Saturday, December 11, 2004
DNR CWD Policy eradicating Hunting instead of Disease?
Here's a note I received today from an avid deer hunter is Sauk County.
"I have property West of Plain and since the discovery of a CWD infected deer 2 miles from my land, I will most certainly be in the eradication zone next year. My passion is bowhunting and I gun hunt for traditional reasons. The seasons the DNR have in place in the CWD zones do not satisfy my idea of hunting. I will most likely close my land to all hunting, and lease property in another area or hunt the Dakota's . Most of the landowners in the area feel the same way. We will simply not view the whitetail as a pest!! "
--ross
"I have property West of Plain and since the discovery of a CWD infected deer 2 miles from my land, I will most certainly be in the eradication zone next year. My passion is bowhunting and I gun hunt for traditional reasons. The seasons the DNR have in place in the CWD zones do not satisfy my idea of hunting. I will most likely close my land to all hunting, and lease property in another area or hunt the Dakota's . Most of the landowners in the area feel the same way. We will simply not view the whitetail as a pest!! "
--ross
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Bounties and Sharpshooters
Was at a meeting with hunters interested in creating a chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association. Professor Tom Heberlein of "Fire in the Sistine Chapel" fame was a guest speaker.
In the social hour following the meeting, several of the guys commented on the DNR's bounty hunting and sharp shooting campaigns. The gist of the sentiments were a majestic game animal is being turned into a pest to be eradicated and a venerable sport is being tarnished by "waste disposal workers" using rifles.
The continued use of these two controversial "control methods" by the DNR underscores how the agency continues to be in the panic mode mind set that initially launched the deer war in southern Wisconsin.
Set in a larger frame of reference, CWD is one of many costs of an overabundant and ineptly managed Wisconsin deer population. The big picture long term challenge is bringing this population under control and keeping it that way. The whitetail deer hunter is at the core of this solution. Unfortunately the recent trend is fewer people taking up the sport.
It seems to me that whatever population control measures are used in Southern Wisconsin to control CWD risk have to also be consistent with an overall population program for the entire state.
It is in this setting that I find Bounty Programs counter-productive. The DNR's own commissioned surveys indicate the true hunter finds little appeal in these incentive programs. Such programs primarily appeal to people on the fringe of the hunting culture. Any Bozo can go get a gun and go into the woods to shoot at deer for prize money. Such people have no interest in the game animal itself, hunter safety, hunting regulations or the culture surrounding the sport. The recent murders in northern Wisconsin underscore the important role of hunter education, mentoring and hunting culture. Bottom line, the new "earn a buck" bounty program draws the wrong people into the woods with guns.
While the new "earn a buck" bounty programs tarnish the deer hunter, sharpshooting programs tarnish the animal and cost the taxpayers quite a bit of money to boot! When was the last time you were invited to a coyote feed or a rat barbecue? The more we resort to eradication methods, the more the game animal and its meat is reduced to the level of a pest. At this rate of depreciation, I can see down the road that giving a friend a present of venison sausage will be greeted with about as much enthusiasm as a can of spam! Protein fit only for the homeless.
So one wonders how, in the long term, does the DNR control the deer population by denigrating the sport of hunting and debasing the game animal to pest status? How does bounty hunting and sharpshooting reverse the course? It seems like it will only accelerate the decline of hunting and thus require increasing application of these expensive and controversial solutions.
--ross
In the social hour following the meeting, several of the guys commented on the DNR's bounty hunting and sharp shooting campaigns. The gist of the sentiments were a majestic game animal is being turned into a pest to be eradicated and a venerable sport is being tarnished by "waste disposal workers" using rifles.
The continued use of these two controversial "control methods" by the DNR underscores how the agency continues to be in the panic mode mind set that initially launched the deer war in southern Wisconsin.
Set in a larger frame of reference, CWD is one of many costs of an overabundant and ineptly managed Wisconsin deer population. The big picture long term challenge is bringing this population under control and keeping it that way. The whitetail deer hunter is at the core of this solution. Unfortunately the recent trend is fewer people taking up the sport.
It seems to me that whatever population control measures are used in Southern Wisconsin to control CWD risk have to also be consistent with an overall population program for the entire state.
It is in this setting that I find Bounty Programs counter-productive. The DNR's own commissioned surveys indicate the true hunter finds little appeal in these incentive programs. Such programs primarily appeal to people on the fringe of the hunting culture. Any Bozo can go get a gun and go into the woods to shoot at deer for prize money. Such people have no interest in the game animal itself, hunter safety, hunting regulations or the culture surrounding the sport. The recent murders in northern Wisconsin underscore the important role of hunter education, mentoring and hunting culture. Bottom line, the new "earn a buck" bounty program draws the wrong people into the woods with guns.
While the new "earn a buck" bounty programs tarnish the deer hunter, sharpshooting programs tarnish the animal and cost the taxpayers quite a bit of money to boot! When was the last time you were invited to a coyote feed or a rat barbecue? The more we resort to eradication methods, the more the game animal and its meat is reduced to the level of a pest. At this rate of depreciation, I can see down the road that giving a friend a present of venison sausage will be greeted with about as much enthusiasm as a can of spam! Protein fit only for the homeless.
So one wonders how, in the long term, does the DNR control the deer population by denigrating the sport of hunting and debasing the game animal to pest status? How does bounty hunting and sharpshooting reverse the course? It seems like it will only accelerate the decline of hunting and thus require increasing application of these expensive and controversial solutions.
--ross
