Deer Overpopulation and Some Proposed Solutions Essay

Over just a century ago the whitetail deer population became nearly extinct, mostly due to a rapid expansion in the railroad system. At this same time market hunting, weak enforcement of game laws, and habitat loss contributed to the dangerously low deer populations in the late 1800’s. In states like Kansas and Indiana deer were completely extinct, being endangered in many others. With the whitetail deer population doubling every two years there is an estimated thirty million deer in the United States (Rooney, 2012). Although with these over-abundant populations comes the destruction of natural resources along with diseases and other factors that can tremendously affect the population. While there are many factors that play an active role in the declination of Whitetail deer populations, chronic wasting disease is just one of them.

In Arizona, because of the lesser population of animals, one may only harvest one antlered deer, one elk, and two javelina per person per year. Additionally, the hunter must be drawn in a “lottery-style process for allocating the limited number of Arizona big game and other limited species hunt permit-tags to applicants” (AZ Game & Fish). Not every applicant who applies for a tag gets drawn, this is part of the system of controlling the population of wildlife to ensure no animal is over hunted. However, in other states, there might be other regulations based on the population of the animal. For example, in Kentucky, one may be able to harvest four deer per year including one antlered deer (Kentucky Game and Fish).

This alternative would reach the goals through the length of the plan. The reduction in deer population would not be rapid and regeneration would be seen mostly in the exclusions until the population had diminished and the plan cost is over $9.5 million. The preferred alternative, alternative C was comprised of the continuation of alternative A with the use of sharpshooting and the subduing and euthanization of deer to rapidly reduce the population to the goal range in three years. Through this alternative the goals would be meet in a relatively short time frame at a cost between $738,600 and $941,100. The final alternative, alternative D also continued alternative A with the combination of sharpshooting, euthanization, and reproduction control. Alternative D would meet the goals of the plan in a similar time frame as alternative C with a cost of between $1.4 and $1.6 million.

During the 2015-2016 deer season, 274,447 deer were legally harvested, this was a 7% increase from the 2014-2015 season, but a 3% decrease from the 10 year average, but lately, the population has been dropping, this is due to severe disease outbreaks, a changes in habitat availability. Deer population however has been slowly decreasing

In White-Tailed Deer Habitat Ecology and Management on Rangelands, written by Timothy Edward Fulbright & J. Alfonso Ortega-S. The habitat Requirements of white-tailed deer are not complex requirements. “The basic habitat requirements of white-tailed deer are food, cover, space, and water.”(3) With this book the Authors are bringing awareness to anyone who reads it. However, ”Our target audience includes landowners who want to improve deer habitat; range, wildlife, and other natural resource managers.”(3) According to the authors anyone can really help take care of the White-Tailed deer. As described in the book and further in my Research Essay deer play an important role in the ecosystem. Keeping and

There have been many studies by deer ranches that raise deer for hunting purposes as well as studies by parks and wildlife on the breeding of deer. The pros and cons of a deer living in the wild as opposed to a deer living on several acres of land surrounded by an eight foot fence. There is some research that suggest there are ways of increasing your deer herd while improving the quality of deer that are being produced. Because many rancher have turned to raising deer when the cattle market went down the amount of deer leases has increased. With the increase in ranches raising deer there has also been an increase of people trying to find ways to produce the perfect buck to breed to the perfect doe. In the wild there is also research to

Another research that was done by Conover (2001) showed that, before the arrival of the European colonies in North America, the density of white-tailed deer was estimated to be very high. The population of the deer has increased to unmanageable number as the predators cannot feed on them fully. The case is not the same to public areas that are open for hunting. The population of the deer in those areas has been maintained to a very low level.

Do deer populations have a negative effects on ecological systems? In several scientific articles this is the question being asked. Dose deer overabundance modify plant diversity, vegetation decomposition and structure, soil characteristics, growth and survival? Do they have cascading effects on other species such as insects and other mammals? These questions need to be asked so, projects can be implanted to help maintain deer population and preserve the ecological systems.

A number of them are descendants of the initial releases that have widened their range. On the other hand, some have had a reduced distribution. Numerous areas have seen recent populations established by deer that have escaped from modern deer farms or from secret releases. Irrespective of where they originated, the population of deer in the 21st century in Australia is higher than ever and a growing number of hunters are appreciating more every day.

Did you know that having too many deer is bad for the forest? A recent study shows that an over population of deer can cause problems for wildlife as well as people. Some of the problems that an over population of deer can cause for humans are; car collisions and the spread of zoonotic disease. However, the problem they cause for wildlife is that they eat away the song bird’s habitat. Research finds that areas in eastern U.S. with large deer populations tend to have fewer birds that require forest shrubs. These species use low foliage to cover their nests from predators and to hunt their prey; insects. However these plants that the species use to cover their nests are also food for the white-tail deer. In the past, deer numbers were low because

During me research I found that deer were actually once cherished animals, that people relied

explores Indians actually based their living areas on fertile grassy valleys where deer feed on frequently. “Since the Indians relied heavily on venison and deer hides…” and “ More than a thousand deer are killed annually in the neighbor of cayuga.” (Serveringhuas , C. W. and C. P. Brown . 1956) wrote by a Jesuit missionary Peter Reaffix in 1670. The fact that these certain tribes actually precisely based their entire community as to where they would have the best access to where deer were frequently it’s hard to deny the fact that deer actually played a important role in society, in a nutrient and day to day factor.

Obesity is a problem in many Americans today, but living a subsistence lifestyle can change that. Jackson Landers, author of the book Hunting Deer for Food, explains that deer meat is healthier than cow meat because it has less fat, and all the fat it has is just below the skin, not throughout the meat. Plus, almost all of the fat is removed during the butchering process (Landers 7). All the fat on the deer is closest to the skin and is not throughout the meat like meat from cattle. This makes

Briefing Note for The Minister: Report on the issues caused by the growing population of Deer within the UK

“Just last year I was in this same spot.” I thought to myself. “Waiting and waiting for that monster deer.” I recollected on my past hunting experiences as I sat in a deer stand in the middle of Folden, my dad’s hunting land. The past two years I had killed two relatively small deer, and the year before that I was able to sit in the deer stand while my dad hunted. All three hunting trips were in this exact same spot. My dad never let me gut the deer after I killed them in my previous years hunting, I was hoping he would let me this year.