As the holder of a lifetime hunting license, I don’t feel compelled to “get my money’s worth” by pursuing deer.  As I’ve mentioned before on this website (The Deer Tag, Dec. 13, 2006) my deer hunting was limited to the days of my youth in the 1950’s and 60’s.  Consequently, I have not been particularly knowledgeable about the discussions concerning the management of our deer herd that have taken place in the past 20 or so years.  I suspect my situation is not unique; I’m sure there are plenty of “former” deer hunters out there who may also be a bit puzzled about the ongoing debates with regard to whitetails.

            Enter Deer Wars, by Bob Frye, Outdoor Editor of The Pittsburgh Tribune Review, probably the first and most comprehensive book about the Pennsylvania deer management issues to be published.  Six years in the making, this book documents the history of the deer overpopulation problem, the scientific methods used to study it and to bring it under control, and the unending contentious battles between the responsible state agencies and those hunters who opposed any large scale effort to change deer hunting tradition.  Frye does not take sides in any of the debates.  In the course of interviewing some 200 individuals from all ranks - hunters, biologists, researchers, farmers, government officials at all levels and even non-hunting citizens – he has put together a complete picture of the current state of the deer management issue.  He traveled extensively throughout the state to collect the material for this book.  Deer Wars is available at the Coudersport Public Library.

            Some local readers may wonder from the start what the fuss is about, because, if anything, the common complaint is that there are too few deer here in Potter County, at least when compared to the way it was years ago when our forests were the newly regenerated hardwoods established to replace the turn-of-the-century clear cutting.  But the “too few” number may, in fact, be the number that is correct for the 70 to 80-year-old   mature forest habitat as it exists today.  In the simplest possible terms the existing local deer herd is what’s left after decades of over browsing by a deer herd that at one time was doubling in size on average every three years.  In short, they have finally eaten themselves out of house and home.

            But the “problem” is not a county-by-county issue; it is a state problem (and, perhaps, even, a regional problem).  With a statewide deer population over 1.6 million and still growing, deer now are as numerous in high population areas of the state as they once were up here in the Big Woods.  Frye’s treatment of too many deer in high population areas was, for me, one of the most enlightening parts of the book.  This was the first I’d heard of communities actually implementing eradication of deer by hiring a professional sharp shooter or authorizing borough police to shoot deer or by recruiting volunteers from hunting clubs to “assist” homeowners in eliminating deer.  Frye’s description of these programs is even-handed and non-sensational.  But it drives the point home – there is a problem!

            In another chapter Frye addresses the impact road-killed deer have on the state’s economy and the well-being of its citizens. Estimates of roadkill-deer mortality now exceed 100,000 each year, according to data put together by Frye.  After enumerating the many direct and indirect costs to the Pennsylvania taxpayer, Frye summarizes by quoting PennDOT’s then deputy secretary for highway administration: “I think it’s fair to say the costs of deer-vehicle collisions in Pennsylvania are on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars.  And that may be a conservative number.”  And in most instances, these dollar costs are borne by all taxpayers.

            Probably what sets this book apart from others is that Frye casts the “deer problem” as part of the bigger, much bigger, problem of what sort of legacy will be left to future generations of Pennsylvanians.  Not just hunters, or bird watchers, or hikers, but all citizens.  Pennsylvania is a major agricultural state.  It is a leading state in lumbering and the wood products industry.  It has an energetic tourism industry.  These industries and others are being impacted now, and there is every indication that they will continue to be impacted unless the deer herd is brought under some sort of control.

            Central to the book is the role of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.  Frye goes out of his way to point out that the Commission hasn’t always had an easy road to follow.  Many times in the past they have known that the herd size must be reduced, and that the best way to do that was to authorize annual doe hunting.  But the pressure exerted by hunters who clung to the old “buck-only” mentality usually carried the day with the result that deer numbers increased beyond what the land could hope to support.  In the end we saw small bucks and a lot of deer damage.  Frye documents the unsuccessful efforts by early Commissioners and others (Richard Gerstell in the 1930’s, Roger Latham 1950’s, Glenn Bowers, 1960’s) to reduce the herd by killing does.

