Knashing of Teeth

(Note: If you're not a deer hunter or interested in deer or predators, you may want to skip.  Somehow I don't think I ever published this piece, maybe written in the heat of the moment, then forgotten.  Since the blog is firing back up, I may as well put this out there now) 


 "Three...Two....One...." The preliminary Wisconsin gun deer harvest numbers are in and.....

Right on cue, the howls (pun intended) of DNR bashing and "wolves kill all the deer" have begun.

Within hours of the press release comments from readers flooded the WEAU.com story:

"Smartdude5": "It's a complete joke to say the deer herd was depleted by harsh winters. There's only one thing depleting the deer herd' Wolves!"

"bowhunter":"Winters??? How about wolves, cougars, and bear. Who knows what else. Never a word about predators doing harm to the population."

"legendary whitetail": "I agree with the part about winters but facts are facts that with the introduction of wolves has depleted the herd as well as in past years having all these doe hunts and all those doe tags available and people shooting more deer than they need." 

 

Scapegoats are easier to imagine than actual facts or to look closely at the complexity in our wildlife management. “I didn't see enough deer, therefore I'll bash the DNR and wolves” is the general theme. Hunters want more deer, foresters and farmers and insurance companies want fewer deer, grandma wants more pretty deer to look at in the yard, but "don't eat my hostas!" To deny harsh winters has no effect on deer populations is to ignore the obvious. Deep snow and severe cold temperatures plus limited food is going to kill deer. (Although four times less than hunting) It will also reduce the number of fawns born and in general, leave the herd in a less healthy state. That's deer biology 101.

Do predators take deer? Of course. Are they the root of all evil and the reason for a decline in harvest numbers this year? Absolutely.... if you want an easy mark and ignore all other factors that have an influence of populations of wildlife. (Oh, and note-wolves were not “introduced” by the DNR-around 1975 a few individual animals started returning from nearby Northern Minnesota, by themselves)

Years ago, a noted wildlife biologist remarked that the “the thing that will kill deer are orange and white.” Hunters and winter.

The reality of that statement remains to this day and especially this season. As reviewed by JS Online outdoor editor Paul Smith earlier this year, the extensive DNR/UW adult deer mortality study (2011-2013) found those facts (the “orange” especially) ran true by a huge margin over all other factors combined. In the northern forest region, human hunting accounted for 43% of deer mortality, followed by starvation (9%), coyote predation at 8%, poaching (8%), wolves (6%), car kills (6%). In the eastern farmland zone, deer fall again to hunters, causing 53% of adult deer deaths, car kills at 17%, starvation (4%), coyote (2%) and wolves,statistically 0%. (Wolves, though present, are not plentiful in the eastern farmland area).

The study was very transparent and involved professional wildlife researchers and thousands of citizen volunteers. To say predators are not mentioned is to neglect actually reading the study conclusions. “Cougars?” Really? That is one reason the harvest is down 15%? Some comments border on ridiculous. When similar declines are also noted in all surrounding states (Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois) then something besides predators is the cause-some of these states have no wolf populations at all.

Opening weekend (when typically 75% of deer are harvested) deep snow blanketed the north, while thick fog covered other areas then rain set in. In addition, there were 18% fewer hunters in the woods opening weekend according to the DNR. It's no secret, poor weather, and downturn in license sales will result in fewer hunters seeing or harvesting deer. Mid week had temps down to zero and again, only the heartiest of blaze orange wearers are going to stick it out. Hunters numbers are down, tough weather and a changing hunt overall is going to have to get some credit for a dip in the harvest-right?

Some commentators on the DNR's facebook page also chimed in:

“Elmer:” “A wise man once said, the resource will never sustain the number of deer the majority of hunters want.”

I'm not sure who the “wise man” was, but this statement has always been very true. I'm struck by the similarities in arguments about deer and wolf numbers between now and during the mid thirties through the wolf's extinction in Wisconsin in the late 1950s. Although wolf numbers then were declining rapidly (because of bounties), deer numbers were also dropping-they were literally eating themselves out of house and home by over browsing. At the time, Bill Feeney, leader of the Wisconsin Conservation Department's Deer Research Project, came to the conclusion that wolves played little part in the deer population decline. Starvation and hunting were the main drivers of mortality. Orange (or red plaid) and white.

By 1959 the eastern Grey wolf was extirpated from our state. This predator became a non-factor in whitetail numbers. Changes in big blocks of mature northern forest, ie: habitat, became the root cause for increases in deer numbers. Aspen cuts on large tracts of paper company lands helped provide a boon for not only deer, but ruffed grouse and woodcock as well. Keep in mind, as “John” on facebook commented: “In the late 1960s the total kill from bow and gun was about 60,000. Now it ranges close to 300,000 plus some years. Yet people complain.”

As we can read by some hunters comments, that is certainly true. Sometimes I think to myself (sarcastically) -”There sure isn't enough 170 class bucks walking by my stand-I should blame someone or something.” I can't really throw that complaint at the feet of the DNR-they are politically pressured to provide more, not better deer, nor wolves, who aren't going to take the largest and healthiest of the whitetail population.

Hunting has changed-hunters have changed and those are also factors in harvest numbers. An aging population dropping out, fewer recruitment of new hunters, distractions for our young, smaller and more fragmented parcels and leased land, baiting, a drop in aspen harvest, and less habitat.

In reading comments-it's rare to see any of those mentioned. “Josh” says it best perhaps: “I just love how everyone is a wildlife expert all of a sudden.” Again it's much easier to rip the DNR: “Jared” “What do you mean less deer? There arnt (sic) very many left in this state with all of the antlerless hunts the dnr allows every year! Or the DNR and wolves: “David”: Looking at the map they want to increase the herds (sic) up in the northern forest zone because the dnr needs to feed their wolves.” Seriously?

Anyone who didn't expect the kill to be down this year would be foolish. We've had several severe winters (a record last year) and the DNR responded by creating a buck only season in the northern part of the state. Do the math-you're taking 50,000 does off the harvest roll (normal harvest in the forest regions) and more than 9% dying over winter. Those two factors alone will lower the harvest.

A good friend of mine, who has spent more than 40 years as an outdoorsman (in northern Wisconsin) and hunter perhaps addressed some of these knee jerk commentators best.

-Weather: it's all part of the hunt. Deal with it. But last years drop in kill was magnified by bitter weather. Fewer hours on the stand mean fewer deer killed.

-Wolves… always the scapegoat. But long before the first wolf meandered into the state, long before antler less tags, long before bear populations rose, long before all of this, winter kill was the most dominate force in whitetail numbers. And that has not changed.

-The ripple effect of last winter is fewer spikes this year which leads to fewer 6's next, fewer 8's the following. And that is before figuring in the drop in fawn production this past spring which will have an impact next year. Wolves will get the blame, the DNR will get slammed, but winter will be the real reason.

- Add to all this the changing forest management as industrial lands are now sold off; as popple clear cuts become less prevalent, as clear cuts are replanted to red pine and private landowners, myself included, do not harvest large portions of their 40s and let it go to popple regeneration. All of this leads me to believe that the age of the prime whitetail hunting in this area is past. And it won't come back.

His last comment is perhaps sad, but also most likely true. Some of these factors just are not going to change in our day in age. Some are beyond the DNR's control no matter how much we as hunters demand.