Deer Wars: Do Antler Restrictions Work?

Dr. Gary Alt was responsible for a lot of changes in Pennsylvania's deer management program during his tenure as chief of the deer management program, but the two features that drew the most attention were his herd reduction program and antler restrictions.  Of the two ideas, antler restrictions was the one that gained the most approval by Pennsylvania's deer hunters, but one still hears some discontent about them at times.

First we must consider if they work.  In my experience they definitely do, as todays' photographs will illustrate, and I can show case after case of similar examples.  This is a buck that I first photographed after rifle deer season of 2011.  This particular photo was taken on the day after Christmas, which was also the first day of the flintlock deer season.

Yearling Spike Buck: Canon 7D-Canon 300mm f2.8- ISO 400 1/400 sec. f 3.5

Before antler restrictions were implemented it is likely this photo would not have been taken as there is a high possibility  he would have been shot during the traditional two week buck season as bucks with spikes 3" or more in length were legal.  As it happened he lived to grow a larger rack as the photo below illustrates.

Same Buck - 2 1/2 yrs. of age: Canon 5DMK II-Canon 500mm f 4- ISO 1000 1/1000 sec. f  4

Some agree that the buck is bigger, but say he is still not a trophy so what is the point?  I for one believe that anything that contributes to keeping a buck alive is a good thing.  While habitat quality and genetics are important to a certain extent--age of the animal is also extremely important.  I have documented one buck that was a small spike in his first year with antlers, a modest 8 point in his second, and an impressive 8 point in his last.

The fallacy of Alt's view of deer management was that he believed these deer should be growing larger racks sooner.  To a certain extent he is right, but only to a certain extent.  Drastically reducing the deer herd in the hopes that those that remain will be larger is absurd, but it is even more absurd to claim that we had better quality bucks before antler restrictions and that antler restrictions will damage the genetics of the herd.  Some are still so hung up on the concept of getting "their buck" each year that they would be perfectly happy to kill a spike and deeply resent having to pass up the little bucks.

Perhaps the poorest argument I ever heard against antler restrictions was penned by a well know outdoor writer who was upset because restrictions eliminated the surprise factor from buck hunting.  In his view one had to look at the deer so much to determine if it was legal that he knew exactly what he had gotten before he walked up to the deer if the shot was successful.  There is of course cases, perhaps many, where determining the legality of the buck does cost the hunter a shot, but in many if not most cases it is a shot that would have been better not taken anyway, and anyway as I see it the important thing is keeping as many bucks as possible alive to be at least one step closer to maturity.

I for one do not intend to ever kill another buck, but I would much rather see a deer herd in which a significant portion of the bucks live to reach maturity, which is the case at places like Shenandoah National Park.  That doesn't seem possible in hunting country, but it is much better to have a significant crop of 2 1/2 year old bucks coming on that is comprised of a large number of decent bucks of six to eight points or more, than for most of the bucks sighted to be spikes and four or six points.

Watch for more on deer management issues as we continue the "Deer Wars" segment from time to time. 

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

PA Deer Season: Recalling The Past

Mature Whitetail Buck

 As Thanksgiving week comes to an end, the human population of Pennsylvania's rural areas reaches a yearly high with a large influx of deer hunters anticipating the opening of rifle deer season on Monday.  The air resounds with rifle shots, as hunters sight their rifles in and at night spotlights flicker in the air and across the fields and woodlands as hunters scout for whitetails by use of artificial light.  Persons may spotlight for deer until 11:00 p.m., but may not posses firearms while doing so, may not cast the rays of lights on buildings or livestock, and may not attempt to kill a deer in such a manner.  They are not allowed to spotlight during rifle deer season.The taking of wildlife by use of artificial light is commonly known as "jacklighting"and is a common violation.

Deer Killed by "Jacklighters"

PGC Officer With Rifle Seized From Jacklighters

 During my years as a Deputy Conservation Officer for the PGC, this was the "busy" period of the year and Thanksgiving week usually brought a lot of law enforcement work dealing with persons who couldn't wait until deer season to kill a deer.  There was seldom a year went by that several violators were not apprehended killing deer while spotlighting during Thanksgiving week.  Once deer season came in, the most common offenses were failure to tag a harvested animal as required by law, hunting over bait, hunting by use of motorized vehicle, and various safety related violations.

