Hunting for Answers Deer hunting - continuing the tradition Managing the deer herd Hunting for the disease Hunting brings in big bucks Processing without rules Taxidermists unsure of the future More than recreation Read one hunter's journal Public forum on hunting issues - read about the discussion Discuss the hunt - is hunting wrong, or a necessity to manage wildlife? Photos Mike DonCarlos of the DNR The forum's facilitator Ken Darling Concerned about the future of hunting More from MPR Back to part 1 Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

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Hunting for Answers Citizens Forum
February 24, 2003

Mike DonCarlos of the DNR speaks to attendees at the forum. (MPR Photo/Colleen Davies)

In conjunction with Mainstreet Radio's series, Hunting for Answers, MPR conducted a public forum on hunting issues on Feb. 4, 2003 at Central Lakes Community College in Brainerd. About 90 people attended, to provide more insight into their opinions about challenges facing the deer hunting tradition in Minnesota. Here is a summary of their discussion.

Brainerd, Minn. —
(Part 2 of the report)

Hunters' Response to Sick Deer

One participant criticized the DNR for asking hunters to report sightings of sick deer to a conservation officer, rather than asking them to shoot the deer. A DNR official defended this policy, saying the vast majority of sick deer -- even those that show symptoms of CWD -- are sick for other reasons. The DNR, he added, wrestled with this issue, but decided the goal should be for hunters to kill healthy deer that they would eat. Once deer show clinical signs of CWD, "they hang around water and don't go anywhere," he said, making it easy for conservation officers to find them.

The Importance of Hunting to the Economy and Regional Identity

Those who participated in this forum view hunting as crucial to the region's economy and identity -- and also their own. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest), they gave hunting an average score of 4.1 when asked to rank its economic importance. They gave similar answers (average score: 3.9) when asked how important deer hunting is to the region's sense of identity.

Participants likewise see hunting as a key to their personal and family identity. On this question, the average score was 4.0, with 61 percent saying that hunting is very important to that identity (a score of 5).

	The forum's facilitator Ken Darling

If deer hunting were to end, whether due to CWD or another cause, forum participants predicted numerous negative effects (some of which they disguised in jokes). "Cabin fever would be five months instead of four months," one man said. A farmer joked that deer "would eat most of my crop instead of just part of it."

Others predicted environmental damage. Automobile accidents would increase; insurance rates would rise. The economy -- everything from gun and ammunition sales to restaurants and motels -- would be hurt. One participant said the economic impact would be "devastating." Several recalled 1971, when the state's deer hunting season was canceled. There was one dissenting voice, a man who suggested that people would simply do what they've done throughout history when one species is depleted: Hunt another animal, such as ducks.

In this group, deer hunting connects people across generations. "If we couldn't hunt -- that's one thing my son and I do together, and share," a father said. "It would be a real blow." Another man described his son's first hunt last fall, with the man’s 82-year-old father, who doesn't hear well.

"[The son] listens, and grandpa does the shooting," he said. "The experience was wonderful. That's my main concern, over the economic effects that it could have. It's a way of life. It's what I do."

Threats to Hunting Other than CWD

Despite the attention given CWD, some people at the forum worried more about other perceived threats to deer hunting. The man whose son helped his hard-of-hearing grandfather hunt last autumn said, "I'm not as concerned about chronic wasting disease as I am [about] public opinion -- things like PETA. I think they're a bigger threat."

Others expressed similar concerns. One man said it's crucial to explain the importance of hunting to the 85 percent of Minnesotans who don't hunt. "We have to somehow make it known [to them] that hunting is a good thing," he said. "Because we are becoming more urbanized all the time. More and more people are living in the cities. They have no connection with the land. That's what we have to be afraid of."

	Concerned about the future of hunting

Others expressed concern about a lack of public access to hunting land, as corporate landowners like Potlatch change their approach to land management and wealthy individuals purchase large tracts of property. "If you don't have the luxury of owning land or know someone who does, you're going to be in trouble," one man predicted.

Another brought a newspaper article about trout fishing in Montana, where wealthy landowners restrict access to fishing. He said something similar is happening in lower Missouri, where prime hunting land has increased dramatically in value because rich hunters are buying property. A logical extension of these market forces, one man predicted, is that hunting will be restricted to preserves. "When that happens, we'll be hunting as they do in Europe, which is a very small quantity of people with a lot of money," he said.

A man who hikes and canoes but does not hunt confessed that he did not understand the hunters' perspective. "I have a lot of the same values," he said. "I have a need for those state lands you're talking about -- for preservation of outdoor areas. I'm wondering why you have to be a hunter to have these values?"

A hunter responded: "We feel the threat of someone trying to take these things away from us. We're being threatened" by groups like PETA and anti-gun activists. In part as a response to these threats, several individuals said it's essential to pass hunting on to young people. One man said his hunting party has changed in the last few years, as he and a friend have begun taking a half dozen kids with them.

