It’s the end of another deer season, which marked
my 33rd autumn chasing whitetails. Those three-plus decades have flown by at warp
speed. But perhaps even more amazing to me is how rapidly whitetail hunting has
changed since I began chasing deer in the 1970s.
Today’s hunters — even
greenhorns with but a few seasons under their belt — seem so far ahead of deer
nuts from my generation. Twenty-first century deer hunters know deer behavior
and biology far more intimately than most experts of a few decades ago. Hunters
refer to themselves as “managers” and can identify deer by age-class, know how
to attract whitetails through proper habitat management and food plot
plantings, and make informed decisions about which deer to harvest to improve
their herd. In addition to this herd knowledge, today’s hunters enjoy
improvements in equipment that would boggle the minds of yesteryear’s deer
gurus — better guns and bows, scouting cameras, tree stands, camouflage,
rangefinders; the list is long and seems to keep growing. Such light-speed
progress leads to a natural curiosity about the future. If deer hunting has
evolved so rapidly in the last few decades, what changes and challenges lie in the
immediate future? Though no one has a crystal ball, I spend a lot of time
talking to hunters, biologists, landowners and other folks with a vested
interest in whitetail management. Chatting with them has led to a short laundry
list of issues that will surely affect how we manage and hunt whitetails in
years to come. Here’s a sneak peek.
THE
NUMBERS GAME
It’s
no secret that whitetails are as abundant now as at any time in recorded
history. Indeed, in many areas, deer populations have become so high that
they’ve negatively impacted native vegetation and habitat for other wildlife. And
of course, overpopulated whitetails cause problems for people, too — crop
damage, vehicle collisions and the spread of Lyme disease. Finally, unnaturally
dense herds also elevate the risk of disease transfer (CWD and bovine TB, among
others) for whitetails themselves. None of this is earth-shattering news, of
course. But future hunters — perhaps more so than ever before — will be called
upon to keep deer populations in tune with available habitat. Perhaps no one
knows this better than Keith Warnke, deer ecologist with the Wisconsin DNR.
Though Warnke’s toughest job is dealing with the Badger State’s CWD problem, he
sees controlling whitetail numbers — through annual and aggressive antlerless
harvests — as Job One across the state. “My chief concern will be, as always,
population control,” he said. “Maintaining a responsible number of deer on the
landscape has always been the function of hunters, and we can’t let that role
slip away. Unfortunately, the challenge will become ever greater as hunter
numbers decline and access becomes more difficult. But we need to promote
hunters to the world as herd managers, and we need to take that role more
seriously in the future than we ever have. We don’t want to look back in 50
years and have society say ‘How could you not manage that deer herd?’” Many
states encourage antlerless harvest by offering liberal doe tags and/or holding
special seasons, and that trend shows no signs of weakening. In Wisconsin, however,
the DNR has taken things a step further, establishing “earna- buck”
requirements in management units that fail to meet antlerless harvest goals.
While these seasons are never popular, hunters seem to accept them more readily
now, and I expect to see more states adopt them when deer populations surge.
Indeed, some private deer clubs and individual groups have instituted such
guidelines voluntarily, requiring hunters to shoot one (and sometimes more) antlerless
deer before hunting for a buck. Though game managers can pass doe tags out like
candy, one harsh reality of the modern hunter has become evident; the average
sportsman typically doesn’t require much venison and many quit after shooting a
deer or two. This makes venison donation programs, such as Hunters Feeding the
Hungry, critical to keeping doe harvests high. In addition to giving hunters an
“excuse” for shooting more does, these programs provide much-needed meat for
local food shelves, as well as giving sportsmen excellent PR. However, most
donation programs suffer from inadequate funding and require lots of effort and
manpower to start and maintain. This will be an ongoing — but critical —
challenge for the future.
KEYS
TO THE CASTLE Though a constant complaint of today’s
deer hunters is gaining access to hunting property, it’s a safe bet that tomorrow’s
whitetailers will face an even tougher job of finding a place to enjoy their
sport. This problem is among the most difficult to solve, as it is so broad and
multifaceted. In some regions, prime lands are being leased or sold to
exclusive clubs or wealthy individuals. In others, once-public areas are being
lost, as paper/timber companies sell off parcels to pay their bills. And of
course, the desire for many Americans to buy a chunk of land in the country and
build their dream home has resulted in even more land being divided up and
often closed to hunting. Finally, the continued juggernaut of urban sprawl — a by-product
of our booming human population — promises to usurp even more hunting ground
and elevate the challenge of hunters to get on the ground to kill deer. Even in
a largely rural state like Iowa, the urban deer control is a big concern to DNR
biologist Willie Suchy. In a recent conversation, Suchy listed “managing metro
deer populations, which we hope to do by keeping as many areas open to hunting
as we can,” as one of his primary management concerns for the future. Obviously,
there are no easy solutions to this far-reaching and complicated problem, but it
has been addressed through some innovative programs. Perhaps chief among them
are those that involve state agencies leasing private land and opening it to
hunters. Kansas and South Dakota, for example, sport the Walk-In Hunting Area
(WIHA) program, while North Dakota sponsors Private Land Open To Sportsmen
(PLOTS). In Montana, Block Management areas allow deer hunters access to some
prime ranch land. These programs are examples of innovative, pro-active
approaches to the access issue and should serve as a model for other states in
the future. Hunting in metro/suburban areas promises to present some of the
steepest access challenges for tomorrow’s deer hunter. However, it’s not an
insurmountable one, as has been proven in my home state of Minnesota. In the seven-county
area that includes the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, state (and local)
hunting groups have combined to form the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base (MBRB).