Violator Prepares To Shoot Deer From Vehicle With Modern Rifle In Blackpowder  Season

Things have really changed since I began hunting in the mid-1960s.  At that time there was two weeks of bucks only season, followed by two or three days of artlessness deer season.  By the time I quit hunting in 1997 or 1998, the taking of antlerless deer had been liberalized to a certain extent, with bonus tags being issued in many years.

2000 saw the introduction of a three day flintlock season for antlerless deer , which was increased to a full week the following year. In addition a three day rifle antlerless season was established for junior and senior hunters. disabled persons, and active duty military.

Things really changed with the implementation of concurrent buck and doe season in 2001 and antler restrictions in 2002. The early flintlock season was expanded to include the use of in-line muzzle loaders that year as well.   Since then deer numbers have plummeted in many parts of the state as has the number of hunters, but even with that the yearly deer kill is quite large.

While the "deer wars" had been going on to a certain extent for years, this marked the period that they accelerated to the heights of the recent past.  The controversy continues to this day with some claiming the herd is still out of control and damaging the environment, while others firmly believe that deer numbers are too low and the lack of deer is leading to the death of the sport of hunting.

Whatever the truth of the matter, it seems The Pennsylvania Game Commission has lost the hearts and minds of a significant portion of the hunting public.

PA Rut Peaks-Collaring Ends at SNP?

Mature Buck Makes Lip Curl: Canon 7D 500mm f4 ISO 400 1/800 sec. f4.5

My brother Coy of Country Captures and I returned from an abortive trip to Shenandoah National Park last week, to find the whitetail rut going strong in southcentral Pennsylvania.  As regular readers are well aware, whitetail photography in the park was destroyed for the time being by a massive research program in which most of the mature bucks in the Big Meadows area of the park were fitted with huge radio collars, and many of the deer at other high tourist use areas are collared as well.  Many that are not collared, have large ear tags in each ear.

Early this week,I spoke to fellow PGC retiree and wildlife photographer, Billie Cromwell who arrived in the park the first day (Wednesday) of our trip, but decided to stay for a few days.  Sometime later in the week he spoke extensively with a ranger near the Big Meadows campground.  According to that ranger, the radio collaring program had ended two days prior.  If this is the case it is entirely possible that we saw the collaring crew on the last day that program was in effect.

What a relief to photograph a buck without a collar: Canon 7D 500mm f4 ISO 400 1/800 sec. f4.5

The buck shown above is not a lucky SNP buck that escaped collaring, he is a Pennsylvania buck that is exposed to significant hunting pressure each year.  In our area bucks seldom live to grow as large as the better bucks that SNP can produce. As a result if one wants to consistently see or photograph bucks as large or larger than this one they need to visit a place such as SNP or Cades Cove in the Smokies.

The big question at the moment is how long the study will affect the deer of SNP.  If they do not collar more deer or replace the collars on those already processed, within a few years things should return to normal as the collars are designed to fall off in time. But all to often research programs gain a momentum and keep going and going.  Of course an even worse disaster would be the actual arrival of CWD in the park.

Is this alert doe looking for bucks, predators, or a radio collaring crew?

The picture of the alert doe is primarily posted for humor, as it is not likely that she will be radio collared in the area in which she lives. But she actually faces a far worse threat with the extreme likelihood that CWD will soon be found in our part of Pennsylvania, as it has already been found to the southwest in Maryland and to the east in Adams County, Pennsylvania.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

What Is Wanton Waste?: A Disturbing Case Study

Likely The Buck Involved In First Day Of Season Incident: Still Capture From Video Taken At Long Range-Canon Xl-H1

 I came to the conclusion many years ago that not all things that are legal are ethical and just recently I had this point forcibly brought home to me.  On the last Saturday of rifle deer season a hunter shot a buck on state game lands near my home.  I noticed that he left carrying only a backpack with the deer's head with antlers attached, strapped to the backpack. It didn't seem likely he could be carrying the entire deer, so I checked the area out after he left and found a deer carcass that had been there for sometime. It had been hidden under the leaves, but the wind, rain and varmints had caused the deer to be partially exposed so that I could easily see it. This deer had the head removed and the tenderloins or "backstraps".  The remainder of the deer was left to rot, or for the varmints to eat.

