I can remember when there were more UFO sightings than those of deer. Back in the 50s’, guys in a hunt club considered success as seeing a track on a trail. Every 5 year or so, somebody in the club would actually shoot a deer. Deer were in short supply.
But hunting regulations started to work. I can also remember when the deer kill in Virginia topped 100,000. I thought the Game Department was nuts, allowing that many deer to be harvested. Would they become extinct again?
Ha! Extinct? Today subdivisions are welcoming bowhunters with open arms as the local deer herd wipes out gardens, shrubs, flowers and most anything they find growing in neighborhood yards. That and the fact that Virginia is among the top ten of states reporting auto/deer collisions and it is easy to see why the Game Department is urging – practically begging – hunters to shoot more does.
Justin Folks of the DWR says this: “In addition to alleviating damage to forests, crops, residential plants, and vehicles, reducing deer abundance helps improve the condition of the remaining deer in the herd, including those bucks most of us are after. Lower deer densities mean increased forage and nutrition for each deer in the herd with generally more and bigger deer. Bucks are able to enter the rut in better condition and rebound from the rut more easily, giving them the ability to put more resources into antler growth. Does are in better condition and can produce bigger and healthier buck fawns, giving them a head start towards reaching maturity and maximizing antler growth. Having a more balanced doe-to-buck ratio helps ensure does are bred during their first estrus cycle, which shortens the length of the rut, reduces stress on bucks, and leads to a shorter period of fawning.”
“However, fewer deer hunters makes it harder to keep deer numbers in check, and more and more places are becoming refuges for deer. If hunters fail to adequately manage deer herds, the result will be that more deer will be taken under kill permits or killed by vehicles. Recreational hunting has historically been the most cost-effective management tool for deer, but if we, as hunters, don’t do our part in meeting population objectives, the future could look a lot different.”
Bottom line? Go hunting and shoot more does.
