Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association
After receiving an email from Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) reminding me of my last chance to be heard on various conservation policies, I dared to peek into the matter before blowing it off. Since MUCC’s annual convention has been canceled, its board and staff have invited all members to review and to vote on myriad resolutions, which have the potential to become not only proposals, but hunting regulations, if adopted by the Natural Resources Commission (NRC). While the survey itself is not a voting document, the results will be aggregated by region and provided to delegates and representatives who will represent all of the Individual members in various regions – a virtual conference, if you will.
Here is one example – and, an important one for us all that will be put on the table: MUCC will support a three-year trial of a regulation that would include an antlerless tag with combination license (3 tags total), which will include two bucks and one antlerless deer in units where antlerless harvest is valid.
If ever Michigan is to reduce the over-abundance of whitetail deer, it will have to change its policies, because the status quo has failed. For too many years, our deer herd has been managed for sheer numbers; however, nobody has ever found the “off switch” to our self-inflicted predicament of too many deer.
Part of the challenge has been to convince the older generation of hunters to take antlerless deer; I’m not sure it has ever sunk in. However, as a new generation of hunters enters the hunting community, the appeal to manage the herd for health and balance may become more genuine, if tags are at no additional cost. Obviously, that doesn’t necessarily mean that this one step will get Michigan’s deer herd to numbers that will significantly reduce vehicle/deer collisions or will it necessarily reduce crop damage substantially for farmers, but it certainly could help.
Each deer tag filled has the potential to minimize costs to consumers, because each vehicle that avoids a collision with a deer saves on average approximately $3,000 each. Oh, but Glen, insurance pays for the damage. True. But, we must remember that ultimately the consumer pays in increased premiums. Insurance companies are building skyscrapers with our premiums that are inflated to cover expenses. And, if you drive a vehicle, you pay. If you don’t drive a vehicle, you still pay the rates, which are buried in the cost of doing business for those that drive anything anywhere.
The proposal may not go far enough to significantly alter outcomes, though. Why not give an antlerless tag to a hunter that purchases only one tag for antlered deer in affected areas? And, if that’s too far-fetched, maybe cutting the cost to $10 or even $5 for an antlerless tag would keep the momentum going in the proper direction.
One thing is for certain: If we keep on doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting the same results.