Buck Killed Earlier In Season-Most Likely The One On The First Day

This brought to mind that I saw another hunter standing over a dead  buck  in this same spot on the first day of rifle deer season. In fact he was using same stand to hunt from as the hunter on this past Saturday, but it definitely was not the same individual. This hunter attached a tag to the animal and left, dragging the animal behind him, headed toward the area where I found the carcass on Saturday, which makes it seem likely that he dragged the animal to this spot, which was just out of sight of me, removed the head and tenderloins, and then buried the remainder under the leaves. 

It seemed certain that the other deer was hidden nearby, so it was time to call for professional help.  At this point I  called a PGC Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer, who made arrangements to go with me to the area next morning.  On Sunday morning, the DWCO, a neighboring landowner, and I went to the area and in no time found the deer that was shot on Saturday.  This animal was also hidden under a pile of leaves and was only a short distance from the other.  It too had only the head and tenderloins removed. The bottom line was that we had two deer that had been killed and buried under the leaves, with only the head and backstraps removed from each.

Head Removed From Buck Killed On Last Saturday Of Season

Backstraps Removed From Buck Killed On Last Saturday Of season

The Deputy gathered pertinent evidence before leaving the area and he and I felt confident that this was a "good" case.  Leaving most of the animal to rot had to be wrong, or was it? The first doubts arose when I researched  this and found quite a bit of discussion on blogs and forums on the internet about this subject.

A Particularly good discussion can be found at the Fair Chase Hunting Blog, and a continuation of this discussion can be found by clicking here, Wanton Waste And Going Above And Beyond Fair Chase .

Another excellent discussion can be found on the Hunting PA Forums . Particularly relevant are comments by Retired Pennsylvania Game Commission  Bureau Of Wildlife Protection Enforcement Division Chief , John Shutter (John S forum user name). In a comment dated Nov.2, 2011, Shutter States, "Neither State or Federal law forces game to be utilized, I don't know how that would be possible, both simply require the game to be retrieved if reasonably possible and removed from the field. After that, it is a matter of conscience and common sense."

 Here is the pertinent section of the Pennsylvania Game and Wildlife Code, which reads as follows:

 Sec. 2305. Retrieval and disposition of killed or wounded game or wildlife.
(a) General rule.--It is unlawful for any person who kills or wounds any game or wildlife while engaged in any activities permitted by this title to refuse or neglect to make a reasonable effort to retrieve, retain or lawfully dispose of such game or wildlife.

They key to the entire situation is "lawfully dispose".  It was the opinion of Fulton County District Wildlife Conservation Officer, Kevin Mountz, and Southcentral Regional Law Enforcement Supervisor, Roland Trombetto, that removing only the antlers and backstraps is "lawfully disposing" of a deer killed on state game lands, as long as the animal is killed in season, with a legal weapon, and the hunter has a valid tag, which he uses on that animal.  According to Mountz, at that point he owns the animal and can dispose of it as he pleases. There is no section or portion of a section requiring a person to utilize any portion of an animal which they legally harvested. It would possible to charge them with littering if they removed the carcass from one spot and dumped it in another, but in this case it was left in the same general area where it was killed.  (I would assume but do not know for a fact, that a private landowner could bring charges for leaving wildlife parts on their property, but according to Mountz  and Trombetto, "we do not arrest people for leaving deer parts on state game lands"-with the caveat that it must be where the animal is killed and not transported to another spot and dumped).  Legally speaking, at the end of the day all that mattered was that the buck was tagged.

I had not ran into this in my many years as a Deputy for the PGC, and always assumed that it was illegal to waste an animal in such a manner.  In fact most who shoot deer out of season, or shoot more than the law allows, use the argument " I needed the meat" as justification for their actions, or someone might say in reference to an illegal deer shooting, "well, it's OK as long as they use the meat", but in this case we have persons who most likely legally killed two deer, but did not want the meat.  This interpretation of the law led me to ponder what the ramifications would be if one had a valid antlerless deer tag and did the same thing. What, if any, portion of the deer is the hunter required to retain?

On reading  Section 2305 and hearing the explanation from my former superior officers, I could see no point in pursuing the matter further, which at this juncture would be establishing that the animals were tagged, and I have no doubt that they were, so the matter was dropped, but it is one that will leave a bad aftertaste for years to come.

