maineac

Well the host of a 5 minute "educational" radio piece on the mid coast community radio station had a strong anti hunting piece again. The "reader question" was about the increase of car/ deer crashes. Daryl DeJoy (director of WAM, an anti hunting org. in Maine, and show host) stated that the majority of deer/ car crashes occur in October, Nov. and Dec., which is true. He than stated that IFW explains this away as peak rut, hence greater deer activity and increased accidents. DeJoy then states his opinion that the cause is really hunting season disturbing the deer forcing them to move only at night, increasing the car accidents. He ignores changing food sources and the other major biologically driven changes that increase deer movement during these months.

I recommend every Maine board member email WERU at [email protected] and make it clear that the show should be removed, or that they make it clear at the beginning that many of the statements are opinion, not research based facts. Below is the email I wrote. to WERU. I will be writing one to Mr. DeJoy again as well.

To whom it may concern,[/align] Once again Daryl DeJoy has used his morning forum to editorialize his biased opionions as fact. I know that WERU does not necissarily agree or disagree with the opinions of its programers. However my issue is the the ASk WAM program in its opening presents Daryl as an expert on Maine wildlife, and there by implies the program is and educational forum. Mr. DeJoy uses this program to make statements that are biased against hunting, even though they are often totally wrong, or have no scientific knowledge or research to back them up. If he is going to regularlyuse these biased opinions as fact then the opening credits of the show should make that clear. I feel that the board of directors of WERU should require Mr. DeJoy and Ms. Mason to clearly state that many of the statements made in the program are opinion, with no factual or research basis. And if they refuse the program should be reomved from the airwaves.
[/align] Thank you for your time.[/align] Michael Stenstrom[/align] Certified and teaching science teacher[/align] Registered Maine Guide[/align]

Champlain Islander

I agree with you and wish you luck with the letters. If it were me, I would run your letters through spell check before sending them.

maineac

I did. Just trying to get the info out before I had to head to work.

Gr8ful Deer

In addition to the mating urges that deer experience in the Fall,agricultural crop harvest is proabably the 2nd biggestcontributor toincreaseddeer movement in the fall.

One needs to only take a cursorylook at the surrounding countryside in the Summer vs. those same areas in the Fall to see how large tracts ofstanding corn and other agricultural crop fields that were available as habitat food and cover for deer in late August and early September suddenly becomeno longer available after thecutting starts around the 1st or 2nd week of October.

Obviously,when acres of corn (typically standing 8' or more high) are cut to within inches of the ground,a lot of deer are going to bedisplaced in a short amount of time. Couple that to the fact that the seasonal change is also causing foilage loss and a more open landscape overall, and it is obvious why deer are more active during this time of year tryign to find new feeding and bedding areas.

If someone is going to claim that the increase in deer/vehicle interactions is due to increased hunting pressure in the Fall, then they might as well just as equallyblame it on the increased pressenceof any humans that may be in the woods or fields at that time including:birdwatchers, hikers, horseback riders, ATV riders, fall foilage observers, anti-hunters, etc. (Perhaps Daryl Dejoy and his cronies ought to parktheir BMW's and stay indoors for the months ofOct., Nov. and Dec. to insure that they don't spook any deer into the path of traffic or actually run over any of them themselves.)

It is quite interesting how these morons willtwist or distort just about anything they can to try to support their ridiculous ideas. [:@]

- Gr8ful

sc003ro

this is a common ANTI theme...they say the same thing here in CT. I just emailed them after I hit spell check lol

Phil from Maine

I agree they need to stop the bull and learn the real things. Just like in the spring when the deer come up to the roads to lick salt.. I will send them a message as well..