Home › Forums › Campfire Forum › Deer are Pests?!
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Well here’s another article to consider. Written in what I thought was fine magazine. But what gawd-awful and ill informed article.
I read the article while sitting in the barber shop yesterday, the online version is truncated. But it rails against animal populations of any sort, shows graphs of increasing animal populations and pictures of bears being shot out of trees by firefighters and gives credit to Walt Disney for the saving from extinction of America’s big game animals.
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2158676,00.html
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I’m just a crotchety old grump, but I’d never have voted TIME as a fine bastion of honest reporting… not on things I knew something about, they seemingly missed the mark repeatedly over the years…
To me, this is just another example of yellow journalism, emotionalism and sensationalism, but you are kind (and accurate) in your remarks that it is God-awful and ill informed.
I’ll go crawl back under my rock now… 🙁
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There is an organized push by the insurance industry to drastically reduce the wild animal populations. They want cut there costs for not only vehicle accidents but also crop losses. The first step is to get the general public to look at all wild animals as nothing more than flies and mosquitoes.
Our local weekly outdoors related news paper had a letter to the editor that stated “Who’s bright idea was it to bring wolves back? You can’t see them pet them or take them for a walk. The wolf does nothing but make babies and hunt deer 24/7” Step One.
Earlier this fall I read an article in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that market hunting should be allowed to reduce whitetail populations because they are eating to many shrubs and causing car crashes. Step Two.
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Fallguy,
You’re spot on there. Big push in PA to reduce deer herd… two sources were cited by state officials: One, was the insurance industry (auto) due to car crashes/animal impact claims. Second, was harder to grasp. Something about foreign hardwood buyers demanding that sustainable yield issues be introduced for hardwood industry in PA by reducing the browsing effects by over abundant deer numbers (????)
That came out at PGC meetings locally a few years back, by a then “Commissioner” (people appointed, not elected, who historically tend to move more toward special interest than listening to biologists).
That latter statement could be a unfair dig, my not now knowing any of the current crop, but hey… we still have MZ doe season in the MIDDLE of our archery, with guns blasting and bedding areas invaded, causing a major disturbance to natural movement so key to trad archery intercept.
We still have large #’s of doe permits available and on public land, good luck seeing any deer, let alone doe or bucks. Private land —different story. Much posted ground harbors decent concentrations… Critters know where to go!
Alas, insurance companies, timber barons, and whatever other interests with $$$ influence, seem to have taken over mgmt ideology and the net effect has been severely reduced deer sightings thru all seasons! At least in areas I hunt and those of individuals I associate who hunt other areas of the State.
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I’d say if the writer wants to see who the overpopulated pest is they can just go look in the mirror.
But seriously though I think what we are witnessing, as in the case of deer, is the herds reaction to plenty of food and not very much effective predation. When people tell me they helped a farmer cull more than 100 deer from a soy bean field back in September under a depredation permit and there are still a good number of deer coming to the field you have to realize we do have a problem in some areas. During our conversation the fact that most hunters only want to kill a “respectable” buck came up. Most won’t risk losing that chance by shooting does and fawns. Some still cling to the old idea of the sacred doe paradigm.
As a bowhunter I suddenly realized I could not really help this man with his problem by bowhunting alone and understand why many farmers won’t even give bowhunters permission because they know this. Many farmers and homeowners view is that they just want them ALL gone because they devour their investment in crops and landscaping. This view flys in the face of many hunters beliefs in deer management. It looks like soon depredation permit hunters could just take the place of the traditional hunter or club coming to the farms during the season each year because they don’t get the job done in the farmers view. And land access which is already tough will just get tougher.
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Duncan wrote” “I’d say if the writer wants to see who the overpopulated pest is they can just go look in the mirror.”
Brother, you nailed it there! When squirrels are so numerous they become a problem to humans, we label them “tree rats.” When deer do the same they are “antlered rats.” We have worse names for carnivores. What, I wonder, should we call ourselves at 7+ billion and climbing fast? But it is what it is, we are currently in charge, and must face the realities of the whole mess. Any way you cut it, this article is a real low point for TIME. Here, ironically, is a point of which we are likely in agreement with the HSUS folks.
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Thoughtfilled replies, David and Duncan.
Around here several farmers refused me bowhunting access on the premise “you guys wound too many deer”.
Well, gee, if 3/4 million hunters went forth AFTER gun season, I wonder what carnage they might find in the woods? But the media has sold archers out and folks believe what they read! Outdoor Channel hasn’t helped that image…!
We have an area given to the state with restrictions that only deer be hunted for “management purposes” and it specified “archery only”. Alas, hunters were NOT harvesting and managing the herd, waiting on big bucks as Duncan said, so the powers that be brought in “in line muzzle loaders” and all hell broke loose!
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Anonymous
December 8, 2013 at 11:33 pmPost count: 124Fallguy wrote: There is an organized push by the insurance industry to drastically reduce the wild animal populations. They want cut there costs for not only vehicle accidents but also crop losses. The first step is to get the general public to look at all wild animals as nothing more than flies and mosquitoes.
Our local weekly outdoors related news paper had a letter to the editor that stated “Who’s bright idea was it to bring wolves back? You can’t see them pet them or take them for a walk. The wolf does nothing but make babies and hunt deer 24/7” Step One.
Earlier this fall I read an article in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that market hunting should be allowed to reduce whitetail populations because they are eating to many shrubs and causing car crashes. Step Two.
The WSJ article was about The Wildlife Society openly discussing and AGREEING with allowing market hunting again in the US to combat deer populations.
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Hey Forager where did you hear The Wildlife Society is in favor of market hunting? That position really surprises me and I did a quick google search but didn’t turn up any info. I’d really be interested in reading about that if you could point me in the right direction.
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December 9, 2013 at 12:18 pmPost count: 124
Ptaylor wrote: Hey Forager where did you hear The Wildlife Society is in favor of market hunting? That position really surprises me and I did a quick google search but didn’t turn up any info. I’d really be interested in reading about that if you could point me in the right direction.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304410204579139424081224050
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Thanks Forager. I understand they are trying to find solutions to the situation, but I think its a dangerous slope to take- allowing the sale of wild game. As the article stated we already allow the sale [and privatized harvest] of lumber; and look at where that has gotten us: monocultures and stands that are managed on 60 year rotations. Now we think of a redwood forest as being old at 100, seriously? Urban folks are already out of touch with nature and I think this would only muddy the water more. I am not in favor.
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