A major problem is the message that this sends to the public.  The law needs to be re-written or at least additional regulations promulgated under Title 58 to cover this type of situation.  In a time when the sport of hunting is under increasing attack from all quarters, this type of behavior only serves to reinforce negative views of the sport.  How can one justify shooting an animal for the antlers on its' head and a few pounds of choice meat, while the vast majority of the animal is left to rot and how can a state conservation agency condone this type of activity?  It appears that the state of Alaska does not and Pennsylvania should follow suit!  Here is the pertinent section of the Alaska Law:

Title 5 Fish and Game
Part 3 Game
Chapter 92 Statewide Provisions
 (a) Subject to additional requirements in 5 AAC 84 - 5 AAC 85, a person taking game shall salvage the following parts for human use: 

Article 20 Definitions (17) "edible meat" means, in the case of a big game animal, except a black bear, the meat of the ribs, neck, brisket, front quarters as far as the distal joint of the radius-ulna (knee), hindquarters as far as the distal joint of the tibia-fibula (hock), and the meat along the backbone between the front and hindquarters; in the case of a black bear, the meat of the front quarters and hindquarters and meat along the backbone (backstrap); in the case of wild fowl, the meat of the breast; however, "edible meat" of big game or wild fowl does not include meat of the head, meat that has been damaged and made inedible by the method of taking, bones, sinew, incidental meat reasonably lost as a result of boning or a close trimming of the bones, or viscera;

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

PA Whitetail Rut Peaks As Rifle Season Slated To Begin Next Monday

If one is seriously interested in the whitetail deer, there is something distinctly unique about this week here in Pennsylvania   For  hunters there is the anticipation of the coming season, which is coupled with preparations for the hunt such as sighting-in rifles and scouting.

Interest In Whitetail Bucks Is High In Late November

For the serious whitetail photographer and student of whitetail behavior this is a time of mixed feelings as rutting activity is often exceptional--especially during the early part of Thanksgiving week, but the downside is that it is all about to end with the onset of rifle deer season next week.  In fact activity patterns will change somewhat earlier with the great increase in human activity in deer country as hunting camps fill up over the week end, and hunters pursue small game and scout for deer.  All of this activity serves to put somewhat of a damper on the proceedings and I can never recall seeing intense rutting activity on the Saturday or Sunday before season.

As most of the does are bred by now, it is common to find several bucks pursuing one hot doe.  The inexperienced who is scouting for a spot to hunt whitetails, often sees such a situation such as this and makes the mistaken assumption that this is where the bucks are usually found, and so decides to spend the first day of season in this spot.  Of course it may be a good spot and they may harvest a buck, but it is very likely that most of the bucks will be somewhere else.  They were only there that day because a hot doe was there.

Buck In Hot Pursuit Of Doe

At this time my thoughts always wander back to my years as a Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.  In my younger days we worked what we referred to as "the marathon".  This mostly involved working night patrol and looking for jack-lighters as locating deer by artificial light at night and shooting them illegally was one of the more serious and most common offenses in our area.  The marathon often began on the Friday night before Thanksgiving week and continued until the Sunday night before season.  This usually involved going to work shortly after dark and staying out until the early morning hours.

Bucks Attract Much Attention, Both Legal And Illegal

Sometimes one was still working long after dawn the next morning, if they encountered a serious offense that took hours to investigate and bring to closure. But it was more likely that one was in bed by 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m., and then it was back out at dawn for some small game hunting, or as my priorities changed--wildlife photography.  Mid-day was spent sleeping and then the process was repeated all over again on the following night.  As we grew older this schedule was curtailed somewhat, but even in our last year of working, it was a grueling time. At one time there was little likelihood that one would make it through this period without encountering a serious offense and often there were several to deal with.

Today, the law enforcement is a thing of the past, but I am still out there most days, documenting the whitetail behavior and keeping a close eye on the welfare of the local whitetail herd.  It is always a special thrill to catch a whitetail in the perfect pose--even though the subject may not be a large buck.

Whitetail Buck Performs Lip-curl

I probably spend more time afield in one week than most do in a year, but I have not hunted deer or any other species since about 1998 preferring to photograph and study the wildlife instead.  If you choose to hunt this year, I do hope that you will hunt in a legal and ethical manner. Be sure to read the Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest , which comes with your hunting license and has a listing of hunting seasons and a summary of the game laws. Be aware that in some areas the  first five days of season are for antlered deer only, while in other areas it is still a concurrent buck and doe season.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Pennsylvania Deer Wars: A Different Perspective-A Life Changing Event

Today we continue our discussion of the "Pennsylvania Deer Wars".  As of yet I have written little about any war, which led one reader to ask just what the "Deer Wars" are.  This will become clear as I continue the series, but for now I continue with exploring the factors that led my brother Coy and I to develop a strong lifelong interest in the outdoors in general and whitetail deer in particular.  Along the way, both of us experienced a sea change in attitude about wildlife, with the progression being gradual at times and abrupt at others.

