Post by cambygsp on Jul 31, 2005 17:20:30 GMT -5
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050731/SPORTS/507310444/1004/SPORTS
Let's look at some statistics and then ask ourselves why Indiana needs to import white-tailed deer and have commercial fenced hunting compounds.
For starters, the state's deer population is well over 300,000.
Firearm and bow hunters licensed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will kill more than 100,000 deer this year. They've harvested that many each year for several years.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, more will be killed by poachers.
State parks are so overwrought by deer destroying the ecosystems that they require controlled deer reduction hunts.
The hunts at various parks continue this year, as they have for more than a decade.
Another 10,000 deer will either be injured or killed in Indiana this year in collisions with vehicles, according to Erie Insurance Group statistics.
Indiana is not the only state overrun by white-tailed deer. Michigan hunters will probably harvest 500,000 deer this year.
A couple of years ago, 66,000 deer were hit by vehicles in Michigan. Wisconsin motorists had the same problem; they collided with 45,000 deer. Ohio and Illinois motorists will hit an estimated 53,000 deer each year.
There is no shortage of white-tailed deer, folks. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports an average of 1.5 million deer-related vehicle accidents in the U.S. annually.
The collisions kill an estimated 150 people and injure another 10,000.
From 1999 to 2003, Erie says its deer-related claims increased by 40 percent in Indiana.
So, why is it that there are about 400 Indiana farms raising captive white-tailed deer, fallow deer and elk?
Some of the captive cervid is killed for meat. But there's another reason -- those places are breeding stock, farm-raised deer that will be shipped off to buy-here, shoot-here fenced hunting preserves.
There are about 10 commercial hunting preserves in the state, where clients pay upwards of $20,000 to kill a trophy buck.
Notice, I didn't say clients "hunt" a trophy buck. For that kind of money, a buck is guaranteed.
That's not the case for thousands of men and women who hunt deer by the fair-chase rules. They spend many hours in tree stands or leaning against a tree, hoping for that once-in-a-lifetime chance to bag a trophy buck. They are hunters.
Hunting preserve owners contend that it is their right as property owners to kill deer, just as they would cattle or hogs.
They also contend that they provide hunting opportunities, because there are fewer places for people to hunt on private property that is leased to people who have exclusive hunting rights.
So, there can be only one reason to import white-tailed deer in Indiana.
It is business, strictly business. It has nothing to do with fair chase of wild game or hunting ethics, so let's not kid ourselves.
Several public meetings, hosted by the DNR, were held this year across the state to allow people to voice their opinions on fenced hunting.
The outcome was predictable. Game farmers and shooting preserve owners, in favor. Sportsmen and wildlife groups, opposed.
New DNR director Kyle Hupfer said it will be weeks before a decision is made on the issue.
My guess is that for now, there will be no outright ban on hunting preserves, but no new ones will be allowed to get permits.
I've said before that the state put the cart before the horse years ago when it allowed people to invest millions of dollars in deer farms and fenced hunting preserves.
Instead, look for the state now to tighten rules and regulations on the size of facilities, fence height, hunter and deer density, hunting seasons, bag limits, deer stand and artificial feeding locations, hunting licenses, disease testing and the auditing of owner records.
Hupfer left himself some wiggle room on the issue when he suggested before this year's public meetings that even if hunting preserves were allowed to continue their operations under new rules, their time would be limited.
"These rules would sunset as of February 1, 2015, at which time there would be a complete prohibition on the hunting of deer behind fences in Indiana," he said.
Let's look at some statistics and then ask ourselves why Indiana needs to import white-tailed deer and have commercial fenced hunting compounds.
For starters, the state's deer population is well over 300,000.
Firearm and bow hunters licensed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will kill more than 100,000 deer this year. They've harvested that many each year for several years.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, more will be killed by poachers.
State parks are so overwrought by deer destroying the ecosystems that they require controlled deer reduction hunts.
The hunts at various parks continue this year, as they have for more than a decade.
Another 10,000 deer will either be injured or killed in Indiana this year in collisions with vehicles, according to Erie Insurance Group statistics.
Indiana is not the only state overrun by white-tailed deer. Michigan hunters will probably harvest 500,000 deer this year.
A couple of years ago, 66,000 deer were hit by vehicles in Michigan. Wisconsin motorists had the same problem; they collided with 45,000 deer. Ohio and Illinois motorists will hit an estimated 53,000 deer each year.
There is no shortage of white-tailed deer, folks. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports an average of 1.5 million deer-related vehicle accidents in the U.S. annually.
The collisions kill an estimated 150 people and injure another 10,000.
From 1999 to 2003, Erie says its deer-related claims increased by 40 percent in Indiana.
So, why is it that there are about 400 Indiana farms raising captive white-tailed deer, fallow deer and elk?
Some of the captive cervid is killed for meat. But there's another reason -- those places are breeding stock, farm-raised deer that will be shipped off to buy-here, shoot-here fenced hunting preserves.
There are about 10 commercial hunting preserves in the state, where clients pay upwards of $20,000 to kill a trophy buck.
Notice, I didn't say clients "hunt" a trophy buck. For that kind of money, a buck is guaranteed.
That's not the case for thousands of men and women who hunt deer by the fair-chase rules. They spend many hours in tree stands or leaning against a tree, hoping for that once-in-a-lifetime chance to bag a trophy buck. They are hunters.
Hunting preserve owners contend that it is their right as property owners to kill deer, just as they would cattle or hogs.
They also contend that they provide hunting opportunities, because there are fewer places for people to hunt on private property that is leased to people who have exclusive hunting rights.
So, there can be only one reason to import white-tailed deer in Indiana.
It is business, strictly business. It has nothing to do with fair chase of wild game or hunting ethics, so let's not kid ourselves.
Several public meetings, hosted by the DNR, were held this year across the state to allow people to voice their opinions on fenced hunting.
The outcome was predictable. Game farmers and shooting preserve owners, in favor. Sportsmen and wildlife groups, opposed.
New DNR director Kyle Hupfer said it will be weeks before a decision is made on the issue.
My guess is that for now, there will be no outright ban on hunting preserves, but no new ones will be allowed to get permits.
I've said before that the state put the cart before the horse years ago when it allowed people to invest millions of dollars in deer farms and fenced hunting preserves.
Instead, look for the state now to tighten rules and regulations on the size of facilities, fence height, hunter and deer density, hunting seasons, bag limits, deer stand and artificial feeding locations, hunting licenses, disease testing and the auditing of owner records.
Hupfer left himself some wiggle room on the issue when he suggested before this year's public meetings that even if hunting preserves were allowed to continue their operations under new rules, their time would be limited.
"These rules would sunset as of February 1, 2015, at which time there would be a complete prohibition on the hunting of deer behind fences in Indiana," he said.
