I wish I could say I contributed to the statistics. There' s always next year. Looking forward to it already. Looks like the boys up North did the best.
March 5, 2003
NEW JERSEY DEER TAKING THROUGH FEBRUARY 15, 2003
For more information contact:
Al Ivany at 609-984-1795
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey sportsmen and women took an estimated 63,031 deer between September 7, 2002 and February 15, 2003. The deer season total is the fourth best in state history and a decline from the 69,970 deer taken in 2001 and the 77,444 taken in 2000.
A decline in this year' s deer yield was anticipated as the Division of Fish and Wildlife, together with the Fish and Game Council, sought to reduce the deer population on approximately 68 percent of the state' s deer range.
Methods employed to achieve the desired reduction included the Earn-A-Buck regulation, liberal permit shotgun and muzzleloader seasons and allowing for an unlimited antlerless deer taking in most zones.
The use of these methods resulted in a decline in the number of deer complaints received by the Division' s Wildlife Services Unit (WSU). According to the WSU, individual residential and commercial complaints were down 53 percent and 14 percent, respectively, in 2002 compared to 2001.
Estimated deer season totals are as follows: Fall Bow - 11,329; Permit Bow - 8,657; Youth Day - 783; Six-day Firearm - 10,524; Permit Muzzleloader - 10,166; Permit Shotgun - 20,678; and Winter Bow - 894. The 2002 yield consisted of 20,783 antlered and 42,248 antlerless deer. The top five deer producing counties were Hunterdon (11,487), Sussex (6,547), Warren (6,538), Burlington (5,186) and Somerset (4,877).
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If its not about hunting, I don' t want to talk about it,,,,
The reduced harvest shows that the herd has been getting whacked by the liberal regs currently in place. The huntable deer populations are being reduced while the herds on private/park/off limits land is exploding.
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Hunting the wilds of NW Jersey..
Boats tha' t completely untrue. The only places left in Hunterdon that are over run with deer are those place that you CAN' T hunt. Elsewhere the herd has been literally decimated from where it was a few years ago. The farm across the street from my house just 5 years ago would have had 30-40 deer feeding out in the corn field every evening. The most I' ve seen out there this past year was 8 deer. Most everywhere else in the county is the same, there are just simply far less deer out there than there used to be. If the seasons continue to be as liberal as they have been we will have no herd left at all.
The farm across the street from my house just 5 years ago would have had 30-40 deer feeding out in the corn field every evening. The most I' ve seen out there this past year was 8 deer. Most everywhere else in the county is the same, there are just simply far less deer out there than there used to be. If the seasons continue to be as liberal as they have been we will have no herd left at all.
Welcome to the world of hunting in South Jersey. Our deer herd got whacked hard in recent years and there seems to be very few deer in huntable area' s now. And while the quality of the experience has been bottoming out, the price for a continually diminshed quality has skyrocketed. Sorry, but I don' t think the NJ Division of F & W are any more a friend to hunters than France is currently a friend of the United States.
02-03 NJ Deer Harvest