Coy and I were ideally positioned to become totally immersed in the outdoors as we lived in one of the remotest areas of Fulton County, Pennsylvania.  The nearest neighbors were a farmer and a hunting club, both of which were at least one-half mile away. Other than that it was fields and undeveloped mountain land from our farm to the east side of Meadow Grounds Mountain near McConnellsburg, which is a distance of many miles.

Typical Fulton County Backwoods Farmland In Early 1950s: Photo by Alma Hill

One of my earliest memories was when the farmhouse was connected to the electric grid sometime before I started school,  but we didn't have telephone service or TV while I lived there.  Our family and my grandparents on my father's side shared the same house, and my grandmother had strong religious beliefs about television and would not allow a TV set  in the house, as she believed that television was a bad moral influence and led to a lot  of "sinnin".  One felt inferior and left out of things when you went to school and your classmates discussed the latest episodes of their favorite TV shows, but the plus side to this was that one tended to to become involved in activities  that required intellectual and physical effort as one could not come home at the end of the school day and watch television for entertainment, but rather you were forced to provide your own entertainment. As a result I became a voracious reader, hunter, fisherman, and student of traditional Appalachian music.

My initial interest in whitetails came from hearing the deer hunting stories and seeing the deer that the hunters brought in, but things really took off in 1964 when I somehow came into possession of an old, ragged copy of "The Deer Hunter's Bible" by George Laycock. I read it from cover to cover and then re-read certain sections, and then read them again and again! This book really fired my interested in deer hunting and sparked an interest in deer watching.  When weather and chores permitted, it was common to come home from school, and head out for a walk through deer country in the last hour of so of the day when deer activity was at its' peak.  When I got back to the house, I usually settled down with a snack and scanned the pages of "The Deer Hunter's Bible", dreaming about the coming deer season.  In time one wanted more reading material (we also read the outdoor magazines of the day), and we came across an advertisement that was to eventually change the focus of my life, but like many life altering things, it didn't seem significant at the time and was initially very inexpensive.

It seemed so innocuous!  For the sum of 25 cents one could receive "The World Of The Whitetail Deer" by Leonard Lee Rue III, if they would only agree to join the Outdoor Life Book Club, and buy a few more selections during the year at the regular club price.  In time the book arrived, and I was fascinated by Mr. Rue's photographs and writing.  The photographs were all in black and white and some were taken in deer pens, but I was in awe!  How did one do this?  There was little or no information easily available about photographing wildlife at that time and he did not describe what equipment he used.  I may be wrong, but I feel certain that the photographs for this book were taken before 35mm SLR cameras and telephoto lenses were easily available.  From this point on it seemed a given to me that anyone would want to photograph deer "like Leonard did", but I was amazed to find that this was not the case when several years later I excitedly stuck one of my first b&w prints of a deer in my grandfather's face and excitedly informed him that here was an actual deer photograph, but he just said something like "yeah" in a distracted way and went on with what he was doing.  Obviously, deer and deer photography did not rank very high on his list of priorities.

Whitetail Doe Portrait-Grandfather Could Not Have Cared Less!: Photo by W. Hill

The book dealt with the life cycle of the deer and introduced me to the concept that deer were capable of damaging their habitat.  It had photographs of browse lines and of starving deer in winter---something of which I was not aware until that time.  I do not recall if it was in this book or in a later magazine article that Mr. Rue told about giving a presentation in this time period, and after it was over a man approached him and whispered something to the effect that Rue had to admit that he took a lot of his photographs in deer pens.  As I recall, Rue responded in a whisper, "yeah, don't tell anybody".  The point he was making was that he never tried to hide this and pointed it out plainly, yet the gentleman missed that entirely, so he had a bit of fun at his expense.  If Rue had to photograph a deer in a pen to show certain physical characteristics, or behavior he would do so, but he was going to be up front about it.  Mr. Rue almost certainly has to be considered the founding father of modern wildlife photography and has had an impact on it equivalent to that which Elvis Presley had on popular music or Bill Monroe had on traditional music.  During that period, it appeared that a high percentage of all wildlife photographs published in American outdoor magazines were taken by him.  Eventually this changed as he inspired an entire generation of followers, which to a certain extent turned into competitors, but he continued to be the leader in the field for many years.

