By Glen Wunderlich Outdoor Columnist Member Professional Outdoor Media Association December 14, 2008
The final week of the firearms deer season began with a missing link to our cooperative plan to manage the state-owned deer herd in our neck of the woods. Quality Deer Management (QDM) dictates a strategy, which among its sound, science-based aspects, is one that involves selective depopulation of herd animals.
Those that do not agree with, or are not aware of QDM, nonetheless contribute to the management of the herd whether knowingly or otherwise. If a hunter takes a button buck, yearling buck, mature buck, doe fawn, or mature doe, or any combination thereof, or no animal at all, he plays a role in overall herd management. For those of us in the higher deer density areas, populations are unnaturally skewed with an overabundance of does versus the number of bucks.
How does this happen? It seems that we hunters get hung up on the bravado of busting bucks. Getting one’s buck may relieve the guff from guys at work or other social gatherings. And, yes, it puts meat in the freezer but the antler soup is of little value. Others hold steadfast to the archaic notion that female deer must be protected. While not all hunters are able to control habitat and/or feed for wildlife, all can make conscious decisions about management before pulling the trigger. Once that bullet is launched, it cannot be called off.
It’s time we understand just what got us to the point of our ridiculously unbalanced deer herd. And, if it hasn’t sunken in yet, read the previous paragraph again.
With the newly released whitetail deer harvest figures for this season, which for all practical purposes are about the same as last year’s data, hunters’ thinking toward harvesting bucks, and consequently retaining stagnant buck to doe ratios, seems to coincide with years past, as well. About 157,000 antlered bucks and about 115,000 antlerless deer were taken statewide. In the UP, deer numbers were down along with that of hunters and the combination resulted in a 22 percent reduction in harvest in our far north region. An increase in harvest in the northern Lower Peninsula has been reported with a total of 91,000 deer taken – 59,000 antlered bucks and 32,000 antlerless deer. In the southern Lower Peninsula about a 50:50 harvest ratio of antlered and antlerless deer has been reported for a total kill of 149,000. Of course, these statistics are preliminary and will change as the season progresses.
My personal contribution to date may have had little impact on these numbers, but that doesn’t mean abandoning QDM. On the contrary, I blew my only chance at a big-racked buck during archery season and have passed on numerous other lesser bucks since. In fact, I was surprised to spot two bucks within range on opening day of muzzleloading season and was hopeful for their chances to mature into next season. That didn’t prevent me from taking a large doe with a Barnes TMZ bullet on the muzzleloader opener, however. The high-shoulder hit was instantly fatal, as was a similar bullet placement on another doe the week prior.
