Kalamazoo nature center hunt

[hypox]

Did anyone one else hear about the hunt they are doing at the Kalamazoo Nature Center today? I just heard about it yesterday and I live in kalamazoo county. I heard they are allowing 24 bowhunters to go in and hunt the dear. They want to harvest 40 deer all together. I have no idea if this was a lottery or if people were just selected. But, I live in Kalamazoo county and would have loved to have the opportunity to have done the hunt. Something sounds a little fishy with me. Anybody have more info??

[Winterover]

Hey hypox, I posted this in the sound off forum about a week ago under "anti's to protest the hunt". They actually had a article about this in the gazette about a month and a half ago that told how to apply. They selected hunters then made them pass a shooting test before the hunt.

[Stinger]

Opponents aim to bar
deer-culling hunt

Friday, February 2, 2001

BY MARK FISK
KALAMAZOO GAZETTE


Kalamazoo Nature Center president Bill Rose says it's
necessary.

Chief Dale Strong Bull Hyatt says it's murder.

A proposed deer cull this weekend at the Kalamazoo
Nature Center has drawn battle lines between officials
and local anti-hunting and anti-animal-cruelty activists.

A group of Native Americans, along with members of
the Animal Liberation League, plan a rally at the
entrance to the Nature Center on Saturday morning,
when the cull is scheduled.

Twenty skilled bow hunters will kill up to 60 deer.
Bucks, does and fawns are all fair game.

"They use the word 'cull' because it's not as offensive as
'kill,' which is what it is, a mass kill-off," Hyatt said.

Rose characterized the cull as a regrettable yet
necessary means for controlling the local deer
population.

"We at the Nature Center feel we must do this to
protect all of the biological diversity here in the center,"
Rose said.

Here's the problem, according to Rose:

Deer eat a tremendous amount of foliage. That leaves
less foliage for rabbits and insects. With fewer insects,
you have fewer birds.

In the absence of natural predators, like wolves, deer
populations blossom.

Disease and starvation is one natural way deer
populations disappear, but not before deer strip the land
of crucial foliage, Rose said.

Rose said the recommended number of deer for the
1,040-acre center is about 30. A recent count
performed from a helicopter showed 185 currently
inhabit the center.

And, Rose said, 185 is a considerable leap from early
last year, when the deer population was counted at 130.

After careful study and review, the Nature Center made
"a very, very difficult decision" to cull the herd, Rose
said.

Mike Schuur, president of the Animal Liberation
League, said he supports nonlethal methods of trimming
the herd, such as sterilization, fencing or trapping and
removal of the deer.

"The idea behind the Nature Center is to promote an
appreciation and respect for nature, and going in there
and killing deer goes counter to that ideal," Schuur said.

Hyatt says he's willing to stand between hunters and
deer to protect the animals. He knows he could be
arrested for doing so.

"We believe this is an illegal deer hunt," Hyatt said. "To
be arrested for something like this is a badge of honor."

MARK FISK can be reached at 388-8552.

[krausey]

The protest ended up being very tame. From what I saw on TV onle about 15-20 protesters were present with signs and bullhorns. The hunt went on as planned. As someone that has to drive by the Center with some regularity I can attest to how many deer run that area. I've often had to stop while 15-16 deer cross Westnedge into the center from surrounding feilds and yards. They needed to be thinned.

------------------
Plant a tree.

has anyone else found out what the culling count was last weekend ?

[Winterover]

News reports say 10 deer were taken. The permit allows for the taking of up to 60 deer. This harvest must be completed in a 2 week time span so they are planning on having the hunters back out again this weekend.