            In 1999, Gary Alt, who had a superior track record in bringing back the bear, took over the deer management program for the Commission.  Initially his presence put new hope into a possible resolution of the age-old Commission-hunter conflicts.  But the more Alt developed a comprehensive management plan for the state’s deer herd, the stiffer the opposition became.  Frye carefully documents the whole story, but by December 2004 Alt was gone.  The next year, The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, representing about 40,000 hunters, filed suit against the Game Commission to “…immediately end doe hunting…” On January 10, 2007 a state court dismissed the lawsuit.

            Many of Alt’s recommendations are in effect.  New regulations increase the harvest of does and restrict that of bucks (known as antler size restrictions).  A 12-day combined buck and doe season, additional doe tags for special management areas, archery and muzzle loading seasons for either sex, and other measures are designed to reduce herd size and increase the longevity (and antler size) of bucks.  Do they work?

            I had the opportunity to help out at this past season’s annual Big Buck Contest hosted at the Sweden Valley Inn, conducted by the Sweden Feedin’ Club, a local sportsman’s group that has been collecting deer harvest records for many years.  The job was to photograph each hunter and record the weight of each deer and measure the antlers of each buck entered into the Club’s contest.  I was advised that there might not be much to do because the previous year (2005) very few deer had been brought in – something like 83 for the entire two-week season. 

            On top of being completely sand-bagged with respect to number of deer we actually processed (83 the first day, 48 the 2^nd and 15 the 3^rd, for a total of 168 for the 2 weeks), I was impressed by the size (weight) and racks of the deer.  We measured very few small racks, racks that would have been considered normal back in the 50’s and 60’s.  Six and eight point racks were really almost the norm, with quite a few 10 pointers, a couple of 12 points and some with 24” spreads.  Weights were equally impressive. These were pretty good looking bucks, and photographs of some of these could easily have graced the cover of any slick hunting magazine.

            But beyond the statistical evidence staring us in the face were the comments of the hunters.  Clearly these were happy hunters, but even happy, lucky hunters can be critical of the Game Commission.  I don’t recall hearing any Commission–bashing during the three days.  It appears that the antler restrictions, at least, were beginning to pay off, even during three days without any snow and temperatures near sixty degrees.  We do not yet know how many doe may have been harvested in 2006 as the Commission has not yet released the numbers.  But if the number is high and the herd kept in check, perhaps the yields for buck hunters in 2007 will be even better.

            Beyond the old conflicts between hunter satisfaction and habitat health, Frye takes a look at some other aspects of the whitetail explosion.  For example, there is an uneasy awareness that the herd in its present condition may be vulnerable to an even more perilous threat: chronic wasting disease (CWD), a disease similar to mad cow disease.   CWD is an untreatable disease specific to deer that, should it ever get out of hand, would probably wipe out the herd. Its presence in Pennsylvania has not yet been detected.  However, it has been found in states adjoining us and as recently as this season an infected buck was killed in West Virginia, just 25 miles from the Pennsylvania border.

            Frye also discusses Sunday hunting, hunting over bait, longer deer seasons, different deer seasons for different areas of the state, citizen action groups and changes to the Game Commission itself in a final chapter, “A Look To The Future.”

            Deer Wars should be required reading by anyone involved in environmental and wild life issues and probably should be widely distributed in the public schools of the Commonwealth, perhaps as an abridged version suitable for younger readers.  I would hope that Frye and his publisher, The Penn State Press would explore ways to make it readily available to everyone in the state.

            At the end of 305 pages of sometimes heavy, but never boring, reading I came to the conclusion that the war of how many deer and where they should be is not nearly over, that it will be decades, perhaps, before anyone can claim victory, if ever.  The resolution to the many conflicting interests depends on an awareness of the issues by all Pennsylvanians. Deer Wars is the perfect place to start.

Copyright January 17, 2007 Thomas P. Dewey