Tom Morang
02-05-2006, 09:30 PM
QDM zones: We can manage with or without them
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1138687826308340.xml&coll=1
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger
New Jersey hunters will soon be asked if they support the state's use of Quality Deer Management zones, a program that was supposed to yield bucks with bigger racks. This is one topic where public sentiment might hold sway over science.
Some experts -- including state Fish and Game council member Leonard Wolgast --concede the program has little to do with the biology of deer management and much to do with keeping hunters happy. The state Division of Fish and Wildlife's position on antler-point restrictions is that it's "a sociological (not a biological) problem," Wolgast said.
In other words, QDM zones likely will remain if hunters like them. "Fish and Wildlife doesn't care (if the program stays or goes), as long as we can shoot enough does to keep the deer population under control," Wolgast said.
Fish and Wildlife biologists admit the program's results are disappointing. Instituted about five years ago in eight zones, QDM forbids the shooting of bucks that have fewer than three points on one side of their antler racks.
It was hoped this would allow more yearling males to live longer and grow larger antlers, making hunting more exciting. But Larry Herrighty, chief of Fish and Wildlife's wildlife management division, said hunters shot only one buck for every six to 16 protected by the QDM restrictions over the years. Nobody knows what happened to the others.
Craig Bitler, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, believes the best way to grow bigger bucks is to simply restrict the number of bucks -- of any antler-point configuration -- that can be shot.
The deer herd at Great Swamp continued to increase until hunters were forced to first kill does. "That increased our adult doe harvest by 70 percent," Bitler said.
He acknowledged it also decreased the refuge's buck harvest by 50 percent, but after being in place for about five years, the regulations not only caused a decent decline in the overall deer herd but also produced a bunch of older and larger-antlered bucks.
Bitler believes antler point restrictions that require three points on at least one antler protect the wrong yearling bucks, those with four points or less, and allow superior yearlings, with five or more points, to be killed. "Protecting the smaller-antlered yearlings each year will allow them to pass on their genes and this will eventually have a negative impact on the herd," he said.
Wolgast doesn't think genetics is the most convincing argument against QDM. "Maybe in a very, very long run that might make a difference," he said. Wolgast's real concern about QDM is that most of the animals it supposedly protects seem to be dying anyway _ either from natural causes or from motor vehicles. So, if QDM isn't leaving big bucks for the hunters, perhaps it's just unnecessary overregulation.
One certainty: The topic ignites heated debate. "Every hunter thinks he's a deer manager," Wolgast observed. "Everybody has different goals."
Fred J. Aun covers the outdoors for The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at outdoors@starledger.com
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1138687826308340.xml&coll=1
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger
New Jersey hunters will soon be asked if they support the state's use of Quality Deer Management zones, a program that was supposed to yield bucks with bigger racks. This is one topic where public sentiment might hold sway over science.
Some experts -- including state Fish and Game council member Leonard Wolgast --concede the program has little to do with the biology of deer management and much to do with keeping hunters happy. The state Division of Fish and Wildlife's position on antler-point restrictions is that it's "a sociological (not a biological) problem," Wolgast said.
In other words, QDM zones likely will remain if hunters like them. "Fish and Wildlife doesn't care (if the program stays or goes), as long as we can shoot enough does to keep the deer population under control," Wolgast said.
Fish and Wildlife biologists admit the program's results are disappointing. Instituted about five years ago in eight zones, QDM forbids the shooting of bucks that have fewer than three points on one side of their antler racks.
It was hoped this would allow more yearling males to live longer and grow larger antlers, making hunting more exciting. But Larry Herrighty, chief of Fish and Wildlife's wildlife management division, said hunters shot only one buck for every six to 16 protected by the QDM restrictions over the years. Nobody knows what happened to the others.
Craig Bitler, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, believes the best way to grow bigger bucks is to simply restrict the number of bucks -- of any antler-point configuration -- that can be shot.
The deer herd at Great Swamp continued to increase until hunters were forced to first kill does. "That increased our adult doe harvest by 70 percent," Bitler said.
He acknowledged it also decreased the refuge's buck harvest by 50 percent, but after being in place for about five years, the regulations not only caused a decent decline in the overall deer herd but also produced a bunch of older and larger-antlered bucks.
Bitler believes antler point restrictions that require three points on at least one antler protect the wrong yearling bucks, those with four points or less, and allow superior yearlings, with five or more points, to be killed. "Protecting the smaller-antlered yearlings each year will allow them to pass on their genes and this will eventually have a negative impact on the herd," he said.
Wolgast doesn't think genetics is the most convincing argument against QDM. "Maybe in a very, very long run that might make a difference," he said. Wolgast's real concern about QDM is that most of the animals it supposedly protects seem to be dying anyway _ either from natural causes or from motor vehicles. So, if QDM isn't leaving big bucks for the hunters, perhaps it's just unnecessary overregulation.
One certainty: The topic ignites heated debate. "Every hunter thinks he's a deer manager," Wolgast observed. "Everybody has different goals."
Fred J. Aun covers the outdoors for The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at outdoors@starledger.com