I agree AJ. We need to take more Does. As for trusting Fish & Game, I'm not so sure.

Below is a Letter I Emailed Mr. Moore and I will be snail mailing the Director something similar tomorrow. I apologize for the long read, but when it comes to deer, you cant shut me up! . I look forward to other Ideas and opinions, Pro or Con. Thanks!


This morning I was greatly disturbed when I read of the proposed 2004 -
2005 Deer Season changes in the articles 'State Responds to Deer Problems' by Molly Murray and 'Killing trophy bucks does little good' by J.L. Miller in the February 25th edition of The News Journal.

I simply cannot believe that the division would consider placing short
three day shotgun seasons around the October weekends to increase the deer harvest based on so little facts. The division admits in the articles that there is little data on the size of the herd but estimates 'there are
30,000 - 50,000 deer'. That's a pretty large margin of error. I'm sure if
the division is not sure the size of the total herd, it cant be sure of
herd sizes within specific hunting zones. Aggressive herd thinning that
would be acceptable in one zone, could wipe the deer out in another.

The reasons that the articles state for thinning the herd are also vague.
They are as follows:

"Dozen of complaints from farmers each year about crop losses" "Its a hugh loss" : How much of a loss is it? What's the $$ Cost? How much has it increased year over year the past 5 years? These questions have not been answered.

"Deer Ticks carry Lyme disease" : This is true, but I've been bow hunting
in September the last 4 years and have never pulled a Tick off me. How
much has the disease increased the last 5 years?

"Deer can pose road hazards" : From 2000 - 2003 there have been 3 people killed in accidents involving deer. That's an average of less than 1 a year. All deaths are tragic, but if I looked, I bet I could find more
deaths by auto caused by people swerving to miss other wildlife (Dogs,
Cats, Foxes, Opossums, etc) Unless we kill all the deer, people are still
going to hit one every once in a while.

"Heavy Deer foraging is threatening native plants" : The examples given in the article where this is taking place are State Parks where normal hunting seasons do not apply and are therefore misleading. You stated that there are "200 deer per square mile in White Clay State Park" I doubt these kind of numbers exsist in most hunting areas.

What it sounds like to me is there are a few groups, that have alot of
political clout or alot of money who are putting pressure on the division
to decrease the herd numbers. They being:

1) Farmers: Who with no question are losing some crop money to the deer. But are these Farmers opening up their lands to hunters who would gladly take a few deer off their property? I wonder?

2) Suburbanites: Who are buying homes that have been recently built on
old deer habitat that are now upset their flowers and trees are being
grazed on. That's a consequence of habitat destruction. If all the deer
habitat wasn't destroyed, the deer wouldn't be in peoples back yards.
These people are probably the ones most worried about being bitten by deer Ticks. Something must be done to slow down sprawl. The answer isn't to kill more deer.

3) Insurance Companies: Who don't like paying claims on death or property damage caused by deer. These folks don't care about the welfare of the outdoors. They only care about their Balance Sheets. They should be the last people the division listens too when making deer season decisions.

Now there are also many issues that will affect hunters, like myself, if
these seasons are implemented. But they should be addressed at another
time. The articles stated that there would be public workshops open to
discuss all the issues. I hope the public will be informed in a timely
manner as to when and where these workshops will take place. I would like to attend these meetings to hear the 'facts' behind the proposed season changes.

The bottom line is there doesn't seem to be enough information on the size and health of the herd or the amount of real damaged being caused to take aggressive steps to change the seasons. There maybe some less drastic solutions to increase the harvest on a smaller scale. The articles stated there would be two more doe permits included with the 04-05 license. That's a good start. How about making Sunday Hunting legal ONLY during the current Shotgun and Muzzleloader Seasons to give the average working hunter both weekend days to hunt? Maybe some money could be found to pay Farmers who open their lands to public hunting during the deer seasons?

Until I hear some concrete facts that would justify introducing Shotgun
Seasons in October, I will not support them. It might not do much good,
but I will write my Congressmen, Senators and the Governor asking they use their influence to keep the Seasons Status Quo until more research is done. If the seasons are implemented without further study, I will protest by not hunting during them (bow or gun) and I will encourage everyone I can reach, whether they be in earshot, by telephone or across the state via the Internet to do the same.

This is the time to do research, not jump in head first. To do the latter
is negligent and disrespectful to the deer. You can not allow this to
happen.

Thanks for your time and attention.