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Deer are NOT Pests

DWilk

Active Member
Bill Winke's recent hunt and conversation with Governor Branstad further confirmed what many of us already knew and that is that that the Governor and the legislature receive extreme pressure from insurance companies (Farm Bureau) to reduce deer populations as it relates to 'public safety', primarily car-deer collisions, and crop damage.

What I'd like to facilitate on this thread is a discussion on how we (as hunters) can better bring to light the realities associated with car-deer collisions, TRUE crop damage numbers, and maybe put together a fact-sheet .... or some talking points to include in discussions with representatives, etc..

If someone has access to studies and various related data, paste them here, etc. etc. If this thread dies, then so be it, but we can't all sit on our butts on internet forums complaining.

In my opinion, the largest threat the Iowa's deer population as a whole is Farm Bureau. For years now, FB and similarly tasked organizations looking out for farmers and the 'public safety' have continuously spewed the argument of deer being pests. It annoys the living daylights out of me. People can argue all day about killing young bucks, or about non-resident influences, about leases.... etc. etc., but what many of us fail to realize is these are arguments AMONG hunters, and the VAST majority of people in Iowa are not hunters, and these are the people getting fed a constant string of BS by companies such as Farm Bureau.

I get it... farmers are the backbone to Iowa's economy. My family farms. Many of my friends farm....... and obviously, people's health and safety will always take a higher priority to deer hunting, but until we can get the public to recognize deer as an asset, a part of the landscape, and not as a pest, we are going to have a hard time arguing any other talking points as it pertains to QDM, non-res influence, etc. etc. etc.

What are some real numbers of crop damage by deer? How many of these numbers are skewed by collectors? How much crop damage is done by deer vs. raccoons? How much are yields decreased by the natural edge affect of growing crops on the edge of the timber, and how significant is the loss by deer REALLY?

Informal Poll .... how many of you have ever hit a deer with your vehicle?

I am in a vehicle for roughly 40,000 - 50,000 miles each year... 90% in the state of Iowa, and I have NEVER hit a deer with my truck. Most of my miles are on gravel and 2 lane highways in southern Iowa.... have I came close to hitting deer many many times? yes, but I recognize the possibility of deer being on the road and am ready for it. Simply braking has saved me dozens of collisions with deer over the years because I recognize deer as part of the landscape.

Will I eventually hit a deer on the road? Probably (maybe not if we continue the massive population declines), but for somebody to drive a vehicle in Iowa for 11 years (much of which occurring during times of 'high' population) and to never have a collision.... IMO, the odds are insignificant. The government can't legislate-out the fact that some people are brainless drivers with tunnel vision on the highways.

Farmers can live with deer. Profits can be turned with deer as part of the landscape. The roads are plenty safe with deer around. The words 'deer' and 'pest' should never be in the same conversation and we need to work towards removing that from the conversation in the public and in the legislature!
 
I get invited to this guys house near me for a game diner/party some years ago. Now maybe half of us there owned a farm. I get introduced to this guy and I wont say his name and I told he owned the so and so farm on this road. well he is told I own the X farm over near this river. Well of course dummy me asked him about the deer over near him and here is what he said.

And this is a quote ' The only good deer is a dead deer' well needless to say I was really taken aback. It kinda ruined the rest of the party as I now had a deer guy label on me and he was in tight in the area. Well people would always remark about the deer on my farm and the quality and quanity.

well that guy was a total arse if you asked me. Yes, he was a farmer but he got the farm by getting married to some girl who got it from her dad. The only way he ever was able to farm was because he married into it. I slaved for mine and that guy never liked me till the day I left.

Dummy me thought people liked deer but to that guy they were a pest.
 
I would like to see an audit done on insurance companies to show how little car-deer collisions actually cost them. It cant be that much, anymore. I drive a lot too and ya, in the mid-2000s there were deer carcasses all over the roads. I would see hundreds. Last 2 years, I have seen VERY few. Ive never personally hit one, either.

Is this info publicly available?
 
