Living
Al Brown | Tracking the Seasons
Survival of the fittest? Or survival of the doe?
A buck fawn died on the crusted snow one day before the season ended. It was the 10th day of the 11-day special holiday earn-a-buck (EAB) gun deer hunt in the chronic wasting disease (CWD) zone.
The mid-morning temperature was a bitterly cold 2 below zero with a wind chill factor of minus 12 degrees when a lone marauding coyote pushed the young deer toward the shivering hunters.
At the sound of the shot, the stalking coyote disappeared into the brush, and the young deer lay dead where it had stood.
As the other hunters gathered in the frigid morning air to see what had gone down, there were no high fives or back-slapping celebrations before the antlerless tag was tied to its ear.
Other than some small talk while the deer was being field dressed, the four hunters remained stoic. Shooting a fawn was not something they relished doing.
Sadly, it was either that or the shooting of a doe, and since no does had been seen since the early bow season and adult bucks with at least one antler longer than 3 inches were off limits unless the hunter had earned a buck sticker by shooting an antlerless deer first, the pickins were tough.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) EAB seasons have left a bad taste in many a hunters' mouths, as have the antlerless-only hunts.
Numerous hunters have been heard complaining that the does that are still around are getting wise as old bucks, and the only deer left to harvest are the fawns.
I know of one farm that gave up just four deer during the past seasons - bow and gun. Two of the deer were antlered bucks and two were buck fawns.
With no antlerless deer to harvest and no does, young or old, to draw in bucks, the question remains "How can a hunter use his EAB sticker when there are no bucks to tag?"
To rub salt in the hunter's pocketbook wound, the average fawn yields about 25 pounds of boned meat, on a good day.
Unless you do the butchering yourself, you'd be looking at about $55 for processing, plus the expense of the license, ammo, etc.
With hunters reporting far fewer deer sightings during the 2009 seasons and harvest numbers down statewide, coupled with a tight economy, is it any wonder hunters are unhappy with the DNR and are threatening to forego next year's hunts?
Having talked with many other hunters, one concern keeps cropping up in view of the lower deer sightings reported. If it's so important to reduce the herd in the CWD zones, why can't we use our 2009 buck stickers in 2010 rather than be required to harvest another antlerless deer first?
Using last year's sticker would save the state some money and at the same time would allow the harvest of a buck deer, unless it's more desirable to let the old boys die of CWD or old age.
- Hunters and mentors
- Don't know what you've got …
- Survival of the fittest
- If you can't stand the heat …
- Let's talk turkey
- Inclement weather!
- Snowmobiling and driving - not a good mix
- Sun, wind, earth and snow
- Don't worry, I've got your 'beak'
- The year that was
- Hey Santa: From crimson red to blaze orange
- Where are all the deer?
- Late freeze extends muskie season
- The smell of failure didn't last long
- Happy hunting!
- Bucks come a running
- Confused in more ways than one
- Confused in more ways than one
- Ready ... Set ... Fire
- Sit back and relax - for now
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