Deer Mgmt. Quotes Biologists DNR's1

8/7/2019 Deer Mgmt. Quotes Biologists DNR's1

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HUNTING IS USED AS A TOOL TO INTENTIONALLYINCREASE

DEER NUMBERS

From Marilyn Bensley:A text titled Wildlife Ecology and Management by William Robinson states quite

clearly: "The general theory of harvesting animals is based on the premise that

when animals are not harvested at all, growth and recruitment are balanced by

natural mortality and that the average growth rate of a population at its carrying

capacity is zero. Harvesting reduces the population size, but the reduction results in

an increase in the growth rate of the population. This increase in growth rate is

brought about because of higher birth rates and lower death rates resulting from

decreased competition for resources. This increased growth rate provides a surplus

of individuals above the number required to replace the population, and this surplus

can be harvested."

*"The Olean (New York) Times-Herald of September 30, 1978, quoted[NYS regional wildlife manager Terry] Moore as stating that in order toincrease the success rates of big game hunters, 'we will attempt to increase

the number of deer until we experience high incidences of deer-car

collisions, depredation of agricultural crops becomes

intolerable and/or the effects on deer habitat begin to result in

deterioration.' " (quoted in The American Hunting Myth_ by Ron Baker (VantagePress 1985).

*from the DECs (Department of Environmental Conservation in NY) TheConservationist: Ideally,..if the desired number of...deer are taken each year...amaximum fawn crop will be produced each summer. [Sept./Oct., 1976]

*A quick surge in a deer population can occur if hunting is implemented where ithasnt been before. In any event, if hunting is started, itll have to continue.Former trapper --Thomas Eveland, Ph.D., Why Killing Deer Makes Poor Park

Management, public presentation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1998

*At the beginning of this century there were few if any deer in NJ. Fish and Game, intheir 1990 report, An Assessment of Deer Hunting in New Jersey, shows us clearlyhow our current state wide situation with deer began:

Deer were re-established in New Jersey by sportsmen-conservationists for the purpose

of sport hunting. Since that restocking period the responsible agency (now the

Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife) has been managing the deer resource for this

purpose. (pg.7)


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In An Assessment of Deer Hunting in New Jersey, Fish and Game offered a detailed

example of this process:

One of the most dramatic examples of the effect of habitat improvement or foodavailability on reproductive capacity occurred in the Earle Naval Ammunition Depot in

Monmouth County. Range conditions improved in this case by an annual removal of deer

by hunting. Between 1968 and 1973 the reproductive rate almost doubled, an indicationthat the herd was in much healthier condition. The estimated fawn crop in 1969 was 116

fawns produced by 122 females, a reproductive rate of 0.95 fawns per doe, compared to

1974 when 78 does produced 133 fawns, or 1.70 fawns per doe (Burke et al. 1975)

*The most visible weakness in the assertion that hunting is necessary to control deerpopulations is that it has largely failed to do so over the last two decades. Just

because deer are being killed doesnt mean that deer populations are being controlled.

--Allen T. Rutberg, Ph.D., The Science of Deer Management: An Animal WelfarePerspective, in The Science of Overabundance: Deer Ecology and Population

Management, William J. McShea, H. Brian Underwood, and John H. Rappole, eds.

Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington & London, 1997.

*"The long-range objective of our deer management program in N.Y.S. has been toprovide the largest possible harvest of antlered deer compatible with land use and deerherd health . ...."

"It ensures that deer will be in good physical condition and can grow and reproduce at

optimum rates." -

The Conservationist, N. Y. S. D. E. C.

*This increased productivity of a population is now well documented. The exploitation,by reducing density, lessens competition and enhances productivity ....

- The Natural History of Deer - Rory Putnam

*SPORTS & LEISURE MAGAZINE July 2006, Woods and Water, by TimWright. He writes: "With most deer populations being below management

goals, the number of deer management permits (DMP) will be reducedsignificantly for this upcoming season, approximately 60 percent to about

49,000 permits. This will allow deer populations to start increasing

toward management goals."

The author then goes on about Quality Deer Management. He says "As deerpopulations and success rates decrease, interest is rapidly growing in New

York in promoting an alternative deer harvest strategy known as QualityDeer Management (QDM)."

