by Randy Augsburger

Created on: February 23, 2009

Whitetail deer populations are at an all time high in most areas of their historic range. With this large population it is important to keep the herd from growing too large. Biologists closely monitor herd densities and recommend hunting bag limits that keep the population at a healthy level.

Ohio for example, has three different deer zones which allow varying numbers of deer to be harvested. The zones are based on the most current data of deer populations and are designed to manage the herd. Ohio also has several of what they call "urban deer zones." These are doe only units in urban areas where deer are getting too abundant. This is a special permit and is in addition to a regular license.

Overpopulation in urban areas results in either a decline in sustainable food sources allowing the deer herd to suffer starvation. Or it could lead to a destructive interaction of the deer herd with humans or even themselves. Damage to home landscaping and deer auto collisions rise considerably when the population of the herd increases.

In a perfect world people and animals would not need the same space. But in the world we all live in, people encroaching on wildlife is a reality. That is why biologists and conservationists attempt to manage deer herds in a way that may seem unfair to some, but in reality is for the better.

In a study done in Michigan's U.P. researchers John Ozoga and Louis Verme enclosed a herd of whitetail deer to study the effects of social overpopulation. They gave them unlimited amounts of high quality feed, then allowed the population to grow unchecked to more than ten times the optimal density. (100 deer per square mile in that area)

They discovered that after optimal density was reached, as the population increased the survivability of fawns decreased. Although more and more does were having fawns, less and less of them were surviving to reach maturity. In this high density deer population competitive behavior between the deer was causing the failure of the fawns to imprint on their mothers. Thus, the does were abandoning the fawns.

This type of behavior can result in a wild herd of deer when the herd is allowed to reach a higher than optimal population. Add the pressures of encroaching humans and you have a suffering herd. Hunting is a humane way to thin the herd and keep it within nominal population levels.

Some cities take their anti-hunting bias to crazy extremes by hiring professional shooters to thin the herd . One report told of the plan to administer contraceptives via dart gun to the deer population. Hunters harvesting deer for their own table have proven over the years to be a safe effective means of population control for the whitetail deer herd.

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