tested for the disease in the Pine Island area. DNR officials say preliminary screening by the University of Minnesota strongly indicates a positive case, but the agency is waiting for confirmation from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

Source: WQOW

BRITISH COLUMBIA NEWS: Deer Populations Altering Gulf Islands

Booming deer populations on some Gulf Islands are driving away songbirds and leaving the area susceptible to invasion by foreign species, says a recent study.

Following hunting bans on many small islands in the 1970s, deer populations grew. People began feeding deer, which compounded the problem. Now residents of at least one island are looking at sterilization as a control measure, but are getting little support from the provincial government.

I'll post my own synopsis of this study--it is quite good.

Source: Nanaimo Daily News

I've included a picture from the study that shows vegetation on low, medium, and high deer density islands.

OHIO NEWS: Cleveland Area Municipalities Struggle With Deer

The News-Herald provides a nice overview of how Cleveland area municipalities have been struggling with record deer numbers.

Come springtime, Carole Clement will break out the coyote urine.

She will begin her annual ritual of using it to soak cotton strips that she places atop sticks erected around her gardens.

"It's kind of a universally known deer repellent," the Mentor resident said.

She lives near Veterans Park, where a recent deer count indicated a large overpopulation.

Clement, an active member of several conservation groups, addressed City Council last year about the deer threat to vegetation.

"In 50 years it's going to be ‘Veterans Meadow' because they've eaten all the seedlings and the young saplings," she said.

Deer in Lake, Coyahoga, and Geauga Counties face minimal hunting pressure and now reside in ever-increasing "no hunting zones" subdivided residential housing developments. Recently several parks and municipalities have ended sharpshooting due to budget constraints.

Several organizations are looking at developing a regional deer management strategy, with the Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership taking a lead role.

Source: News-Herald

INDIANA NEWS: Nearly 1700 Deer Killed in State Parks

Hunters statewide harvested 1,689 deer at 16 state parks, up from the 1,334 deer taken in parks in 2009, according the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Hunters took 236 deer at the 5988 acre Versailles State Park and 102 deer at the 1710 acre Whitewater Memorial State Park. Indiana Parks opened to hunting in 1992.

Source: Palladium-Item