Deer-Tagging System Proposed, Public Input Sought
This story may be printed for free in any print or on-line publication. The tagline found at the end must accompany the story when printed.
(PRWEB) February 17, 2005 -- Deer-hunting tags are back in the spotlight,
with state biologists proposing to implement a system during the 2006 hunting
season. The exact system is still yet to be decided, Dave Moreland of the
Department of Wildlife & Fisheries said during a Louisiana Wildlife and
Fisheries Commission meeting Feb. 3. “We’re just throwing it out to discuss,”
Moreland said. The move is being made for the second time in three
years.
A proposed tagging system was finally canned by DWF officials in
2002 in the face of stiff opposition. But Moreland, who took over as head of
DWF’s Wildlife Division several months ago, is handling the issue much
differently than the previous proposal — which was formulated by departmental
staff.
This year’s approach is to let the public decide
“We will use
the public comment meetings (in which the 2004-05 season dates are discussed) to
receive comments, and we may have more meetings to discuss it,” Moreland said.
The first meeting will be held this month, although there was no date or
location set in mid February.
However, Moreland did provide a starting
point for the discussion. He told commission members that he foresees a system
that would provide a
combination of buck and antlerless deer tags — possibly
three buck (one of which would be valid only for deer with a minimum of
6-points) and three antlerless tags. But he was quick to say after the meeting
that DWF officials were open to
whatever the public decides.
“If
hunters are satisfied with two bucks, then, hey, let’s go with two bucks because
you get more benefits,” Moreland said. But he believes a three-buck system would
provide a good compromise between those who want the opportunity to kill more
bucks and those who want to grow older deer. “Three bucks seem to be
reasonable,” Moreland said. “Even with a three-buck limit, with two bucks of
choice, we think most people would limit themselves to one young buck, and then
they would start focusing on larger animals.” And that’s the real benefit of a
reduced limit on bucks — moving more animals to older age classes.
“We’re
doing it mainly because the hunters indicate they want to increase the age
structure of their deer herds,” Moreland explained.
Right now, 70 percent
of antlered deer killed on the state’s wildlife management areas are 1
1/2-year-olds. The rest are at least 2 1/2 years old.
Moreland said he
believed the percentages statewide would be a little better, but not
much.
“I would think it’s about 60 percent 1 1/2-year-olds and 30 percent
adults,” he said.
By contrast, about 50 percent of the bucks killed on
Deer Management Assistance Program lands are at least 2 1/2 years old. Moreland
said that if a three-buck system is agreed upon, he would like to see one of the
tags be legal only for deer with at least 6 points.
“It will target the
larger animals,” he said.
He conceded that this still would allow the
harvest of some 1 1/2-year-old bucks, but he said there needed to be some way to
limit that third buck so that the program will be effective.
“I wouldn’t
want my entire program to target those deer, but that’s one way to have a
tagging program and reduce the impact of hunting on those younger deer,”
Moreland said. But again, if hunters want to use a higher standard, the longtime
deer study leader won’t stand in the way. “Maybe we could go with four points on
one side,” he said.
However, Moreland did caution that setting the bar
too high could have
unintended consequences in some areas of the state. “On
some of our really low-quality habitat, (a 6-point minimum) may be the
only
way to harvest some of those bucks,” he said.
Iberville Parish is a vivid
example of this concern. Preliminary results of the experimental 6-point
regulations indicate many of the parish’s bucks don’t grow six points for the
first several years of their lives. Of course, one of the reasons for the
failure of the 2002 proposal was that hunters weren’t willing to limit their
take of bucks and still have to rely on doe days to put meat on the
table.
At the time, then-Wildlife Division head Tommy Prickett said he
would oppose any move to use doe tags statewide without restricting the number
of days. Departmental officials are now willing to give up on doe days. “The use
of the antlerless deer tags wouldn’t be restricted to any particular day,”
Moreland said. “That gives the hunter the chance every time he goes out there to
kill a doe. Maybe we’ll get an increased doe harvest.” Moreland said he wasn’t
very concerned about doe populations being depleted because most property in the
state is controlled by private landowners or hunting clubs, which still can
limit the number of deer killed.
State lands also will continue to be
regulated to safeguard herd health, he pointed out.
And besides, Moreland
said, relatively few hunters actually kill very many deer.
“Our surveys
indicate that 50 percent of hunters don’t kill a deer,” he said. “Twenty-five
percent kill one deer, and only 25 percent kill two or more.”
Breakdowns
between does and bucks weren’t available. Moreland said a decision must be made
by the end of the summer so the department can bid out the necessary changes to
the license-vending system. “I hope that by May we’ll be able to come to the
commission with a proposal,” he said.
Comments can be e-mailed to
Moreland at e-mail protected from spam bots, mailed to his office at P.O. Box
98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898. The departmental Web site also should be modified
in the coming weeks to allow for comment on the subject.
For the latest
in outdoor features, news and columns, subscribe to Louisiana Sportsman Magazine
by calling (800) 538-4355 or logging onto www.lasmag.com.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb209158.htm