Matt Knox, Chief Deer Biologist for Virginia's Dep of Game gets 4 STARS from this blog for his candor, authenticity and bold, plain speak on how Virginia(almost all the Eastern States) has too many deer............How they rip up the woods,,,,,turn it into monocultures of plants that they refuse to eat.........how oak forests are stopped from regenerating...........how so many other creatures are adversely impacted..............how there is a need for more predators to make up for the shrinking human predators(hunters) patroling our woodlands.............Way to go Matt!!!!!!!............I believe the many biologists and naturalists(e.g. Wuerthner, Niehmeyer, Fahy, Eisenberg, Way, McGinnis, Laundre, etc, etc) that contribute to this blog join me in applauding your fearlessness in stating "JUST THE FACTS JACK"!!!!!!!!!

 Declining deer numbers can have upside

The whitetail deer harvest in Virginia was down 15 percent last year, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing.

By: Andy Thompson

The September issue of Outdoor Life magazine features an article with a provocative premise: To quote the introduction, "A number of leading indicators suggest whitetail numbers are heading toward a game-changing decline. Is it a correction? Or is it a crash?"

Granted, editors are in the business of selling magazines. Calling the article by Andrew McKean "The Deer Depression" is designed to provoke hunters into buying the magazine and reading the story. But the author backs up the article's bold title with the words and opinions of respected wildlife biologists, including Grant Woods and Kip Adams of the Quality Deer Management Association.(These magazines are propaganda mongers,,,,always labeling predators as evil and the boogeyman--they knowingly(or choose not to reveal) refuse to acknowledge Leopold's "THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN" proven science that as a rule, anything more than 10 deer per square mile creates forest regeneration problems and throws the system off kilter severely-blogger Rick) 

McKean, citing Woods, writes "a troubling combination of habitat loss, escalating numbers of predators, underfunded wildlife agencies and even hunter's behavior and expectations are stressing America's deer herd. And instead of gently declining to a sustainable level, whitetail populations are poised to experience a steep drop — somewhere between a significant correction and a catastrophic crash."(hogwash!-blogger Rick)

It's a bracing read. When well-known wildlife managers are implying "we could be headed toward a crisis that has the potential to reshape the culture and economy of conservation in America," it's something all deer hunters should take note of. But I wondered if the situation in Virginia is quite as dire as the article paints regionally and nationally. And, if so, what should be done?

Matt Knox, the head deer biologist with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, had plenty to offer after reading the article.While he didn't disagree with the basic premise of the article, that indicators suggest deer numbers are poised to go down, Knox said, "I think (the use of the term) 'crash' is sort of inflammatory. "More to the point, he added, the article ignores the fact that in states such as Virginia, management objectives call for a smaller deer herd than the one we currently have. So, when the magazine has a map of the U.S.. showing Virginia with a 15 percent drop in whitetail harvest last year, it implies this isn't exactly what wildlife officials expected, and wanted, to happen.

"Our deer herd is down and we want it to go down even more," said Knox, admitting that's not usually what hunters like to hear. But Knox's job is a balancing act. Liberalize doe days in the eastern part of the state to reduce the herd; take them away on the national forest and in the southwest to try to replenish it. It's not an exact science. One year does not a trend make. "I always use the analogy of tacking a sailboat," he said. "You don't sail (straight) from point A to B. You go left and right and left and right, but over time, you're going toward your destination."

The article cites the rise of predators, including coyotes, the aging of much of our public forests (younger forests provide more deer forage per acre), and habitat plowed under for lucrative commodities and strip malls as clouds of the gathering storm. Knox doesn't deny those factors, but he sees them as challenges that, in terms of the whitetail deer, can be managed for using current methods.

"Of all the trends that most concern me related to deer in Virginia and the United States, it's the number of deer hunters, not the number of deer," Knox said. "Almost across the board, we're losing hunters. The trend over the last 20 years has been going down 1 to 1.5 percent every year. "Our ability to manage deer is going to be compromised."(we need cougars, wolves as well as bears and coyotes managing deer populations!--blogger Rick)

And Knox threw another wrench in the works: Why operate on the premise that fewer deer is bad, as so many hunters, and the Outdoor Life article, seem to? "One of the things he doesn't put in there is that quantity and quality of deer are inversely related. If you have fewer deer, you have higher quality deer — healthier, bigger, heavier."

"Let's say 10 years from now we're dealing with a deer population that's half what it is today. There'll be a very big upside. Those deer will be in better condition. The habitat will be in better condition. There'll be less issues like crop damage and deer/vehicle collisions. So, yeah, you'll see half as many deer, but (the article) makes it sound like that'd be the worst thing that ever happened."

In other words, whether by coyotes, degradation of habitat, or loss of land to other uses, a huge drop in deer numbers might — stress, might — be coming. But maybe hunters shouldn't worry quite as much as some would have us, because even that doomsday scenario has plenty of upside.(I would say not just upside, but rewilding panacea,,,,,if cougars and wolves make it back into the woods!-blogger Rick)