Michigan Deer Hunters
It Is Time For Change - by "Huntnut"
It is a new day in Michigan, and the dawn of another deer
season. This will be unlike any other deer season for me.
This year, I go into the field not to hunt, but instead,
go to battle. A war is being waged to our east, and a new
war has begun to our west. We find our deer hunting
heritage, and our deer herd, flanked by two powerful
enemies. Our enemy to the east is solidly entrenched. The
enemy to our west has never before been defeated or
stopped, and is moving our way. I am beating the war drum,
gathering support, and recruiting allies. We need to
organize and promote this battle, and we need to win this
war. In this war, our best defense is a good offense. This
deer season I will fire my first offensive shot. I implore
my fellow Michigan deer hunters to join me.
The time has come for Michigan hunters to thin our deer
population. As a deer enthusiast, and a passionate hunter,
this action breaks my spirit. From a wildlife management
perspective, there is no doubt what must be done. We must
remove a significant percentage of our doe herd.
Our enemy to the east is Bovine Tuberculosis. This enemy
has established itself in the north-east quarter of the
Michigan mitten. Bovine TB is a deadly bacteria that
attacks the respiratory system of the whitetailed deer.
Bovine TB was first diagnosed in Michigan deer in 1994. It
was the first time in history that a wild deer herd became
a host for this disease. We have been waging war on this
disease by drastically reducing the herd in this area ever
since. Harvesting most of the deer herd has been a key
offensive strategy against this enemy.
Our enemy to the west is Chronic Wasting Disease. CWD is a
protein prion that causes holes to appear inside the brain
of a deer. CWD is always fatal, there is no cure, and the
prion itself is very difficult to destroy. This enemy has
moved extremely fast, spreading from Colorado to Wisconsin
within the last 20 years. The areas in Wisconsin that have
been diagnosed with CWD are witnessing a mass
extermination of the deer herd.
Both of these diseases thrive in a dense population of
whitetails. The more concentrated deer are, the faster
these enemies advance, spread, and become entrenched. Once
entrenched, they stay for decades. The only way to stop
the advance of these invisible diseases is to remove the
deer they use as movement. Simply, we need to remove a
significant number of links in the deer to deer chain to
slow or stop the advance of either disease.
We can combat these enemies. We can stop these diseases
from encompassing our state but it is up to us to fight
this war, and we must begin our fight while there is still
time.
We do not want the entire state to become a deer
eradication zone like the north-eastern part of the
Michigan mitten. We do not want to have our deer herd
exterminated like they are attempting to do in Wisconsin.
We do not want to see piles of burning deer carcasses. We
do not want hunters afraid to eat venison. We do not want
to witness the end of our deer tradition.
The Battlefield
According to the Michigan DNR, the state of Michigan is
currently home to roughly 2 million deer. The DNR has also
stated that our herd size should be around 1.3 million
deer. The DNR has tried to entice hunters to increase the
female harvest, in hopes of achieving the 1.3 million deer
target. Try as they may, there are still thousands of doe
permits that are left over each year.
According to the Michigan 2001 deer harvest report,
hunters last season harvested 463,706 deer in Michigan.
There were 228,435 antlerless deer harvested and 235,271
antlered deer harvested.
According to the Michigan 2001 deer check station data,
18% of the antlerless deer harvest was male fawns.
Michigan hunters harvested 276,389 males and 187,317
females in 2001. We removed roughly 89,000 more male deer
then female deer in 2001.
The Dangerous Cycle
Whitetailed deer are mammals. A definitive trait of
mammals is that their offspring is born close to 50% male
and 50% female. When we as hunters remove more males then
females in a year, these lost males are replaced by 50/50
offspring the following spring. The 89,000 extra males
that were harvested in 2001, will be replaced by roughly
44,500 males and 44,500 females! We end up losing 44,500
male whitetails per year! We gain 44,500 extra females
that will breed, and their offspring compound the
population explosion the following year even more!
It is time to reverse this cycle. We need to begin
harvesting MANY more females.
Ending this cycle is the key to getting our herd in the
best shape to resist TB and CWD.
Other Benefits in Doe Harvesting
Not only does removing doe from our herd help combat
disease, there are many other positive aspects involved.
Habitat Regeneration- habitat and deer forage in Michigan
is being demolished by our exploding deer herd fueled by
the excessive amount of doe. Valuable natural browse
species have completely disappeared in certain areas of
Michigan due to over browsing. Thinning the herd will
allow for habitat and browse to grow so that our deer of
tomorrow will have nutritious ample forage. This will lead
to larger and stronger individuals, and a more disease
resistant deer herd.
Carrying Capacity- Many areas of Michigan just cannot
support anymore deer. Obviously this leads to habitat
inadequacies and the local herd suffers overall. Many
studies have shown that herd health is maximized by
maintaining 60% to 70% carrying capacity. Many areas of
Michigan maintain 90%-100% carrying capacity and are like
a balloons just waiting to be popped.