*"New York State has rapidly seen its whitetail deer herd grow from modest thousandsto more than an estimated million animals today. Every county in the state has a good


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population of deer, and many have too many. Management techniques by DEC have

changed from how to increase our herd to how to keep it under control and successfullymanage it for future sportsmen."

Bow Season Bounty by Craig Robbins, New York Sportsman, 9/2001

*"Some Accomplishments of Modern Wildlife Management."White-tailed deer:

1895--less than 500,000; extirpated from more than half of its range in (the) U S.

and Canada.

1984--approximately 15 million in 45 states and 10 Canadian provinces.

"Placing Wildlife Management in Perspective," Wildlife Management Institute

By the late 1800's in New York State, the white-tailed deer had been virtually eliminated

due to over-exploitation and land use practices. Tighter hunting restrictions along with

reductions in the legal "harvest" were implemented to save the remaining deer.

In 1912, New York State. passed the "buck law" which restricted hunters to killing only

bucks. The remaining does were then free to reproduce at their maximum capacity due toless competition for available resources, such as food. According to The Conservationist,

the primary objective of this law was to foster the greatest population growth by

protecting all fawns and adult females from hunting. This regulation contributed greatlyto the increase and spread of the deer population that took place in the state during the

next thirty years.

*"Game management is the art of making land produce sustained crops of wild game forrecreational use."

- Game Management, Aldo Leopold

*The frequently heard justification of managers that they manage deer for the "carryingcapacity" of the range was a bit of self-delusion, often dressed up by the euphemism

"scientific management."

-. White-tailed Deer Ecology and Management, Wildlife Management Institute

The goal of a deer management program is arbitrary, not scientific, which may be

upsetting news to some wildlife biologists and other resource managers as well ascitizens. Science does not make the decision. People do. Protectionist groups have

recognized intuitively that decisions by biologists and managers may have been biased

toward hunter interests, as the overall goal of maintaining sustainable harvests has been

pursued... Ibid.

*Deer Management Techniques:

Sex ratio manipulation-


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To achieve maximum production, managers need to determine what number of males and

females in the population can produce the largest number of offspring, that is, whatdensity of animals provide the highest net production.

Managing Our Wildlife Resources, Stanley H. Anderson

Ideally, if the desired number of antlered and antlerless deer are taken each year, thepopulation will comprise the highest number of breeding females and lowest number of

adult males that collectively can be supported on the critical winter range. As a result, a

maximum fawn crop will be produced each summer.The Conservationist, N. Y. S. D. E. C.

Birthrate response to reduction-

Management of white-tailed deer populations through harvest regulation is based on the

premise that: (1). the more food available, the greater the rate of deer population increase,

and (2). the further a deer population is reduced below habitat carrying capacity, the

higher the rate of population increase.White-tailed Deer Ecology and Management, Wildlife Management Institute

If a population is stable in the absence of hunting, then it cannot be harvested without

reducing the population. Two options are available to the wildlife biologist or manager to

increase such a deer population: (1). increase the deer's food supply through habitat

management; or (2). reduce the deer population temporarily, thereby making more foodavailable to each deer remaining in the population.

Ibid.

.......exploitation acts to reduce numbers. In doing so, it brings the population once more

below the level at which it is limited by environmental resources, effectively releasing the

density-dependent brake on population growth. Reproduction increases, juvenile

mortality falls, and the whole population's age structure shifts towards the young animals,which have a faster growth rate and higher efficiency of food conversion. Productivity of

the population rises.

*Wayne Evans, PhD, assistant director of the State of New Mexico Department of Fishand Game said, No one will ever be so rash to claim that if there is no hunting, thepopulation will grow to infinity or sink to extinction. In fact, hunting maximizes fawn

production. . . . More animals are produced for the gun."

The American Hunting Myth, by Ron Baker (Vantage Press 1985). On page 79 Bakerquotes a portion of a July 26, 1978 letter by Evans to a Brandon Reines.

