SHOULD WE REALLY GROW THE DEER POPULATION FOR HUNTERS?

Let's start with the fact that not all hunters are whining about the deer population.  Minnesota has lots of deer and plenty to kill for the skilled hunter.  It is the unskilled hunter, the ones that drive their ATV's out to their tree stands or the ones that believe the deer will walk right up to them begging to be shot that are complaining about the deer population.

I come from a hunting family.  Although I don't and never have hunted myself, I grew up in a family that fished and hunted deer (among other things). My family doesn't believe in trophy hunting, in fact, my grandfather had to shoot a bear in self defense once and made it clear it wasn't something he felt good about.  It came down to him or the bear and my grandfather wanted to live.  My grandparents preached against wasteful hunting, where every part of animal was not used, and was adamant that you do not hunt wild predators.   With that said, let's look at the deer population.  It is common sense that the overpopulation of any species is going to have a detrimental effect on the environment; look at humans.  So why the overabundance of deer?

According to statistics, we have over 20 million deer across the U.S. today and according to the Minnesota DNR we have 900,000 in our state alone. The two most notable causes of the rising deer numbers are hunting regulations and changes in habitat and it has been that way since World War II.  Deer LOVE farmland, plain and simple and hunters love deer.  We logged the shit out of the forest for development, farmland and what-not and we mismanage wildlife to create a serious imbalance of wild predator to prey ratio to cater to hunters and complainers.

Quote from DNR Website:

Population and ManagementAfter the young (fawns) are born each spring, there are between 900,000 and 1,000,000 deer in Minnesota.  The hunting season is important to keep the deer population from getting too large.  Each year, Minnesota hunters harvest between 150,000 and 200,000 deer.    http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/whitetaileddeer.html

Don't get me wrong, as I sit here about to go on a rant about the number of deer we have it has nothing to do with my feelings towards the animal. I LOVE deer!  I LOVE all animals! (for the record: I'm an animal rights activist and advocate and have been since the early 1990's.)  I live an area where we can see anywhere between 5-20 deer at a time... right in my backyard.  I enjoy it so much that if the deer were to ever disappear I wouldn't want to live here anymore, but my love for the deer doesn't mean I am blind to the destruction they cause.  Once deer establish a territory they never leave.  Without a natural predator to control their numbers just two deer can produce 35 offspring in less than a decade and those deer can wreak havoc on farms and gardens not to mention natural forests and vegetation that other animals depend on for survival.  Deer, like any other animal, must be managed but the question is by whom?

Like I said, I love all animals and with that loves comes the acceptance that I can't favor one animal for another.  Our DNR notoriously manages wildlife to serve their "primary" clients which happens to be Members of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association.  The DNR does not manage wildlife to make sure there is a healthy balance of wild predator to prey, which is what they should be doing.  When I moved into my home in 2008 I received a mailing from the city warning me about the coyotes in my backyard and my neighbor had to describe the animal so I knew what to look for.  The city mailing told me to keep my pets and small children in sight at all times.  At that time I'd estimate we saw about 3-5 deer a day (max).  Within a year of living in our new home I heard a lot of complaints about the coyote. Although I never saw or heard one, my neighbors had and many of them were nervous about the thought one would eat their precious dog or cat and maybe even attack their small child.  It wasn't long afterwards that a rumor went around about the city coming in and poisoning the coyotes.  Whether that is true or not I have no idea but I have been in my home now for six years and I've watch the deer population go from 3-5 to 5-20.  The max we've seen at one time is 21.

A few months ago we received another city mailing, this time it was about culling the deer population.  Apparently the city next door (which our home sits on the border of), due to complaints from residents, decided to send sharp shooters into the park behind my house to take out the deer.  I am very much against this type of animal control, although I understand the necessity, I blame poor overall wildlife management for the need to go in and shoot our beloved deer.

So this brings me back to growing the deer population for hunters.  Well, since this blog post is already getting too long I'll just link to the articles that point to a growing problem:

Minnesota Deer Debate: Too Many or Not Enough?

You could hear the complaints wherever hunters gathered last fall.  Deer numbers, they said, were dismal.  Way down.  Hunters weren't seeing deer. 

Note: According to the DNR, our deer population was up by 4% in 2013.

Are we really leaving the future of Minnesota's wolves up to the hunters/trappers and livestock producers?

Internal email that the organization Howling for Wolves commissioned through the Data Practices Act. In the email DNR officials state that, "we owe it to our primary clients, hunters and trappers, and to livestock producers as secondary clients, to do what we can to establish a legitimate harvest opportunity now that the wolf is under our management authority." 

And now we have this:

DNR to hold public meetings on southeastern deer population goals

I live in the 338, 339 portion of the state which is just outside the permit areas the DNR will be looking at but what's really the difference?  There are pockets around the state that some hunters, not all, claim do not have enough deer so what will the DNR do to make sure those numbers rise? If you look at how deer numbers rise and fall every hunting season then you'll see there is really only one way to make sure deer multiply and that would be to take out their natural predators.

Already we've hunted and trapped 600 wolves (not including kills by predator control specialists, disease, starvation, etc...) So when you read we currently have 2800-3000 wolves, that's completely false and not based on any current reliable survey.  We have about 2,000 bobcats (also hunted and trapped for fur), 20,000 black bear (3,000 are killed annually by hunters as trophy's), and the coyote population is unknown but 4,000 are trapped and killed every year.  Wolves, bear, bobcats and coyotes are a deers natural predator.  Look at the number of predators we have combined and then look at our deer population of 900,000 - 1,000,000 (according to the DNR) with an average of 100,000 - 200,000 being killed each year and tell me if you think we need more deer.

If you are like me, love all animals and want to make sure that our wildlife is managed in a way that maintains a healthy balance between predator and prey and not in a way that caters to hunters that just don't know how to hunt then make sure you attend the DNR meetings coming up or else submit a letter to the DNR expressing your concerns.

DNR Central Office

500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040

(651) 296-6157
(888) 646-6367
info.dnr@state.mn.us

TTY: (651) 296-5484 or (800) 657-3929