More Bucks- It is quite evident that if a 10 mile section
of land will only hold 100 whitetails, and 90 of these are
female, the only way to add more males is by removing
females to make room!
Great Venison- Doe are excellent table fare, and cannot be
distinguished from buck venison. The harvest opportunities
are abundant, and hunters have ample shot opportunities.
The Stigma of Shooting a Doe
Many hunters are reluctant to shoot a doe. About 30 years
ago, there was a massive deer herd crash caused by habitat
deficiencies. In an effort to rebuild our deer herd, The
Michigan DNR stopped the harvest of female deer. During
this time hunters spared the doe in a quest to rebuild the
herd. The strategy worked, and now we have a population
explosion.
It appears that the strategy that hunters endorsed, is
lasting longer then the herd needed to rebuild. It seems
that the old "save the doe" attitude is much more
difficult to change then the deer herd is!
Hunters, we have rebuilt the herd, too much. We have
record levels of deer. It's time to endorse a new
strategy.
In Michigan, the DNR estimates that our deer herd contains
approximately 1,350,000 females and 650,000 males. We need
to remove 1/2 of our entire doe population just to achieve
a more normal ratio, and the target herd size.
We need to begin the return to a normal sex ratio. Our
harvest practices foster disease, browse depletion, and a
weaker herd overall. A more natural ratio provides: herd
growth limits, social structure, disease resistance,
breeding hierarchies, and an all around stronger,
healthier, deer herd designed to survive hard times.
I realize that this can't be done over night, but we can
begin to tackle the problem. We should begin a major doe
cull strategy today. Even if the majority of us try, the
change will take place slowly over the next few years, and
involve the next couple generations of deer.
In Desperate Conclusion
The enemy to our west is coming for our deer. Have no
doubt about the ruthlessness and the severity of this
enemy. It cannot be stopped. This enemy alone will ruin
our herd and our heritage. It is attacking Wisconsin, and
the state has no idea how far CWD has spread or how many
deer are infected. We don't know how close it is to the
Michigan Upper Peninsula. I hope that Michigan does not
find an infected deer in the new statewide CWD testing
program being implemented for this deer season. If we find
CWD here, it is too late for us hunters to take action.
Our deer herd will be exterminated.
Wisconsin is conducting deer extermination in every area
CWD has been diagnosed. Sharp shooters, hunters, summer
deer hunts, and helicopters, are being used to eliminate
the deer hunting heritage in the infected areas. Deer are
being thrown in landfills and incinerated. People are
afraid to eat or touch venison across the state. We must
take defensive measures against this advancing foe.
The enemy to our east ,Bovine TB, is well entrenched, and
promises to battle with us into the next decade. Our mass
doe harvest actions have leveled the prevalence rate of
this disease the last few years. It seems this strategy is
working to limit the prevalence of TB, while sustaining
enough deer to hunt and satisfy our tradition.
Many hunters agree that many more doe need to be removed
in an effort to combat disease, and the many other
problems our herd level cause. To these hunters, I ask you
to convince your peers. Write the NRC, the Governor, The
DNR, and explain that as a hunter, you don't want this
many deer. Let them know it is not worth the gamble. Get
as many doe permits as possible and take some doe with
your bow licenses. Contact farmers with crop damage
permits and help them remove excess doe. Lobby, convince,
educate, and lets change the stigma against shooting a
doe! Spread fliers around your area highlighting the needs
and advantages to removing doe. Take every weapon you have
and apply it to this fight.
To the hunters that don't practice shooting does, well, we
just need you. If there is even a question in your mind
please think hard. Even if you shoot one doe, there are
1.3 million still out there. The one or two doe you remove
will not change anything in your deer herd, or lower the
amount of deer on your land. The doe will be replaced by
next spring fawning. I believe our herd will be better
off, even if we see a few less deer next year.
It is time to become true managers. It is time to form our
defense against the unstoppable foe to the west. It is
time to make our herd normal, and healthy as possible.
This year, I plan on using both of my bow licenses on doe.
I will use private land doe permits on property next to
the TB buffer zone. Myself, and many of my partners
applied for state land doe permits in the U.P. This year,
we are conducting a 9 day deer hunt in a area along the
Wisconsin border. We hope to be armed with no less than 6
doe permits.
This season, I will go both east and west, and I will
begin to thin our herd. This season, I am firing my
first offensive shot. This year I am devoted to making
this state a safer place for our deer herd. I hope you
will join me in this fight.
I wish you straight arrows and sharp knives.
Signed,
A Michigan Deer Hunter
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| "This season, I
am firing my first offensive shot. This year I am devoted
to making this state a safer place for our deer herd. I
hope you will join me in this fight." |
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