No Major Deer Changes This Year

Guess what? Fishing isn't the same as it was 10 years ago, and it won't be the same in the future as it is now.

Fishing and hunting have become fragmented. How so? There are many ways to look at our natural resource problems, such as:

How have things changed?

Years ago, a bear hunter bought a license and went hunting. Now, we supposedly have sound, scientific wildlife management, and that means more bears are being killed each year under a quota system than were ever killed under the old rules when anyone could hunt bruins.

And that's OK because we have more bears than ever before, and the animals are moving into new territories, and management means determining the social carrying capacity of bruins. How many bears will people tolerate near their homes before they start squawking?

We have elk hunts now with some rather new rules. The rules only affect those who draw an elk tag from now on. I've applied for an elk tag ever since they had their first hunt in 1964. I've never been drawn, but instead of drawing names from those who have applied and missed out, the DNR are enforcing the newer rules.

And frankly, I'm not the only one who has applied and been denied. It means that hunters who drew an elk tag years ago can still draw another one. Does this make sense? Is it sour grapes on my part? No, it just means that me and many people are dissatisfied with the new system that makes no sense. No one should ever draw a second elk tag if they've already drawn one but that's not how it works now.

When will Region II turkey hunters get private-land tags?

The DNR has had ample opporunities to allow Region II turkey hunters to obtain some private-land turkey tags that would guarantee them a first- or second-season hunt for those applicants who own property up here, but pressure from other groups is louder than the mumbles of regional landowners. So, private-land turkey tags can be obtained in the Upper Peninsula in those counties where birds are hunted, and throughout southern Lower Peninsula counties, but again Region II landowners get the short and dirty end of the turkey-permit stick.

It appears the DNR is caving in to special interest groups. In case you haven't noticed, the special interest groups are in the face of the DNR biologists to get what they want, not what is fair to everyone else.

Do you remember when Michigan had their statewide trout season opener on the last Saturday in April? And then, in hopes of streamlining our fishing seasons, the DNR allowed Lower Peninsula muskie, pike and walleye fishing to open at the same time as the trout season. There are many sport shops in the Lower Peninsula, and this ruling a decade or so ago, denied sportsmen two opening days -- trout and walleye, etc., and simply lumped them all together.

Guess which one most people prefer, and in resounding fashion? It wasn't trout, which are harder to catch. Those people who opened the trout season, and then on May 15, opened the walleye season years ago, jumped for joy. They got over two more weeks of walleye fishing, and the sporting goods stores lost a wonderful chance to make money on the second opener.

Deer kill and deer numbers are way down in Region II.

The DNR, currently backed into a corner by angry deer hunters, have been taking it on the chin. The DNR's little dog-and-pony show went on the road to discuss issues with deer hunters four or five years ago, and they were confronted by many angry people who are tired of not seeing deer and even more tired of horrible deer management policies.

Trust me, in many parts of the state, the chances of seeing and killing a deer is as high as drawing one of the aforementioned elk tags. Southern Michigan counties still have lots of deer, but such is not the case in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower peninsulas.

These hunters were and still are clamoring for change, and rightfully so. I've backed the DNR for more years than I can remember, but things are changing ... and frankly folks, it's not for the better. Deer are plumb hard to find in the U.P., and things aren't much better in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula. But guess where the deer are: on private land in the southern Lower Peninsula counties. They aren't Up North.

Mandatory deer registration is important.

This deal over deer and deer hunting is far from over. The DNR needs to begin mandatory deer registration, and do away with the two-license deal. If they want to make more money, make it mandatory that hunters register their first deer before they can buy a second license. Hunters no longer believe the estimated Oct. 1 deer numbers, and they don't believe the  final totals that show deer kills higher than what anyone believes, especially those sportsmen who do not see a whitetail during the hunting seasons.

Now, in an effort to raise more money and to protentially alienate more people, the DNR will be selling some of permits for some of the species that are difficult to draw -- like the bull elk tags. If you've got enough money, you too can bypass the lottery system, and bid lots of money. This further tips the scales away from the ordinary hunter, and will become the most direct cause of higher license fees.

And, while we are at it, it means the rich get what they want while the average sportsman get little or nothing. Go over to Germany and try to hunt. It will cost an arm and a leg, and a lengthy training session before you'll take your firearm into the woods.

Now, because of one case of a Chronic Wasting Disease scare in Kent County a couple of years ago, baiting has been eliminated in the entire Lower Peninsula. In the meantime, baiting continues in the Upper Peninsula. Many people started cheating last fall in the Lower Peninsula where they continue to bait. Does it make sense to have legal baiting in one part of the state but none in the rest? Not to me it doesn't.

And all because of one CWD disease in a private enclosure. Everyone had to pay the price for that solitary animal. Did people resent this, and is it sound scientific management? It makes one wonder. The DNR and Department of Agriculture should get their collective acts together.

We lost deer hunter numbers when baiting was outlawed.

Has deer and turkeys suffered in the northern Lower Peninsula. You bet. Folks, where I live we had more than 180 inches of snow last winter and about 110 inches so far this season. I've seen very few gobblers, and only a few hen turkeys this winter. If the DNR's weird sense of having turkey feeding sites weren't so laughable, I'd cry.

If we have fewer turkeys this spring than in the past, we can look to a lack of a winter feeding program. Turkeys are big birds and they burn a lot of energy launching into flight from the ground, but to expect birds to burn up even more fat reserves during winter months by having to fly to an elevated position for corn, is a bit silly. Besides, the birds scatter the feed from above, and the deer come to it on the ground,

But never mind me. I get a bit peckish after snowblowing for three months, getting the blower stuck once in deep snow two weeks ago, and watching the road plow fill in my driveway. Some things, like silly management policies, get me going.

Am I in a bit of a nasty mood? You bet! Michigan hunters once stood tall and proud of their DNR, our deer management policies, and the fact that we had more combined deer hunters and man-days of deer hunting than any other state in the nation.

We don't have much to be proud of now except in areas where there is a Quality Deer Management program. Hunters in such areas are now seeing more bucks and larger animals in some of those counties than ever before.

Folks, it goes against the grain of Mother Nature to try to maintain a status quo, year after year. It's an impossible to accomplish, and management of our deer herd is sorely lacking in focus.

Where are the DNR wildlife deer biologists? Not out in the field.

I never see a wildlife biologist in the field, and in the words of a fine wildlife biologist who retired a few years ago, "the new wildlife biologists don't have any dirt on their boots."

One might wonder if they ever own a pair of boots. They spend little, if any time, in the field. They manage by building computer models, and I for one, know that it isn't working.

And sadly, the biologists seldom want to talk with landowners, especially in northern counties. They know they'll get an ear full, and most of the anger generated their way these days, is justified.
Perhaps we need a shake-up in state government.

One doesn't have to look hard or far to see that state government has wrecked the economy, our jobs and our livlihood, and politicians have left taxpayers holding the bag ... again.

This is the adult version of the old snipe hunt trick we played on other kids when we were young. It was funny back then, but nobody is laughing anymore because many of us are left holding an empty bag, and we're now playing the snipe game.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors