It was mixed results for big game hunters during the past season. The bear hunters scored big with a total kill of 2,892 bruins, up almost 30% from the previous year. The deer hunters checked in 206,586 animals, an increase of 12% over 2022/23. The results of the fall turkey season proved disappointing as the kill of just 1,443 birds was down by 11%
The bear and deer hunters fared better largely because of a poor mast crop. When the acorns are scarce, the bears are late to hibernate and the deer must be constantly on the move to find food, making them more susceptible to a 30:06 cartridge. The low turkey kill, says DWR, is partially due to fewer and fewer hunters participating.
I found these figures and comparisons interesting. The turkey kill in 1990 was a whopping 161,000 compared to this year’s 1,400 birds. Later, the Game Department severely restricted the fall season to allow a larger spring gobbler harvest and with hopes of increasing the overall population. Instead, the turkey numbers are going down and the elephant in the room is the rapid increase of coyotes. DWR rarely blames predation for game decline but that is the obvious answer.
In 1994, the bear harvest was 500 and many thought that may have been too high. Fat chance. With Mama Bears contributing 3 and 4 cubs each spring, the bear population is on the upward movement and reached nearly 2,900 last fall.
The deer harvest in 1973 was a mere 50,000 animals. That number has quadrupled and would be even higher if the DWR had allowed. Rather, the goal in Richmond is to stabilize deer populations and prevent crop damage and car collisions as much as possible.
Concerning to everyone is the decline in the number of hunters. License fees contribute to most of the conservation efforts in our state, and without hunters, the deer population would explode.