As for me, I was on fire to photograph deer, but I didn't know what equipment one needed, didn't know how to find out, and didn't have the financial resources to purchase equipment anyway.  Out of desperation I tried to work with the equipment at hand, which was an Ansco 120mm roll film camera and a small point and shoot camera of unknown name, which took 127 roll film.  Both had a fixed shutter speed and aperture, and wide angle lens.  I knew up front that one had to get close and the results were disappointing to say the least as the wide angle actually made the subject appear to be further away.  In the next two photos we see just how impossible, with the first being a deer some distance away.  The photo is severely cropped, but the deer is just a small speck at the tip of the white arrow. (It had its' tail up as it prepared to run).

Deer At Distance With 127 Roll Film Camera

I tried to get closer and spent some time stalking deer along the edges of cornfields and meadows in late evening, but soon found that this didn't work either. This camera took flash bulbs, which plugged into a socket on the front of the camera and one only got one shot before the deer exploded in flight.

Doe And Fawn In 1969: 127 Camera with flash

The fingerprints and scratching in the print above was done when the film was commercially processed, which says something for the quality control of that particular lab. (after scanning I did crop and enhance the photo, but the damage is still there.) At any rate, it was now clear that these cameras were not an option and my interest in photography was put on hold for a time.

Today in the information age, if is hard to comprehend how difficult it was to attain certain types of information at that point in time.  None of the outdoor magazines had any information about photography that I could find until about 1973 when I read an article in Outdoor Life where someone explained the concept of film speed, which was then known as ASA instead of ISO, as it is called today. I began working at Central Fulton School District in late winter of 1973 and at one point noticed one of the teachers reading a magazine which turned out to be "Modern Photography".  I soon learned there was another called, "Popular Photography" and in no time at all I was devouring everything I could find in these magazines.  The magazines provided the long sought after information and it became clear that one needed a 35mm single lens reflex camera known as an SLR and an assortment of telephoto lenses to get those long sought after portraits of whitetails. Now I did have funds to purchase equipment, but at the munificent salary of $4,200 per year one had to buy the most economical lenses and cameras possible, and one didn't buy an entire outfit, but rather bought it one piece at a time.  The story of how I built my initial outfit is mostly for another day as it is quite interesting in and of itself, but for now suffice it to say that I acquired a Minolta SRT101 35mm camera in the spring of 1974. The camera with normal lens sold for about $250 and I also bought a Spiratone 400mm f6.3 telephoto lens (a store brand lens sold by Spiratone of Flushing, NY., which I believe was actually made by Sigma), which cost $50 for the standard version and somewhat more for a multi-coated version.

Minolta SRT 101 & 400mm Spiratone F6.3 Telephoto(37 years Old): Photo by W.Hill 2011

This rig could not begin to compete with the equipment that we use today, but it finally gave me the means to photograph wildlife, which in turn  led to a complete change in my view of wildlife and wildlife related issues, but at the time I had no idea as to where this interest in photography would lead. I had not yet heard of  any great controversy about deer or "Deer Wars".  Little did I realize that in a few years I would be a foot soldier, so as to speak, for the Pennsylvania Game Commission and as such would be involved with deer and deer issues for the remainder of my working life.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Pennsylvania Deer Wars: A Sea Change In Attitude Begins For Me

I briefly mentioned my father-in-law in the February 11, 2011 post, "Pennsylvania Deer Wars: A Different Perspective-The Early Years" ,and will expand a bit more on his ideas today.

