Oh dear (deer)...

[KFC911]

20K auto collisions with deer in NC last year alone. 30 years ago, I would NEVER see one unless I was in deep woods...now they are like bunny rabbits , and I see 'em ALL the time. I'm curious as to what some of you "passionate" anti-hunter types have to say about this. Is waiting for the inevitable epidemic that will thin the herds your answer or is there something I'm missing? What do you propose? There are more deer in NC than EVER and growing rapidly as their natural predators (other than humans) are virtually "no mas".

ps: I no longer hunt, but know plenty of folks who do (and EAT their harvest). I've seen some folks on here get pretty bent out of shape over others who like to hunt, hence this thread.

pps: Vash, if you happen to read this...I miss reading your posts on PPOT

[HardDrive]

Hey, don't blame me mate. I've got 50lbs of fresh venison waiting for me in my dads freezer. There was more, but the old man stole it from me!

Anyone thinking that the current deer population is natural is daft. Access to agricultural crops and reduced predation have lead to huge increases in the deer population. In southern Michigan, there are counties with thousands of doe permits that go unfilled. They want people to shoot them. You see them dead on the side of the highway every few miles.

[greglepore]

Here in SE Pa as well. Hit one in the 911 last year at relatively low speed, front quarter panel, bumper assembly (excuse for a RUF) and refinish hood. Have 2 hits in my truck and innumerable close calls. Had 2 (mama and fawn) jump onto the Pa Tpk in front of my E28 M5 many years ago necessitating an entire front end (was going 80 mph, at niht, not sure what I was whoa'd down to at impact).

Yeah, I'm not a deer fan, but do love the occasional backstrap medallion in wine and butter.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Deer jerky is delicious....

You need predators to keep prey populations under control, we are the predator. I saw a report years ago that charted deer population vs hunting regulation, it was pretty compelling. They are EVERYWHERE around here, I wish our state would issue more tags.

[Aggie93]

Since moving to Pittsburgh five years ago, way too many close calls. So for no contact.

Hunting season opened on Monday. My daughter's friend was in a blind all day and didn't see one. I almost hit two on my way to work and my daughter saw two in our backyard.

I've never been deer hunting, but been thinking about finding someone to take me.

[wdfifteen]

The deer population is way too big. Deer are good to eat. What a wonderful coincidence. Deer season started here Monday. We call it black Monday. I don't think anyone has got killed on the first day this year, but it's a common occurrence. The frenzy to get out there and get one in the short period allowed leads to recklessness. I do think fewer people are killed hunting deer than are killed in car wrecks caused by deer though. Wildlife management needs to triple the length of the season and have a lottery that would allow half the hunters in the field on odd days and the other half on even days to thin out the daily hunter population. It would probably result in more hunters, as I know for a fact the very real possibility of getting shot keeps some hunters home. We need to shrink the deer population somehow, and under the current system it just gets bigger.

[Crowbob]

The Michigan firearm deer harvest was down this year. Bow season continues through December. I think there are less hunters nowadays. There was a limited wolf hunt in the Upper Penninsula this year after the herd came out from under the protection of the endangered species act. Something like 18 were taken out of 50 permits so far.

Seems like the deer have overrun the suburbs in the lower half of Michigan.

[GH85Carrera]

They for sure need to extend the hunting season and allow more does to be taken. They are thick around here. I see deer every week on my short 8 mile commute. The commute is intense this time of year since it is dark when I go to work. The first three miles of my commute is thick with deer and I have seen 10 in one morning. About the time I think I can relax because I am along a major highway I see a deer carcass against the concrete highway divider.

[matt711]

The anti-hunters will just say that it's our fault for living where the deer are...

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

The deer population is way too big. Deer are good to eat. What a wonderful coincidence. Deer season started here Monday. We call it black Monday. I don't think anyone has got killed on the first day this year, but it's a common occurrence. The frenzy to get out there and get one in the short period allowed leads to recklessness. I do think fewer people are killed hunting deer than are killed in car wrecks caused by deer though. Wildlife management needs to triple the length of the season and have a lottery that would allow half the hunters in the field on odd days and the other half on even days to thin out the daily hunter population. It would probably result in more hunters, as I know for a fact the very real possibility of getting shot keeps some hunters home. We need to shrink the deer population somehow, and under the current system it just gets bigger.

A large part of the problem in many states is, in fact, how modern game management utilizes the hunter. Like you say, far too many out all at the same time hunting far too short of a season, often in far too small of a game management unit. This feeding frenzy thing is very real. When hunters are faced with a one week season in an impossibly small unit, there is all kinds of potential for things to go awry in many ways.

