Conservation Corner: Plenty of deer survive the hunting seasons
Following the hectic preparation, cooking, and visiting with distant family the Thanksgiving holiday usually brings, many people probably like to use the next week to just sit back and relax before the impending Christmas rush brings more chaos into their lives.
However, for the estimated 300,000 hunters who participate in Ohio’s annual deer gun season, the Monday after Thanksgiving has been an unofficial holiday marked on calendars for decades as it kicks off the week-long opportunity for them to take their trusty firearm into the woods and fields in pursuit of our state’s largest game animal.
Similar to the roller-coaster ride wild turkey populations went through with the plundering of our natural resources before the advent of wildlife conservation, white-tailed deer were extirpated from Ohio by the end of the 1800s until conservation efforts saw them reintroduced in the 1920s. Twenty years later, populations were stable enough for the state to issue a limited number of deer tags and open the first regulated deer hunting season which resulted in 168 deer being harvested.
Fast-forward to the end of the 2020-2021 hunting season that wrapped up with a reported harvest of just under 200,000 deer taken by Ohio’s hunters using both firearms and archery equipment throughout the state. For people who were around to see the three-digit harvest during World War II, this number may seem almost incomprehensible, but perhaps the most amazing part of this is that the statewide population of deer can not only sustain several hundred-thousand individuals removed each year but also continue to thrive and expand in many areas.
As far as success stories go, seeing an animal whose numbers went from zero wild individuals to an estimated free-ranging statewide herd of somewhere between 600,000 and three-quarters of a million is quite astonishing. What’s also entertaining about these figures is the varying public opinion on the population status. Polls of hunter outlook gathered every year by the Division of Wildlife almost invariably result in the majority of responses claiming that deer are still not numerous enough. Discussions with farmers, automobile insurance agents, and even urban gardeners will often indicate the opposite is true and that there are too many of these ravenous herbivores running amok through city streets, crop fields, and across highways causing millions of dollars in damages annually.
In Fairfield County, we have a diverse mix of scattered woodlands and agriculture that creates a veritable Eden of food and shelter that supports a robust and stable deer population that probably sits slightly above average compared to the rest of Ohio’s counties. As anyone who lives or drives through Lancaster or Pickerington can attest, white-tailed deer have also adapted extremely well to living the suburban lifestyle.
Deer living in urban environments have virtually no threats of natural mortality and, since hunting opportunities are either highly limited or completely restricted, the most common cause of death tends to be the front grill of someone’s car, truck, or minivan. This surge in residential deer has led to myriad conflicts ranging from the overnight browsing of a backyard garden or prized Hosta bed to aggressive behavior of bucks towards people during the breeding season.
Personally, I’ve been in multiple collisions with deer while driving, had my newly planted trees rubbed raw by antlers and my sweetcorn patch munched on. I’ve also spent many cold evenings hunting, waiting patiently for just a single deer to walk by, only to leave the woods empty handed. So, I can appreciate both sides of the coin, so to speak.
As we enter the season where the ode to Rudolph fills the radio waves, if you have a story or anecdote about deer you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about it!
Tommy Springer is the wildlife and education specialist for the Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District. He can be reached at 740-653-8154 or at Tommy.Springer@fairfieldswcd.org
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Conservation Corner: Plenty of deer survive the hunting seasons