Father-In-Law John McQuade, An avid hunter and fisherman

He was an avid hunter and fisherman, but was not someone who enjoyed killing for the sake of killing, although he was a deadly marksman and unsurpassed woodsman who had the capability and opportunity to kill large numbers of animals, yet he chose not to do so. He spent every day afield in rifle buck season, yet only killed one buck in the time that I knew him, although he had the opportunity to kill several each year.  He did this simply because he enjoyed being afield, and hunting for a buck was his excuse for doing so.  He said he was looking for a trophy buck, but he set his standards so impossibly high that he only killed one in the time that I knew him, which was the last year that we hunted at the camp where he was caretaker. He shot a five-point on the first day, which was completely out of character for him, but the camp was sold sometime after season and that chapter in life came to a close. I think he knew this was coming and wanted to kill one final buck there, so for once he did not hold out for the unattainable trophy.  The bottom line was that he did more deer hunting than most people, but killed very few and enjoyed his hunting more than anyone I knew.  His favorite sport was hunting mature Eastern Wild Turkey Gobblers and no one I knew was better at bagging one than he, yet he always stopped hunting when he took the one gobbler that the law allowed.  He grew up when all turkey hunting was done in the fall and hated spring gobbler hunting with a passion and called it, "hunting turkeys in the summertime".  He thought that hunting turkeys during the mating season was too easy.

The point of telling this is that I soon realized that he was seeing a lot more wildlife than I was, and my attitude slowly began to shift as I pondered on the situation, realized part of the reason why this was, and eventually found myself approaching some things in a different manner.

I was a dedicated woodchuck or "groundhog" hunter from the time I began hunting, until the time I stopped somewhere in the mid-1990s.  Like hunting deer, I thought I would hunt groundhogs as long as I was physically able.  There was nothing I liked better than getting on a stand overlooking meadows with large woodchuck populations and spending an evening shooting groundhogs.  One shot at the first groundhog that appeared, and in areas with good clover or alfalfa hay, which is prime woodchuck habitat, it was common to shoot several animals during the course of an evening or morning.  In most cases, other chucks would emerge to feed within fifteen minutes or so and one would have another chance.  We were taught from an early age that shooting this animals was a good thing as they made holes in the fields that caused injury to livestock, damaged farm equipment, and cut into the farmer's profits, by consuming forage that he could otherwise use for feed. (For more on this subject read Coy Hill's post "Groundhogs And Mid-Winter Thoughts" at Country Captures)

Woodchuck Hunting Habitat

 I remember an evening hunt which took place in the area pictured above, in which I decided to not shoot the first groundhog that appeared, but rather wait for awhile and see what appeared if I didn't fire my rifle. ( In the interest of full disclosure I must state that the color photos used to illustrate most of this post were not taken at that time, but rather in 2005-2006, after I was using a DSLR and good quality lenses, but they are representative of the wildlife that I saw that evening, and on many other occasions, when I didn't start firing at the first legal animal that appeared."

Eastern Woodchuck In A Marksman's Favorite Position

Soon after getting on stand on this particular evening, a woodchuck emerged to feed, but I held my fire and soon it was joined by several others.  Before long a turkey appeared, picking through the meadow for food.

Turkey Feeding In A Summer Meadow

As it grew later, deer also arrived  to feed in the cool of the evening, and I sat there absorbing the beauty of the surroundings and the wildlife, but I was there to hunt groundhogs and soon it was time to get down to business and all of the wildlife fled at the blast of my rifle.

Whitetail Doe And Fawn At Meadow's Edge

This evening still stands out  vividly to me over 30 years later. I don't recall  how many groundhogs I shot that evening, but I will never forget that by exercising restraint,  I saw a lot of wildlife I would not have  otherwise seen.  This was only the beginning of my attitude shift and in time I came to realize more and more, the lesson learned that evening, and to take it to heart.  At this point you are asking, "what does this have to do with deer and deer wars", but hopefully this will become clear as I pursue this subject further in the months to come.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

What Better Way To Spend A Spring Morning?

Fulton County, is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania and borders the state of Maryland to the south. It is quite small with a land area of 435 square miles and is about fifteen miles wide and twenty-nine miles long. It is one of the few counties in the state to only have one District Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO). In Pennsylvania, WCOs may be assisted by a Deputy force. Larger counties may have two or more districts.

Wildlife matters are very important in this rural county and at one time it had one of the largest deputy forces in the state. At the time of this story there were seven of us.

In most cases, a training meeting was held each month, at which important events, which were coming up in the near future would be discussed and a plan of action formulated. Deputies were technically volunteers, but were re-reimbursed for a certain amount of service each year. As such, most WCOs gave them extreme latitude in what they were expected to do.

My brother "Salty" and I were lawn enforcement oriented, and worked with the understanding that we would attend required training, but would do little public relations work and little field work during the spring and summer. We would be very active in the fall; working a heavy weekend night patrol schedule along with mounting several daytime foot patrols into areas were violations were rampant.

