Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Hunting Season

> Has overpopulation and subsequent stripping of vegetation occurred
> anywhere  that humans do not influence the environment?

Yes, frequently.  And cycles like that are one of the main reasons why
permit numbers are evaluated each year and correlated to numbers and
conditions.  I can vividly remember as a child having the habitat
literally denuded by overpopulation of deer, and then having the deer
numbers fall drastically due to starvation, and it took a good 20 years
for the situation to normalize.

>I could see
> perhaps this  happening in a drought situation for instance - but then
> hunters should be  out there hunting the most starved, the weakest.
> Does this
> happen?  Hah!  Sure hunters are regulating population numbers, but the
> day  hunters stop bragging about heavy weight and multiple points is the
> day  that I believe that they're actually doing some *good*.  [Note:
> again, I  am not talking about individual, responsible hunters, but the
> overall  effect that current hunting methods have.]

You might want to study how the various state agencies who regulate
hunting do their regulating.  Game biologists and various other
professionals take an active role, studying the condition of animals
brought through check stations, doing game counts from the air, studying
numbers of offspring as a percentage of the population, studying weather
conditions (is El Nino coming, etc.) to predict forage capability, etc. 
Numbers of permits let out are determined by the findings of all of those
professionals, based on predictions of how many (if any) need to be
removed to maintain healthy game animals and healthy habitat.
>
> Besides, I believe the whole point of considering the influence of human
>  hunters on the deer and other population was started because of the
> notion  that they have more "rights" to public lands than other
> recreational users  because they're doing a "necessary job".

Many others using public lands are also doing "necessary jobs"--grazing
permits and logging permits help to control natural fuels and prevent the
sorts of devastating fires such as we had in this area two years ago
(we're not talking about the sorts of "cleansing" fires that dash through
quickly and clear out the underbrush--we're talking about fires that were
so hot that they sterilized the ground in many places, due to the fact
that ladder fuels had been allowed to accumulate for two decades or more),
as well as providing us with resources that we badly need.  Furthermore,
there is no reason whatsoever that multiple users cannot get along in the
same areas, with a little bit of coordination and courtesy.

>I believe
> that only if they were  culling the worst of the prey population would
> they be doing
> that.

What controls the populations are cow (elk) hunts and doe hunts, rather
than trophy buck hunts.  And those types of hunts are commonplace (and
quite frankly preferred by meat hunters than are trophy hunts) and are
used as population control tools.

>Therefore it seems to me that there should be more and extremely
> severe repercussions for shooters who masquerade as hunters and cause
> damage, and that public lands should be made safe from hunting accidents
> so  other recreational users can use those lands at *all* times without
> fear.  I think it's a sign of a big problem in our society that riders,
> hikers and others to have to retreat from a war zone occurring on public
>  lands a significant portion of the year.

The penalties for poachers in particular are severe in our area.  And I,
for one, have no fear whatsoever of riding our area during hunting season.
 I do use common sense, and try to ride in open areas where I'm easily
visible, and wear clothing that stands out.  I know there are areas closer
to urban centers where safety during hunting season is an issue, but for
the most part, hunters in the larger and more remote areas are very
cognizant of safety themselves, and tend to work hard to coordinate their
activities with others.  As private land owners in an active hunting area,
we've been very pleased with the courtesy of the hunters here, all of
which have come to ask us for permission to cross our land to access
hunting areas, rather than simply tramping through.

Heidi



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