Washington is a fine example of a crushingly over-managed hunting season. Almost 100 pages of game regulations, several hundred game management units, and all kinds of "special" hunts earned through points or won by lottery. Seasons that don't even include two consecutive weekends in many units. Antler restrictions ranging from three point (western count) or better to antlerless to spike only, depending on unit and season. It is an exceedingly tangled web they have woven, and one that leads to a certain aura of immediacy once the hunter figures out what he can hunt where, for a few days anyway.

Hunter numbers are down dramatically in this state. Most blame our overly complicated hunting regulations. And yet we have billboard size "scorecards" along some of our most infamous deer collision corridors, keeping the year long tally. And our game department is at a loss as to how to encourage more hunters to take the field. Their "answer" has been even more "special" programs, setting more "special" seasons, and heaping complication upon complication. By golly, they are just going to pencil whip those herds into submission... Meanwhile, average hunters take a look at their regulations and stay away in droves - either unable to make heads or tails of all of it, or afraid they will unknowingly violate some obscure rule and wind up being fined all out of proportion to the alleged misdeed.

And the poor motorists just keep mowing them down.

[J P Stein]

This thread ought to draw the usual suspects from PARF over here. It's obvious that folks here need to be sent the approved Government "re-education camps".......failng that, we get PARFers to speak to the error of your ways.

I quit deer hunting years ago......mostly due to the ammount of booze in hunting camps. Guns & booze are a bad combo.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

They for sure need to extend the hunting season and allow more does to be taken. They are thick around here. I see deer every week on my short 8 mile commute. The commute is intense this time of year since it is dark when I go to work. The first three miles of my commute is thick with deer and I have seen 10 in one morning. About the time I think I can relax because I am along a major highway I see a deer carcass against the concrete highway divider.

I had a doe run out in front of me on I35 in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas last Sunday, fall down right in front of my truck, then continue across the road. No wooded areas on either side of the highway, just farmer's fields. They are EVERYWHERE.

[J P Stein]

Bureaucrats are specially effective at this..The government solution.....hire more to write more regs.......,the more complicated the better......gives em' all more to do. It is all OPM, after all.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by J P Stein

Bureaucrats are specially effective at this..The government solution.....hire more to write more regs.......,the more complicated the better......gives em' all more to do. It is all OPM, after all.

With all due respect, before the bureaucrats started regulating hunting there were practically no deer in SW Ohio. The deer and turkey populations were on their way to extinction here, but now have exploded in the wake of bureaucratic regulation.

[72doug2,2S]

Originally Posted by matt711

The anti-hunters will just say that it's our fault for living where the deer are...

^^^^ This.

Matt is absolutely correct, the liberals won't stop until they've wiped humans off the face of the earth. You know, the way it should be.

[GWN7]

Deer are long legged rats............... tasty long legged rats.

[jyl]

Does it even have to be traditional "hunting" in traditional "seasons"? Could there be booby-trapped salt licks, or blinds set up at similar deer attractions, year-round? Give each a quota of deer/year, and legalize selling the venison. I mean, if we applied sporting fair play and humane kill rules to controlling rats, we wouldn't be able to control them either.

[GH85Carrera]

Many laws would have to be changed.

It is illegal in most (if not all) states to sell any product from wildlife. If you try to sell the meat or the antlers you are breaking the law. You can't even give the meat to charity because of health inspection laws.

It would require some common sense laws and that requires the legislature to use common sense and that is as rare as Unicorn meat in most states, and totally non existent in the US Congress.

[Jeff Higgins]

It's even illegal (in most states) to keep a deer or other game animal that you hit with your car. I can't imagine the justification for that - maybe so as not to encourage folks to run around hitting deer with their cars...

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

They for sure need to extend the hunting season and allow more does to be taken.....

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

A large part of the problem in many states is, in fact, how modern game management utilizes the hunter. Like you say, far too many out all at the same time hunting far too short of a season, often in far too small of a game management unit. ....

At least in NC, I'm not sure that's part of the problem as deer season is pretty long (mid-Oct-Dec 31) depending upon which area, and I don't think there are "any" limits whatsoever. It's simply that surbubia has taken over and there aren't enough predators (other than cars).

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

..... You can't even give the meat to charity because of health inspection laws.
.....

My uncle is an expert hunter (that I'm sure Higgens could relate too ), and I bet he passes on 50 deer for each one he opts to harvest. He always donates some (or all) of the meat to a local rural church for distribution, and they are more than thankful! Here, turkeys have tag limits (2) but they are getting pretty visible also (unseen 30 years ago)....Uncle had his limit on the 3rd day this year . I live in the middle of what used to be my rural boy scout camp...I suspect virtually NO one hunts in this county anymore and the estimate is 40 deer per square mile in this county. Methinks we need to put a "bounty" on them and let the REAL hunters (like my uncle) do their thing

ps: I do believe the old saying is true...10% of the hunters/fishermen take 90% of the game....I am NOT one of them but I do release my fish