"Our group just keeps on getting bigger," he said. "We've kind of turned it into a kids' hunting expedition, versus the guy thing. We really got the fun back into it. We have no lack of kids -- we have to turn kids away. You've got to offer it to them. You've got to be a mentor, you've got to teach them what [hunting] is and make it accessible."

Hunting Ethics, Education, and Management

One man who raises horses and cattle said he has encountered problems with hunters.

We have to somehow make it known that hunting is a good thing. We are becoming more urbanized all the time. More and more people are living in the cities. They have no connection with the land. - Forum participant

"I don't allow hunting on my land because I've had a horse shot," he said. "I've had people cut fences with wire cutters; I've had people track deer onto my land without asking permission, and all the land was posted. If we're going to talk about deer hunting, we have to talk about deer hunting ethics. Everybody who's involved in hunting needs to get that across to people who want to keep hunting as a privilege."

A DNR official extolled the value of hunter education. The vast majority of problems, he said, are caused by a small number of hunters. Enrollment in DNR hunting classes has increased, but they're not reaching everyone; some who work in the DNR think Minnesota should make advanced hunter education mandatory. Colorado requires anyone born after 1949 to take classes; in Minnesota, it's 1979.

There was a strong consensus among those who attended this forum (70 percent agreement) that the DNR needs more conservation officers. At present, 21 conservation officer positions (out of 145) remain empty. One DNR official said he knows as many as 10 officers who plan to retire in 2003, and others who will reach retirement age in the next five years.

"We're talking about a lot more than 21 vacancies," he said. "It's a bottom line issue. We need money to pay for staff and equipment."

Deer and the Roads

Seventy-two percent of those who attended the forum have been involved in a traffic accident with a deer as either a driver or passenger. Nearly half (46 percent) have been involved in two or more accidents, and 13 percent know someone who was killed in a deer-related traffic accident. (By comparison, 21 percent know someone killed in a hunting accident.)

This discussion prompted several people to question the DNR's management priorities. One woman wanted the DNR to "open" deer hunting season so as to reduce the deer population.

"Why do we spend so much time and resources on deer management?" a man asked. "Is it because it's so important economically? One possible reason there are so many accidents is because as a state we encourage the high population so that hunters have more deer to hunt."

Another man disagreed with this assessment, citing the new highway bypass west of Brainerd as an example of how increased development is eliminating deer habitat.

"I don't know how many acres of woods were taken out for the new bypass," he said. "What does anybody think happened to the animals in that area? They're getting pushed back. Yes, we're seeing more deer, because they have fewer places to hide. I don’t think it's more deer; I think it's because you're seeing them more."

"The deer aren't the problem," he added. "It's the people who hit the deer that are the problem. Deer populations are relatively stable over the last decade. But there are more roads, more people. We have to understand that. If we want to live in a community with nature, there are going to be problems. Do we want no deer, so we don't hit them? Or do we want a population that fits into the environment -- 15 or 20 per square mile, whatever the population will hold? What we probably want is a well-managed population. That should be the goal. If you don't like it, move."

A related problem, someone else pointed out, is that people are driving faster, and commuting farther, than in the past. It's also a matter of perception. In some years, a shortage of natural food, such as acorns, forces deer out of the woods. As a result, drivers see more deer. Another man said deer flock to the sides of new roads, which are often planted with oats or rye.

One simple way to lower the accident rate, one man suggested, would be to mow roadside ditches better; with low-cut grass, it's easier to spot deer.

More than half of those who attended the forum (59 percent) said they thought property damage caused by deer has increased in the last five years. One woman protects her flowers from deer by spraying them with ammonia. A man uses a commercial compost, made from sewage, to keep deer out of his yard.

DNR Perspective on Management

The DNR issues hunting permits based on deer population models, with input from local citizens. The goal is to maintain the deer population at a reasonable level, a DNR official told the audience. DNR officials said the current system works pretty well. Hunters probably killed at least 215,000 deer in Minnesota last year, one said. That's enough to have a significant positive impact on the environment, the health of the deer herd, and the number of traffic accidents.

But deer management is an imperfect science. In the Brainerd area, for example, hunters killed an all-time record of 15,000 deer last fall, but the population is still too high, a DNR official said.

"We're interested in the biology of the animals, and making sure that the population is healthy in relation to the habitat," one official explained. But the DNR must balance other concerns, such as hunter preference.

Officials described a variety of factors that make population control difficult:

•Deer roam, making them hard to count. And populations fluctuate.
•A succession of mild winters has allowed the deer population to increase. Without the natural deaths caused by harsh winters, hunters simply can't kill enough deer to reduce the population.
•Hunter behavior is unpredictable. A certain number who have antlerless permits, for example, will shoot bucks.
•Some hunters are willing to shoot more deer, but don't have a place to store extra meat. To address this problem, the DNR is investigating partnerships with food shelves and meat lockers to increase the kill, especially of antlerless deer.

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