MISSOURI NEWS: Lots of Towns Face Deer Problems

It's being done in small towns, like Fulton, Osage Beach and Moberly. Larger communities, too: Springfield, Columbia, the St. Louis suburban areas and all of metropolitan Kansas City.

The issue of urban deer hunting has landed in the lap of the Cape Girardeau City Council, beginning anew a process that has been repeated in communities across Missouri as officials almost everywhere have struggled with how best to manage deer encroachment into city boundaries.

Twenty-three cities in Missouri currently allow residents to participate in managed bow hunts to curtail growing deer populations that were blamed for an increase in deer-vehicle collisions and lawn destruction. Others are considering it, including Ballwin and Ellisville.

Different municipalities took different approaches--the article is worth a read.

Source: NECN.com

DEER HARVEST ROUNDUP - 2011

Indiana

Indiana deer hunters took fewer deer in 2011 than in 2010, but the 129,018 total was still the fourth-best season on record, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife. The all-time record remains 2010, when 134,004 deer were taken.

Wisconsin

The DNR says hunters killed 347,711 deer across all hunting seasons last year, up 3 percent from last year.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Game Commission today said preliminary harvest reports show a 6 percent increase in the number of deer killed in the state during the 2011-12 hunting seasons. Hunters killed 336,200 deer, or 9,960 more than during the 2010-11 seasons, according to the preliminary data.

Maine

Maine’s 2011 deer season ended in a total harvest of 18,839 deer, a 6 percent decrease from the 2010 season. Officials attribute the drop to a significant decrease in the distribution of Any Deer Permits. The state awarded fewer of the permits this year to allow for greater deer population growth.

New York

In 2011, hunters took slightly more than 118,350 antlerless deer (adult females and fawns) and just over 110,000 adult male deer (bucks).

Virginia

During the past deer season 231,454 deer were reported killed by hunters in Virginia. This total included 98,770 bucks, 20,738 button bucks and 111,830 doe. The fall 2011 deer kill total was up 4 percent. It is in line with the last 10-year average of 230,850.

Vermont

Hunters took 12,132 deer last year, which was an expected decline from the year before.

Colorado

Deer hunters harvested an estimated 33,200 deer in 2011.

MISSOURI NEWS: Wild Deer Test Positive for CWD

More CWD in Missouri:

Missouri officials say two more captive white-tailed deer have tested positive for a fatal illness called chronic wasting disease.

The state Department of Conservation says the positive tests bring to five the number of wild deer that have tested positive for the syndrome in Missouri.

The Columbia Missourian reported that all five infected wild white-tailed deer were killed within two miles of the Heartland Wildlife Ranch in northwestern Macon County. Infected captive deer were previously identified at the Macon County ranch, which is killing off and testing its herd.

Source: Lakenewsonline

MISSOURI NEWS: Deer Harvest Down in 2011

Deer harvest was down a little in 2011.

Missouri hunters took nearly 240-thousand deer during the 2011-2012 hunting season. The season’s total was up about 7,400 from last year, but roughly 13,000 below the 10-year average.

Why the decline? The state's management goal of reducing deer numbers is working.

MDC has been trying for the better part of a decade to stabilize deer numbers in many parts of Missouri. “We have been working to bring down deer populations to reduce crop damage, deer-vehicle accidents, and other deer nuisance problems, and we’ve made good progress in those areas,” Sumners said. “Now our challenge is finding ways to fine-tune deer numbers and hunting pressure at the local level, which means that future reductions in the availability of firearms antlerless permits may be necessary.”

It is amazing to think the state's first harvest of over 100,000 occurred in 1986. Tell someone that only 743 deer were harvested statewide in 1947, and they will think you are crazy.

Source: St. Louis CBS Local

IRELAND NEWS: Deer Population Density Not Sustainable

It looks like Ireland's deer population is in the early phases of exponential growth.

There are some 4,000 licensed hunters, who shoot about 25,000 deer a year in controlled hunting seasons. For a “sustainable” population, it seems an annual cull of 150,000 deer would be nearer the mark. This figure comes from Woodlands of Ireland, whose expert study in 2009 computed the extensive damage not only to Ireland’s native broadleafed woods and their dependent species but also to conifer forests, where deer strip bark when other food gets short and browse young sitka spruce into valueless bushes. By its estimate, red deer increased more than fivefold in the 30 years to 2008, with a tripling of sika and near-doubling of fallow. The muntjac may be small (like a furtive, hard-to-spot Labrador dog), but, even though it was introduced only in 2006, its sightings are already widespread and raise great ecological concern. Rumours of even more introductions – of roe and Chinese water deer – are so far unconfirmed.