We were well know as the "Hill Brothers" or "The Hill Boys" and were hated by the outlaw element in our area, and respected by the true sportsmen.

I initially started in this field because I was a hunter and disliked the outlaw element shooting the big bucks before season and I must say that at that stage I also liked the excitement. In time I found that my views had changed. I no longer hunted and had turned into a wildlife advocate.

At some point in time The Game Commission adopted a "Red Tag" program under which antlerless deer could be shot by properly licensed hunters at other times of the year than the traditional deer seasons. This was a tightly regulated program designed to assist farmers, who met certain criteria to utilize sportsmen in dealing with crop damage. In light of my outlook on wildlife at the time and my commitment to working in the fall, I did not assist with administering this program.

Many of the details about the program are hazy, but I well remember attending a meeting in late winter or early spring where the WCO informed us that Red Tag season was coming in soon. I am not sure of the exact time frame, but I do recall that it was not in effect while the fawns were being born. It was in while the does were visibly pregnant. It seems that this was the first year that youth were being allowed to participate with adult supervision and perhaps the first that it came in this early in the year.

One of the deputies piped up "What better way to spend a fine spring morning than to take a youth doe hunting". I said under my breath, yet loud enough for the entire room to hear, "yeah teach him to shoot pregnant does! This was in a bitter tone of voice and you could have heard a pin drop after I made the remark! After the meeting I lingered and apologized to the WCO for being so blunt, but he was quite honest and said that what I had uttered was the truth.

There are better things to do on a fine spring morning!

Whitetail doe in advanced state of pregnancy

Now I must admit that I can see both sides to a story or in most cases, several sides to a story. Deer can be extremely destructive and may cause devastating crop damage to a farmer who is already having trouble making ends meet, without the deer damage also subtracting from his bottom line.

I did not LIKE persons shooting deer for crop damage, but I did see how it was necessary in some instances. I did not and do not see how that taking a youth out in that time frame to shoot a deer and calling it hunting was a positive thing to do. If one thought they had to do it, it should at least be presented from the viewpoint that this is not a nice thing to do, but the deer are a problem in this area and we are trying to help the farmer solve his problem.

In most cases shooting a doe in late winter or early spring is very cost effective in controlling deer populations as unless the doe is barren, she will have one to two fawns. In effect one is killing two to three deer with one shot!

Whitetail fawn: 1 1/2 months old

There are many beautiful and great aspects to the outdoors and working in wildlife conservation, but there are also situations to which there is no pleasant answer. This is one of those that left a bad taste in my mouth so as to speak and was another milestone in developing my current views on wildlife and wildlife management!

What Is Best For The Resource

Hunters, tourists, and photographers want to see plenty of trophy animals, but are these goals compatible?

Doing What Is Best For The Resource-A Management Principle

We discussed Ralph Harrison and his contributions to Pennsylvania Elk management in some detail in a recent post.During late September of 2006, I had the good fortunate to speak with Mr. Harrison for an hour or so. During that conversation he brought up an important point. “We must do what is best for the resource, not what the tourist industry wants, not what the hunting industry wants, but what is best for the animals themselves”.

No truer words were ever spoken. I for one believe that Mr. Harrison, if in a decision making position, would pursue a management policy based on that statement and that it would be an excellent management policy.

Unfortunately the problem is that most people view what is best for the resource through the prism of their own self-interest. A good example is the current deer management controversy in Pennsylvania. (One could devote a blog to this subject alone) There are all shades of opinions on the matter but it mostly boils down to many who have problems with deer damaging property and crops want far fewer animals, while those who like to hunt and watch them want more.

A favorite statement of politicians is that the deer wars must end. The truth of the matter is that for the wars to end, one side must but give up their concept of what is the right number of animals and neither is willing to do so, even if the inability to compromise on the issue ultimately results in the destruction of the PGC!

This principle of course applies to elk management. Both tourists and hunters want plenty of elk and lots of bulls with large antlers. The problem is that while the goal of each may be somewhat the same on the surface, in actuality there is quite a divergence of opinion when one examines the subject in depth.

Mature Pennsylvania Bull Elk-Winslow Hill

Mature Whitetail Buck: Shenandoah National Park

I think the above points are well worth considering as we continue to explore wildlife management issues in future posts!