*"To many wildlife biologists and resource managers, it is an article of faith that deerpopulations need to be hunted. That a hunting harvest is sustainable is not the same as(its) being necessary. "

White-tailed Deer Ecology and Management, Wildlife Management Institute


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*The Good Old Days Are NowNever before have New York's deer hunters been so successfulSuccess rates for bagging bucks have doubled in the past 20 years.

Hunter success has increased largely because many deer herds are now more productive.

From the N.Y.S.D.E.C. Big Game Guide.

*[from Gary Yourofsky:http://biteclubkc.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/hunters-are-the-terrorists-of-the-animal-world/]In 1971, there were about 500,000 deer in

Michigan, but that wasnt enough to appease the hunting community. So the DNRdecided to change Michigans old forest situation by instituting the Deer Range

Improvement Program. The DRIP clear-cut 1.2 million acres of forest to create a moreaccessible food supply for deer and further stimulate reproduction.

Add to this the disproportionate number of licenses issued to kill male deer and you havea major increase in numbers. Killing male deer increases the herd by causing the femalesinternal reproductive mechanisms to go haywire, resulting in the births of twins and

triplets. Any wildlife biologist not associated with the hunting community will aver thatthis is fact.

The DRIP program and buck-hunting caused the deer herd to reach two million last year,an increase of 1.5 million since 1971. That makes the hunting community solely

responsible for the increase in deer-car collisions.

Heres what Dave Arnold, a DNR executive, told the Free Press on Jan. 1, 1980:

Dont lose sight of the purpose of the (DRIP) program. When the DNR decided

several years ago to try and increase the herd to about one million animals, we knew

the auto collision rate and crop damage would rise.

PREDATOR/PREY RELATIONSHIP

*Lack of predators: the prey population effects the number of predators, not vice versa:The fact that in the majority of cases populations do eventually stabilize at some

equilibrium point even in predator-free environments suggests, however, that there must

also be a series of intrinsic factors which may effect population performance in these andother deer populations, in such a way that populations will eventually stabilize on their

own.

- The Natural History of Deer, Rory Putman

DEER-CAR COLLISIONS* See Dave Arnold in first section

*According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, most car/deercollisions happen during hunting season. It is not difficult to understand why the hunting

in the woods would send deer out onto the roads, in a panic.
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An article in the Dec. 8, 1998 Trenton Times related a serious car/deer collision that

occurred on the opening day of the 1998 shotgun hunting season. A spokesman for the

state Department of Environmental Protection said, the presence of hunters in the woods

puts animals, including deer and bear, on the run and often causes them to leave wooded

areas.

*Sudharsan, K., Riley, S.J., Winterstein, S.R. (2006), Relationship of autumn huntingseason to the frequency of deer-vehicle collisions in Michigan. Journal of Wildlife

Management 70(4):1161-1164.

It can be reasonably argued that if in fact hunting advocates believe the rut is

partially to blame for these accidents, hunters who douse themselves in estrus deer

urine should be culpable.

*Deer-car collisions: an inevitable by-product of recreational hunting. The states withthe most hunters have the highest numbers of deer and deer-car collisions. The number of

deer-car collisions has risen steadily along with the size of the deer herd in New YorkState.

FOR WHOM ARE DEER MANAGED?

*From an article entitled "Deer management dilemma will affect our future seasons(Vol. 2, Issue 3, 12/05), by Brian Dam, outdoor writer, for the Central New York

Outdoor Journal

"What is the reason for the management problem? Hunters, who have paid

the freight with their license dollar, have always asked for more deer.

Biologists have responded with various techniques that allow deer herds tobuild beyond the carrying capacity of the forests, and now they are payingthe penalty with declining forest regeneration. The basic premise is that

biologists have kept hunters happy but ruined the forest."

The dilemma - hunters are never happy with the numbers of deer they see and forest

managers are never happy unless the forest dollars per acre are maximized.

Dam, referring to a quote in the latest issue of National Wildlife, in an article entitled,"How Deer are Redesigning Our Forests," by James P. Sterba, a staff writer for the Wall

Street Journal, uses Gary Alt's statement "deer management has been the biggest mistake

in the history of wildlife management." Alt refers to it as "malpractice." (Alt was theChief Deer Biologist in PA until he resigned in 2004).