One of my customer's friend is an insurance agent in the cedar rapids area. He said typically he can count on 100-150 claims per year for deer collisions. This year at the end of November he only had 3. He couldn't figure out what was going on.
 
Not that I'm supporting the insurance companies or anything, but I have hit 3 deer with 3 out of the 4 vehicles I have owned. I have missed hitting several others, a few just barely. That has been over the past 15 years. My parents not so lucky. My mom has hit her share of deer and my dad hits at least one every year. Just the other week he actually got a double and he got a double the year before too. But, due to deductibles, and in the case of my dad driving the "farm truck", many of these don't get turned in unless the functionality of the vehicle is affected (yes, my parents drive dented vehicles, and my truck is currently sporting the dents from an unlucky spike buck I hit last year). I've also noticed more road kill deer this year than last.

I had a brief conversation with a farmer I know this past fall about the deer population. He is not a hunter, and seems to despise deer. He said something about how deer hunting was a waste of time or something like that, and I replied that I was just trying to improve the crop yields for the neighbors and keep some deer off the roads. He, knowing that I like to try to get a buck, said I should be shooting the "factories" (does) if I want to do that. I didn't think quick enough to remind him that without the does producing more deer that he wouldn't be able to lease part of his ground to other deer hunters as he does now. I wonder if the increased yields that he would have with no deer around would equal the lease money he gets.

Anyway, I would be interested in knowing just how much money deer damage is costing the insurance companies and farmers as well.
 
And this is a quote ' The only good deer is a dead deer' QUOTE]



This sounds like 98% of the farmers I know, including aunts, uncles and cousins that farm. Unfortunately the average Joe city slicker feels the same. We are in the minority I feel.
 
I reside in two places. Wife and I take care of her mother north of DesMoines. We have a place east of Ottumwa. For the past 10 yrs we have traveled back and forth up and down,163, 130 miles almost weekly. We have never hit a deer! Wife did hit a deer past Nov. Out in the country? No,,near DesMoines suburbs. Deer around the cities are a problem. All the farmers I have met in SE Iowa, consider deer Rats. Unfortunately. Some brag about shooting them onsight any time. Never met a poor farmer down there even with these terrible deer around. Every one I have met is Very Well off!
 
I commute to work 120 miles round trip daily. I have been doing this for two years. Most of my driving is on highway 30 west side of the state I have yet to even see a live deer. Maybe seen at the most 10 dead ones on the roadside. I have also been driving for 15 years and have never hit a deer. Knock on wood.
 
My 2008 has 130K on it mainly driving it to southern Iowa and I have never hit a deer. It has been totaled by hail and bought back in that time though. So I guess you have an equal chance of hail totaling your vehicle as a deer totaling it.
 
I reside in two places. Wife and I take care of her mother north of DesMoines. We have a place east of Ottumwa. For the past 10 yrs we have traveled back and forth up and down,163, 130 miles almost weekly. We have never hit a deer! Wife did hit a deer past Nov. Out in the country? No,,near DesMoines suburbs. Deer around the cities are a problem. All the farmers I have met in SE Iowa, consider deer Rats. Unfortunately. Some brag about shooting them onsight any time. Never met a poor farmer down there even with these terrible deer around. Every one I have met is Very Well off!

Here's why they are so well off.. Go to this website http://farm.ewg.org/ and type in your zipcode and it will show you how much the biggest farmers in your area have received since 1995 in supplemental income by means of farm subsidies (on top of what they are already making).... I can think of a lot of different things to spend an extra million bucks on... it's ridiculous. Yet, they complain about deer damage.. Ha.. I wonder how many of them wrote a check back to the government when they were selling their corn for $7/bushel. Instead, I personally know several of them on this list that have condos in Florida, Mexico, and Lake of the Ozarks..... Can't think of a single non-farmer person I know that has a condo anywhere.
 
