Jack wrote:
On Dec 31, 6:31 am, thunder wrote:
On Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:22:17 -0500, gfretwell wrote:
The last time I was in Chuck county Md a farmer could get a permit to
shoot any deer they saw on their property, night or day. Just turn on
the flood light and blast away. They are 180 pound rats up there,
evidently.
Same here in New Jersey. Deer are like vermin. I would argue hunting is
not an effective way to limit populations. Each year, here in NJ,
hunters take @ 60,000 deer. Yet, the population has remained stable.
Bad winters, or limited mast crop seem to have more effect on the size of
the herd than hunting.

Not an effective means, huh? Ask yourself what the population would
be like without the hunters taking 60k of them out every year?

To help you out, the herd would be... larger. And more destructive.
Because food supplies would be strained, they'd be weak and sickly.
More auto accidents and encroachment on farm and residential lands.

Thinning the herd manages its size and keeps it healthier while
helping to limit its effects on man. That's why its called "game
management".


It's too bad we've destroyed so much of the habitat wild critters used
to have...and now we use that as an excuse to hunt them. Well, the
upside, I suppose, is that a decent number of hunters end up shooting
each other.

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:04:02 -0500, gfretwell wrote:


The reality with deer, raccoons, rabbits and the other "prey" species is
they do better around people than they do in the wilderness. There are
fewer predators. Maybe we should introduce Panthers (mountain lions) and
Black Bears into suburban areas to hold down the deer population ... and
make it illegal to harm them. That is what they are doing in South
Florida.

I think it's being done without our help. There have been denials by the
Dept. of Fish & Game, but I'm convinced cougars are returning to New
Jersey. I know two reputable friends that have stated they have seen a
cougar. One siting was with cubs. Now, perhaps it was an escape, but
there are cougars here.

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:04:02 -0500, gfretwell wrote:


The reality with deer, raccoons, rabbits and the other "prey" species is
they do better around people than they do in the wilderness. There are
fewer predators. Maybe we should introduce Panthers (mountain lions) and
Black Bears into suburban areas to hold down the deer population ... and
make it illegal to harm them. That is what they are doing in South
Florida.

I think it's being done without our help. There have been denials by the
Dept. of Fish & Game, but I'm convinced cougars are returning to New
Jersey. I know two reputable friends that have stated they have seen a
cougar. One siting was with cubs. Now, perhaps it was an escape, but
there are cougars here.

Yeah, they tend to do that. We had Coyotes coming back here for over 20
years, but the DEP (fish and game) tried to tell us they were wild dogs
for over a decade... Fisher cats, and even reports of Bears lately, but
they are saying no to that so far too