County seeks to reduce deer population

[cassiesmom]

This just feels problematic to me. Like something is bound to go wrong with it. Why not just relocate them? What's wrong with deer anyway? People like deer except when cars hit them or they munch on gardens.


From the Chicago Tribune online:
Will County is looking for volunteer sharpshooters to cull female deer from five of its forest preserves.

The aim is to reduce the number of deer to between 20 to 30 per square mile. The Will County Forest Preserve District estimates that's anywhere from 332 to 406 deer.

Using their own rifles, applicants will be required to hit a 1.9-inch circular target at 50 yards five times with only five attempts allowed. Applicants also will have to pass, among other things, a criminal background test and a drug-screening test.

While government-led deer eradication efforts are sometimes controversial, officials said they've become crucial to improving the overall health of the herd, protecting threatened trees and plants, and reducing the types of vehicle crashes that have become all too common in Chicago's suburbs, So delicate is the balance of life in the forest preserves, officials say, that the snacking habits of deer can profoundly alter the natural environment for countless species.

In Will County, among the fastest-growing counties in Illinois over the last decade, officials have spent tens of millions of dollars to acquire land for forest preserves and densely wooded public parks. Those 20,000 acres now provide shelter and an increasingly scarce supply of food to thousands of white-tailed deer that have adapted masterfully to their new urban environment.

Though white-tailed deer are native to much of the northern U.S., habitat changes and near-unlimited hunting in the late 19th century pushed the deer to the brink of extinction in Illinois, said Marty Jones, urban deer project manager at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The state banned deer hunting for 50 years, which, combined with other conservation efforts over the last century, brought white-tailed deer back in a big way.

Anyone wanting to apply must pick up an application from police offices at Illinois Highway 52 and Cherry Hill Road beginning 8 a.m. Monday.

The shooting will be done at night when the forest preserves are closed from December through March.

The forest preserves (and estimated number of deer to be killed) are McKinley Woods (113-114), Lockport Prairie (17-22), Messenger Woods/Messenger Marsh (61-83), Sandridge Savanna/Kankakee Sands (32-50) and Goodenow Grove/Plum Valley (109-137).

The forest preserve board approved the kill in September.

"We believe that this is the best method to deal with the number of deer we have now," said Marcy DeMauro, executive director of the Forest Preserve District, during the period of debate.

Opponents had lobbied for the use of contraceptive darts.

"Killing is not humane," said District Commissioner Kathleen Konicki, R-Homer Glen. "Sharpshooting may be more humane than sport hunting, but it can't hold a candle to immuno-contraception (contraceptive darts)."

More information can be found on the Will County Forest Preserve District web site.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

deer tend to overpopulate until they end up invading urban areas or outgrow their food supply. Then, instead of a small number of healthy deer, you got a whole bunch of underfed ones. Sterilized deer still eat ya know.

Kill them humanely (hence the sharpshooters, and not just a bunch of guys with hunting licenses), but at least donate the meat to a worthy cause.

BTW deer will, in fact, attack domestic animals and people if threatened. They're not all gentle and innocent like people want to believe. I saw a video clip of a doe seriously injuring a totally innocent dog once (and in a neighborhood, at that). They can really, really mess you up when they feel threatened.

[Karen]

Because we humans have eliminated the wolves that kept the deer population in check in most states, deer do overpopulate, ruining forests by stripping bark from trees after they have eaten all the lower growth, and they end up starving, more vulnerable to ticks which then spread to companion animals and humans, and eventually can been seen dead and dying at the side of highways, particularly in winter. It is an awful, awful, heart-wrenching sight. Especially in some Eastern States, like Pennsylvania, the deer overpopulation has ruined forest ecosystems for other creatures, too, causing other species to suffer.

A humane, quick death if far preferable to slow, painful death by starvation, don't you think? I will never forget the skeletal starving deer we saw when I was a kid, licking salt from the roads in western New York state, and the carcasses of the ones who had just died and fell, near the edges of the woods. Horrific.

[Twisterdog]

Because we humans have eliminated the wolves that kept the deer population in check in most states, deer do overpopulate, ruining forests by stripping bark from trees after they have eaten all the lower growth, and they end up starving, more vulnerable to ticks which then spread to companion animals and humans, and eventually can been seen dead and dying at the side of highways, particularly in winter. It is an awful, awful, heart-wrenching sight. Especially in some Eastern States, like Pennsylvania, the deer overpopulation has ruined forest ecosystems for other creatures, too, causing other species to suffer.