LYME

*Killing deer has been suggested as a way to attack Lyme disease. But experts saysuch action is premature and dangerous. Deprived of their usual hosts, infected adult ticks

become a more immediate nuisance, as happened when deer on an island off


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Massachusetts were virtually exterminated. Wandering ticks threatened the populace as

they searched for new hosts.(Consumers Reports June, 1988)

FUNDING OF WILDLIFE AGENCIES

*A large percentage of a wildlife agency's support comes from the sale of state huntinglicenses and federal funding (The Pittman-Robertson Act) distributed to each state

depending in part on the number of licenses sold. These agencies are dependent onhunters for their livelihood. Hunters then use the influence their license fees and tax

dollars to direct the policies and programs of wildlife agencies - toward providing them

with game animals to be hunted. Although a United States Supreme Court declared,

"Wildlife is held in trust for all citizens," wildlife is being managed with an utterdisregard for the interests of the majority who do not hunt.

STARVATION

*As is pointed out at the beginning of this report, game species such as deer are"managed" to produce a surplus of animals for hunting above what nature would be able

to create and maintain. As a result, a larger-than-normal number of deer - i.e., more than

the winter range can sustain - may be carried over into winter. Severe weather will reducethe herd through winter kill regardless of the "success" rate of hunting in the fall.

Starvation is a process of natural selection: Natural selection, simply put, is themechanism employed by nature to create the survival of the fittest (Ritchie and Carola,

1981). This, in a word, is evolution. The processes of natural selection include such

factors as predators, parasites/disease, starvation/thirst, hot/cold (thermoregulation), and

accidents. These are natural test factors that any and every population is subjected to. It

produces a genetically superior gene pool and creates an improved population that isbetter adapted to its environment than the one before (Ritchie and Corola, 1981). Though

these processes may at times appear cruel and unjust to humans, they have no doubt(been) proven (to be) extremely successful devices by nature. For those species that

satisfactorily complete these tests, there is at least a short-lived guarantee, barring major

catastrophes, that future generations will carry on. Within the past decade though, some

professionals, including wildlife managers, have become concerned over the disruption ofnatural selection factors by sport hunting and fishing.

Dr. Thomas Eveland

DEER REGULATE THEIR OWN NUMBERS WHEN LEFT ALONE

*In analyzing the population dynamics of Michigan's George Reserve white-tailedpopulation, McCullough (1979) found that more male fawns were conceived in years of

high density (and hence a suboptimal nutritional plane) compared with their proportion atlower stocking levels. Verme (1969) postulated that, coupled with a decline in ovulation

rate, the tendency for does to produce a heavy surplus of male fawns could accelerate

natural population reduction (emphasis added) as the range progressively deteriorated.


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White-tailed Deer Ecology and Management, Wildlife Management Institute

*Mortality is also known to change with population density. Neonatal survival ofjuveniles is far lower in populations of high density.

_ The Natural History of Deer, Rory Putman

*.... most deer populations appear to respond to increasing density by a reduction infecundity and an increase in mortality (particularly... juveniles... ). Ultimately, rates of

reproduction and rates of mortality or emigration will reach zero and the population

numbers stabilize at some equilibrium level determined by the availability ofenvironmental resources.

The Natural History of Deer, Rory Putman

*Weather influences the movement, productivity, and mortality rate of white-tailed deer

by affecting the growth and seasonal availability of food and by placing an energy stresson (the) animals.

- White-tailed Deer Ecology and Management, Wildlife Management Institute

*In a corralled herd of white-tailed deer in N.Y.S., the average number of fawns born toeach female was 1.9 when food was plentiful, but dropped to only 0.43 when food was

scarce owing to higher (emphasis added) population densities. (Chaetum andSeveringhaus,1950).

HABITAT MANIPULATION TO INCREASE DEER NUMBERS FOR

HUNTERS

*The Wildlife Division of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Michiganincreased the deer herd from 4000,000 to one million by clear cutting 1.3 million acres of

state forest to create deer browse. According to officials, this was done "because a forest

managed by nature cannot produce a fraction of the deer needed by half a million

hunters." A side effect of this deer production program was that 171,207 of these deerstarved to death during the 1978 - 1979 winter."

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Deer Mgmt. Quotes Biologists DNR's1