Warmer winters and longer growing seasons will likely further facilitate this growth. Ireland would do well to look to their old rivals to the east for some guidance on national deer management policy.

Source: Irish Times

WISCONSIN NEWS: Deer Czar Hired

Here we go again...

Central Wisconsin deer hunters frustrated by the state's management of the whitetail deer population in recent years say they are eager to see how a Texas expert nicknamed "Dr. Deer" plans to improve the state's deer herd.

The Department of Administration hired James Kroll this week as the state's new "deer czar." Kroll was given a $125,000 contract to conduct an independent, objective and scientifically based review of Wisconsin's deer management practices.

Just as we have seen with the deer population audit, the Deer 2000 exercise, and other efforts, we have another round of Lucy, Charlie Brown, and the football. Like Lucy promising to not pull the football away this time, a vocal group of deer hunters are going to accept the findings of James Kroll. Then the recommendations come out. Then the whole exercise is forgotten two years later, and the same vocal hunters raise the same issues being raised now.

The Wisconsin deer management "problem" is in a class of problems called "wicked problems." These kinds of problems are poorly (or too narrowly) defined, have no solution, and attempts to solve the problem create new problems. I am going to stop here, otherwise this post would get very, very long...

Source: Wausau Daily Herald

MAINE NEWS: Island Community Considers Deer Hunt

Voters on Islesboro are voting on whether to allow hunting on the island, mainly out of concern over Lyme disease.

Health care providers at the island's health center say that over the last eight years the island, which has a year-round population of about 600, has seen 69 cases of Lyme disease — enough to quality the outbreak as an epidemic.

There are an estimated 500 deer occupying the terrestrial 14.3 square miles of the island (35 deer per square mile).

Source: Bangor Daily News

UPDATE 26 August 2011: Last Wednesday, voters approved a measure to kill about 400 of the about 500 deer on the island.

Source: Bangor Daily News

OREGON NEWS: Possible Link Between Deer and E coli Outbreak

A recent outbreak of E. coli infecting 13 people has been traced back to a strawberry farm, and from there, possibly to deer.

State health officials hope to learn this week whether deer are the source of an E. coli outbreak in northwestern Oregon linked to fresh strawberries.

Dr. Paul Cieslak of the Oregon Public Health Division said Tuesday that samples of soil and deer droppings collected from fields at the Jacquith Strawberry Farm in Newberg, 25 miles southwest of Portland, are being analyzed and results should be available in a few days.

He says it has been known since 1997 that deer can carry the bacteria, but investigators don't know why it has never shown up in strawberries before.

Source: necn.com

NORTH CAROLINA NEWS:White-tailed Deer Harvests Still Near Record Highs

It looks like the deer population is starting to get ahead of wildlife managers in North Carolina:

Evin Stanford has been saying that year-over-year increases in the deer harvest would be ending as the deer population stabilizes. But if he is to be believed, that stabilization has not yet occurred. The North Carolina deer biologist recently finished compiling statistics from the 2010-11 deer season and the results show the second-highest harvest on record.

Hunters still took an astounding 175,157 deer last season, an increase of 3.5 percent over the 2009-10 harvest. The all-time record is from 2008-09, when hunters took 176,297 deer. Prior to that, North Carolina hunters had set four record harvests in a row.

North Carolina deer harvests for the past 10 years:

2001-02 132,235
2002-03 118,174
2003-04 134,507
2004-05 140,311
2005-06 144,315
2006-07 154,273
2007-08 171,986
2008-09 176,297
2009-10 169,273
2010-11 175,157

Source: Star News Online

NORTH DAKOTA NEWS: PETA Targets Deer Cull

Demands from members of the international group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (best known as PETA) called Mayor Brian Taylor to halt the plan for culling urban deer herds in Grand Forks.

The mayor is receiving hundreds of emails a day from all over the country, requesting that the city look into humane deer control methods. Of course, this was not a knee-jerk decision by the city.

Grand Forks’ urban deer herd has been monitored for over six years by the deer committee and their results indicate that the herd is growing at a much higher rate than would be normal for deer in their normal habitat. The city passed a no-feeding bylaw earlier in the year in an attempt to educate citizens about the dangers of supporting wildlife. The committee also released an educational pamphlet in the spring, again, to assist local residents in understanding their role in the survival of the herds.

Source: Boundary Sentinel

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