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Not that I'm supporting the insurance companies or anything, but I have hit 3 deer with 3 out of the 4 vehicles I have owned. I have missed hitting several others, a few just barely. That has been over the past 15 years. My parents not so lucky. My mom has hit her share of deer and my dad hits at least one every year. Just the other week he actually got a double and he got a double the year before too. But, due to deductibles, and in the case of my dad driving the "farm truck", many of these don't get turned in unless the functionality of the vehicle is affected (yes, my parents drive dented vehicles, and my truck is currently sporting the dents from an unlucky spike buck I hit last year). I've also noticed more road kill deer this year than last.

I had a brief conversation with a farmer I know this past fall about the deer population. He is not a hunter, and seems to despise deer. He said something about how deer hunting was a waste of time or something like that, and I replied that I was just trying to improve the crop yields for the neighbors and keep some deer off the roads. He, knowing that I like to try to get a buck, said I should be shooting the "factories" (does) if I want to do that. I didn't think quick enough to remind him that without the does producing more deer that he wouldn't be able to lease part of his ground to other deer hunters as he does now. I wonder if the increased yields that he would have with no deer around would equal the lease money he gets.

Anyway, I would be interested in knowing just how much money deer damage is costing the insurance companies and farmers as well.

Just wanted to say my post was not intended to be against all farmers, as I know many who are also hunters and want to keep hunting.
 
Also I don't condemn farmers for making $,I know some real good farmin guys. Just don't tell me the deer are keeping them from making a good profit. at least not in my area.
 
Also I don't condemn farmers for making $,I know some real good farmin guys. Just don't tell me the deer are keeping them from making a good profit. at least not in my area.

That's the kicker.... deer are so far down the list of things that could hinder crop production.... they should be insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

What happens is there is a continual flow of mis-information coming to farmers pegging deer as pests and problems, and the social atmosphere among farmers condemns anyone that says differently. It's fascinating really... rumors float around farmers like they do with middle school girls :D
 
Not to get off topic but I think the biggest threat we face is money more so than insurance companies. I completely agree with you and changing the publics mentality on deer will only help. What worries me the most is the money the state was making in the mid 2000's when we were aggressively thinning the herd. When those kinds of dollars were coming in and now they cease. Politicians will surely be looking to fill the void. Gov. Branstad mentioned with Winke about raising NR tags. I believe that would ruin our deer hunting quicker than anything. Some say NR won't buy or lease because we had a poor year this year. That's b.s. because its still better than their home states.

I do believe we over harvested does in areas but I believe we are smart enough to sustain the numbers. Doe tags were cut in a lot of areas last year and I believe they will be cut again. What we weren't ready for was an aggressive harvest,a couple significant winter kills, and now EHD. All of that put us in a hole that we will climb out of so long as our legislatures don't get money hungry and sell us out first.

The night before 1st season shotgun I sell on average $12,000.00 in licenses alone. I talk to a lot of farmers and hunters and from what I can tell the days of kill everything are done. The farmers at least in my area are not complaining anymore. For good reason too. There's a fraction of the deer now.

Unfortunately I also believe the good ol' days are gone.
 
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I have two uncles who farm. Listening to them you would think their farms are crawling with deer, there are actually hardly any deer there. 98% of their property is a corn or bean field. They knock on me and deer and deer hunting like its a joke. They shotgun party hunt and shoot more than they have tags. They make off handed comments about shooting deer out of season too when they see one. With all the "crop damage from the deer" they have you would think they are hardly getting by.
 
I grew up in NW Iowa and have believed for a long time that any farmer with more than 1000 acres of crop land should get a government check annually and be required to put 1% of that land into crp or some type of non harvestable habitat
 
Good Post DWilk. My GF worked in insurance for 9+ yrs, I'll have to see if she can dig up some stats.

For being a "hunter" the Governors vagueness on the subject is very concerning; typical politician. I too have never hit a deer. I've come dang close on the crotch rocket multiple times, but this was on curvy roads in town where there is no hunting allowed.

I always thought it was funny that the state owns the deer...that is until you hit them with your car!
 
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