Working with the DNR, the MBRB helps communities struggling with expanding deer
herds by setting up special hunts in parks, natural areas and on small parcels
of private land. MBRB trains hunters and sets up special hunt rules tailored to
meet the community’s needs. It’s a wildly successful model that needs to be
emulated in more states right now and well into the future.
RECRUITING
WARS Most deer hunters have read about the nationwide sag in
hunter numbers. There are simply a smaller percentage of us on the landscape
than ever before, and you don’t have to be a sociologist to realize the
implications for our sport. Fewer and fewer people live close to nature, which
not only reduces the number of people who understand hunting’s role in managing
game populations, but also the number of young people who’ll participate in our
cherished traditions and keep them alive. Hunter recruitment is, and will
continue to be, perhaps our chief hurdle as we look into the future. The most
obvious solution to the problem, of course, is to get kids involved. But as
legions of well-meaning hunters have discovered, such a task is easier said
than done. As Wisconsin biologist Warnke told me, “Most hunters have at least
one kid they can take out and recruit to the sport. Unfortunately, catching and
keeping their attention isn’t always simple.” Indeed, with the fast-paced lives
today’s kids lead, there are many activities vying for their attention. Couple
that with the shrinking access issue faced by even veteran hunters, and it’s no
wonder that getting kids excited about deer hunting can be a tall challenge. What’s
the answer? Youth-only hunts and seasons are certainly a step in the right
direction. Many states host special youth hunts in state parks and other areas
typically closed to hunting. These areas are perfect for beginning hunters, as
deer numbers are typically high and the chances for success greater than in
many areas. Other states, like Alabama, Missouri and Iowa, set aside a special time
frame when only kids can hunt (often with firearms, and well ahead of the
general gun season opener), and I feel these seasons are an outstanding idea.
Not
only do the rules typically require each child to have an adult, non-hunting mentor
(which helps parents/mentors to teach appropriate skills and bond with the
neophyte), but the seasons are held in early fall, when the weather is more
enjoyable and deer more relaxed. It doesn’t end there. In taking a more
aggressive, proactive stance toward recruiting tomorrow’s sportsmen (and women),
some groups are reaching out to kids of even younger ages. The National Archery
in the Schools Program (NASP) provides training, technical assistance and
equipment to schools willing to teach archery skills to their students. With
its primary roots in Kentucky, this program has been wildly successful wherever
it’s been tried. Though certainly not all these young shooters will become
diehard whitetail hunters, many will catch the bug and nearly all will gain an
appreciation for the shooting sports. And without a doubt, tomorrow’s deer
hunters will need all the understanding they can get. Finally, there’s a
growing, nationwide movement to reduce the minimum age at which kids are
allowed to hunt. In many states, the minimum hunting age is 12, and in some states,
youngsters have to be 14 to be afield. Many hunting advocates and some groups
(most notably the National Wild Turkey Federation) have lobbied to reduce these
age requirements, arguing that many kids simply aren’t interested in the sport
by the time they can legally participate in it. I definitely believe this issue
needs to be discussed and explored. Anything that can be done to “catch”
youngsters who have an interest in hunting before they “stray” to other sports
or activities is of utmost importance.
CONCLUSION
Some
readers of this magazine might be disappointed that I didn’t delve into any of
the myriad deer-specific issues that interest hardcore whitetail hunters.
Quality deer management, nutrition, habitat improvements and refined hunting
techniques are all topics that serious deer nuts (including me) always enjoy
studying. Though these issues are certainly important and fascinating, I feel they’re
simply the tip of the iceberg in the world we call deer hunting. Of primary
importance to all deer hunters is our ability to look at the big issues that
affect our sport — not only how we hunt whitetails on our “back 40,” but on how
deer are managed wherever they’re found. If each of us can do our part to
address the three issues discussed above, I believe deer hunting, and deer
hunters, will be better off. And I’m similarly confident that — just as we have
so many times before — America’s whitetail hunters will prove themselves up for
the challenge.