A humane, quick death if far preferable to slow, painful death by starvation, don't you think? I will never forget the skeletal starving deer we saw when I was a kid, licking salt from the roads in western New York state, and the carcasses of the ones who had just died and fell, near the edges of the woods. Horrific.

Agreed completely. Humans ruined the natural balanced ecosystem, and now there are FAR more deer than there ever were. They are a huge problem in the midwest, too.

[blue]

IL and/or Chicago deer arent tasty? Why havent they been hunted before now to keep their numbers down?

Deer=food. Where is the problem here.

[Bonny]

Not enough hunters around to hunt them anymore. The hunters that are hunting are going after trophy bucks for the racks. This year they can only shoot 10 point bucks & up as far a bucks go. There is bow, muzzle, & shot gun season besides. Our state is second in deer population with all the corn & bean fields for them to feast on. The coyotes kill a lot of the fawns in the spring around here but there are still a lot of deer.

[lizbud]

The yearly deer hunt has already started in Indiana. They close all of
the State Parks for a few days & start shooting. No markmanship test is
required, only a hunting licence. I wonder how many are just wounded and
left to bleed out somewhere in the brush?

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/25682723/detail.html

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I wonder how many are just wounded and
left to bleed out somewhere in the brush?

Do you mean totally abandoned? Or just not killed instantly?

As far as total abandonment..Why would someone sit in a tree in the freezing cold for hours and finally shoot a deer just to let it get away? Animals generally aren't attracted to loud banging noises, so one you've fired your gun, it's not like you've got anything else to do for a little while. Follow the blood trail find your deer and take it home.

Keep in mind the goal of every hunter is to kill an animal as quickly as possible. So yeah some do bleed out in the bushes, but hunters try to avoid having to go track down a wounded deer, and it's still less traumatic than being mauled by predators.

[cassiesmom]

Thank you, fellow PTers for answering my questions.

Driving home from my mom and dad's last night I stopped for a doe crossing Wolf Road. They blend in well with the grass and trees, especially at night. I wish the street lights were either closer together, or brighter. She was walking across the street, not in a hurry, and I was going slowly enough that I could slow down. Sometimes they dash out from someone's yard into the street and keep going. I just don't want to hit one.

[Karen]

Not enough hunters around to hunt them anymore. The hunters that are hunting are going after trophy bucks for the racks. This year they can only shoot 10 point bucks & up as far a bucks go. There is bow, muzzle, & shot gun season besides. Our state is second in deer population with all the corn & bean fields for them to feast on. The coyotes kill a lot of the fawns in the spring around here but there are still a lot of deer.

That's why the best solution - were there not human beings with pets around - would be to reintroduce the grey wolves. A wolf, especially in a pack can take down an adult deer, a coyote just cannot, so they have limited effectiveness as population control.

[Bonny]

There is a problem with the wolves though. Wolves kill to eat, wolves kill to teach their young how to hunt, wolves kill for recreation. Out West outfitters are having to deal with the wolves brought into Yellowstone. Mainly the elk & mule deer population is suffering. The wolves chase the elk kill the young for all of the above. The cows slip their calves from being chased. There are to many packs & it is out of control. It is like farmers here dealing with coyotes killing calves. I have seen sickly deer over the last couple of years so maybe that will be the thing to thin them out?

[Karen]

That's why I said "were there not human beings" ...

[Bonny]

Thats the problem. There are humans everywhere. The only place I know of where it isn't so populated would be up above the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Northwest Territories.

[Karen]

Thats the problem. There are humans everywhere. The only place I know of where it isn't so populated would be up above the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Northwest Territories.

Which is why the "deer population problem" is really a human problem. Human beings need to accept responsibility and come up with a solution. If that means permitting hunting, and forbidding people from feeding the wild deer, some people will be upset by that, but will have to learn to adjust.

[Puckstop31]

The hunters that are hunting are going after trophy bucks for the racks. This year they can only shoot 10 point bucks & up as far a bucks go. There is bow, muzzle, & shot gun season besides. Our state is second in deer population with all the corn & bean fields for them to feast on. The coyotes kill a lot of the fawns in the spring around here but there are still a lot of deer.

What state are you in? Are you sure the "10 point only" rule is not something from a local preserve or club? Mature bucks in the midwest, generally speaking, tend to carry more antler than others.... But ONLY 10 points or more? I've seen 8 points that score much higher than some 10s....