blake
Life Member
Let me say that I am aware that this post is about the West Virginia DNR miscalculating the winter deer kill in that state.
What does it have to do with Iowa deer numbers? Maybe nothing, or perhaps everything, you decide and please share your thoughts.
West Virginia DNR Miscalculated Winter Deer Kill
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The state Division of Natural Resources is blaming itself for West Virginia's disappointing buck kill during the 2010 deer season, a state official said.
West Virginia deer hunters killed 31 percent fewer bucks during the two-week gun season that ended Dec. 4 than they did last year. Preliminary data from game checking stations across the state indicate 43,226 bucks were killed during firearms season, down from 62,986 last year.
The DNR had expected the buck kill to be about the same as 2009.
The agency simply miscalculated deer mortality last winter, assistant wildlife chief Paul Johansen told the Charleston Gazette.
"We were wrong,'' Johansen said. "We're not afraid to admit it. We failed to recognize the amount of winter mortality, and we failed to factor that into our projections for the 2010 hunting season.''
Forage such as nuts was in short supply and the state's deer herd entered the winter with little to eat. They then endured a tough winter with the deepest snow in several years.
Other factors at work this season included this fall's bumper acorn crop, which kept deer in the woods where they're more difficult to find, poor weather on the season's two Saturdays, and an outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease before the 2008 season that cut into the population.
Despite the sharp decline in the kill, Johansen said the deep population remains healthy and should rebound quickly — but hunters can expect more conservative limits on doe hunting.
"The sky isn't falling,'' he said. "We've had sharp drop-offs in the buck kill before. From 1997 to 1998, we had a 26 percent decline. From 2002 to 2003, we had a 24 percent decline. Granted, this decline is larger, but it's nothing we can't fix.''
The agency's deer management plan calls for lower doe harvests to increase the population.
"We base each county's regulations on the number of bucks killed per square mile. If hunters in a county kill fewer bucks per square mile than prescribed in the plan, we recommend more conservative antlerless regulations for that county,'' Johansen said. ``If they kill more bucks than prescribed, we recommend more liberal antlerless reguluations.''
The result should be a slow recovery.
"It won't happen overnight, though,'' Johansen cautioned. "In counties where the decline was less than 31 percent, the population will recover fairly quickly. In counties where the decline was greater, the population will recover more slowly. My guess is that it will take us a couple of years to get back up to the 60,000 level.''
What does it have to do with Iowa deer numbers? Maybe nothing, or perhaps everything, you decide and please share your thoughts.
West Virginia DNR Miscalculated Winter Deer Kill
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The state Division of Natural Resources is blaming itself for West Virginia's disappointing buck kill during the 2010 deer season, a state official said.
West Virginia deer hunters killed 31 percent fewer bucks during the two-week gun season that ended Dec. 4 than they did last year. Preliminary data from game checking stations across the state indicate 43,226 bucks were killed during firearms season, down from 62,986 last year.
The DNR had expected the buck kill to be about the same as 2009.
The agency simply miscalculated deer mortality last winter, assistant wildlife chief Paul Johansen told the Charleston Gazette.
"We were wrong,'' Johansen said. "We're not afraid to admit it. We failed to recognize the amount of winter mortality, and we failed to factor that into our projections for the 2010 hunting season.''
Forage such as nuts was in short supply and the state's deer herd entered the winter with little to eat. They then endured a tough winter with the deepest snow in several years.
Other factors at work this season included this fall's bumper acorn crop, which kept deer in the woods where they're more difficult to find, poor weather on the season's two Saturdays, and an outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease before the 2008 season that cut into the population.
Despite the sharp decline in the kill, Johansen said the deep population remains healthy and should rebound quickly — but hunters can expect more conservative limits on doe hunting.
"The sky isn't falling,'' he said. "We've had sharp drop-offs in the buck kill before. From 1997 to 1998, we had a 26 percent decline. From 2002 to 2003, we had a 24 percent decline. Granted, this decline is larger, but it's nothing we can't fix.''
The agency's deer management plan calls for lower doe harvests to increase the population.
"We base each county's regulations on the number of bucks killed per square mile. If hunters in a county kill fewer bucks per square mile than prescribed in the plan, we recommend more conservative antlerless regulations for that county,'' Johansen said. ``If they kill more bucks than prescribed, we recommend more liberal antlerless reguluations.''
The result should be a slow recovery.
"It won't happen overnight, though,'' Johansen cautioned. "In counties where the decline was less than 31 percent, the population will recover fairly quickly. In counties where the decline was greater, the population will recover more slowly. My guess is that it will take us a couple of years to get back up to the 60,000 level.''
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