as food to be eaten. It's OK to genetically modify such animals so as to increase the amount of meat you will harvest. It's a good idea to load these animals up with chemicals and steroids which end up poisoning our bodies.
But animals in the wild are sacrosanct. They should live their lives without any fear of mankind.
The sad part is that because we have eliminated many of the natural predators, the beautiful wild and free life that you imagine for animals in the wild is all too often a difficult life ending in starvation.
Hunting is a method of controlling herd size. Let's consider hunting deer in the continuous United States.
General Deer Population Facts Population History
In the early 1900's there were an estimated 500,000 white-tailed deer in the United States. Unregulated commercial hunting and subsistence hunting threatened to eliminate the white-tailed deer from much of its range. At that time, many state wildlife agencies were formed with the goal of conserving the nation's depleted wildlife resources. Hunting regulations were put into place, and the harvest of antlerless (female) deer was prohibited. The rebound of white-tailed deer populations that followed is considered a wildlife management success story. Today there are over 20 million deer in the United States and numbers are rising. Successful management was one of the keys to increasing populations. However, other key factors have contributed as well. Around the turn of the century, large predators such as wolves and mountain lions, were eliminated from much of the white-tails range, removing the natural check on deer numbers. More recently, habitat changes, including reversion of abandoned farm fields to forest, and human population shifts to rural and suburban areas, have created mosaics of open and forested land ideal for deer. In addition to habitat changes, landowner decisions to prevent hunting have limited hunter access to many areas, allowing populations to increase.
Public Concerns
Deer are very charismatic animals, and many people in New York enjoy seeing, watching, photographing, or hunting deer. Although a highly valued species, the white-tailed deer has reached record population levels in many states and will continue to grow. Densitites may exceed 40 deer per square mile in some rural areas, and over 100 deer/square mile have been documented near many eastern metropolitan areas. Overall, public attitudes toward deer are becoming more negative as deer populations increase (Swihart and DeNicola, 1997). Public concerns include crop damage, damage to landscape plants, deer/car collisions, transmission of Lyme Disease, and effects of high deer populations on habitat quality for both deer and other wildlife species.
The Challenge
Many communities are facing the challenge of managing locally-overabundant deer herds in areas closed to hunting. Fencing and repellents can help manage site-specific problems, however these methods may just move deer and potential damage to other locations. As long as adequate food resources are available, deer populations can double in size every 2-3 years. Eventually some form of population management is needed to control herd growth and maintain deer numbers within the social carrying capacity.
http://wildlifecontrol.info/deer/pages/deerpopulationfacts.aspx An Integrated Approach To Deer Damage ControlThe white-tailed deer is West Virginia's most popular game animal with 343 thousand hunters harvesting over 175 thousand deer annually. As deer numbers have increased, damage problems to farms and gardens have also increased. Deer have high nutritional requirements and can be very destructive; however, deer damage is a natural hazard of the farming profession and should be considered analogous to insect and disease problems. Therefore, an integrated management strategy (Figure 1) is often necessary for solving the problem.
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It has been estimated that in the United States deer damaged a total of $100 million of agricultural crops, $750 million of forest regeneration, and $1 billion in deer vehicle accidents. Economic and recreational benefits from deer were judged to be $14 billion. The white-tailed deer is both a valuable and highly esteemed animal in the eyes of the public and at the same time a serious cause of agricultural and other damage problems. These conflicting values among residents of the State emphasize the need for options to control damage due to the white-tailed deer.
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Regulated Hunting is the best way to reduce the size of the deer herd and the amount of damage being received. Most counties experiencing deer damage have liberal antlerless deer seasons allowing the removal of does to accomplish this goal. Herd reduction requires the removal of does and cannot be achieved only through the harvest of bucks. Given their choice, hunters will frequently take a buck and not return for a doe. Landowners must regulate the harvest of does by choosing hunters who will carry out their management objectives. Access is of primary importance. No game regulation will reduce deer herds on private land unless sufficient hunter access is available to remove the required number of does.
http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/IntAppDeerCon.shtm How Does Hunting Keep Deer From Overpopulating?updated: June 26, 2010Hunting is a controversial issue. Animal lovers find hunting cruel if deer are killed just for sport. Hunters defend themselves by arguing that hunting deer helps keep the deer population in check (and provides a freezer full of meat). Deer are overpopulating because they have a decrease in natural predators. Humans are the largest group of predators for deer today.
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Deer Issues
# Deer are moving into areas inhabited by humans to find food. Often deer eat vegetables and harm gardens, farmland and landscaping while feeding. This means there is less food to be produced and less on our tables. Still there is not enough food to sustain the growing deer population, which causes starvation. Starving deer are more susceptible to diseases, such as tapeworm and roundworm as well as lyme disease. When deer become diseased the illness can move quickly throughout the population.
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Keeping the deer population under control is a reasonable solution. Hunting to keep deer from overpopulating helps both deer and humans. Hunting season is a time for licensed hunters to go after deer. There are certain months they kill deer with some restrictions, such as using only a rifle or only bow and arrow. Another option found at various times during the year are controlled deer hunts. These hunts are often scheduled at particular locations, such as at national and state parks. Hunters and marksmen register to participate in these events focusing on controlling deer overpopulation.
Benefits
# Deer hunting is a benefit when it comes to controlling deer overpopulation. Hunters consider their efforts a more humane way for the deer to die. Dying of starvation can be a miserable experience that leads to long suffering for the animal. Hunters are also protecting vegetation which allows more productive crops to be found in stores. This helps store owners and farmers with their livelihood. Another major benefit is helping save lives when it comes to deer related vehicle accidents.
http://www.ehow.com/about_6668616_hunting-keep-deer-overpopulating_.html If managed properly, hunting can benefit wildlife by helping to eliminate disease and starvation caused by over population.
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