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Oct. 16, 2000
In a western New York paper
Dear Editor,
As deer hunting season approaches it is typical to see articles appear in local papers attempting to justify this bloodsport to the public. (Subscriber's Comments -Too many Deer- 9/21)

Species that are host to the black-legged tick that spreads lyme disease include a wide variety of birds and small mammals, most commonly the white footed mouse. To assume that an abundance of deer will automatically translate to an equally high incidence of lyme disease is false.

In suburban areas deer car collisions are due mostly to the ever increasing numbers of cars on the road. An Insurance Co. in the state of Pennsylvania found that collisions with deer increased dramatically ( nearly 5 times the normal) on the first day of shotgun season making this a hazardous time to be on the road.

It's interesting to hear sportsman profess concern for deer when they themselves "actively pursue", wound and kill these animals without any good reason throughout the fall and winter. Hunting is done purely for recreation and nothing more.

Immunocontraception is a promising humane method of reducing the number of deer in suburban areas that may be experiencing conflicts. Study sites across the country include Fire Island National Seashore, NY, Sharon Woods Metro Park in Columbus Ohio, Newton, Mass. , Irondequoit, N.Y. , the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris County, N.J.,Mumford Cove, Conn. And The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This vaccine has also been used on wild horses, elephants in Africa and in zoos across the country.

Recently at an annual Wildlife Society conference it was reported that the NIST deer population has dropped about 20% over the last two years.

A local immunocontraception research team consists only of volunteers and received a donation of $20,000 to get it started. The Safari Club International spent $22,000 on a lawsuit to stop this project because they believe it presents a threat to their bloodsport. Heaven
forbid that humane alternatives to killing should succeed!!

Concluding that "harvesting some deer" will solve any problem couldn't be further from the truth. Despite over 40 years of regulated hunting in New York the deer herd has grown to its current size and deer/car collisions have increased statewide regardless of the record numbers of deer that are killed annually. Most people aren't aware that the management principles used by state game agencies are designed to reduce the deer herd only temporarily over winter by removing mostly bucks from the herd. This helps to ensure that the remaining females will survive winter in good condition to produce another "fawn crop" for the next year's hunting season.

Deer meat often touted by hunters as being healthy to eat is actually much higher in cholesterol than either pork or steak.

I totally disagree that a well informed public would support inherently cruel bow hunts over a humane approach. Our society can only benefit from practicing higher moral and ethical standards especially when it involves those who are the most vulnerable to our activities.
                                                                                            Marilyn Bensley

October 16, 2000
Editor, Times Herald Record
Legalized animal abuse under the guise of "wildlife management" is
increasingly being recognized as unacceptable. Rather than trying to
increase the number of hunters by encouraging women and children to join the ranks of those who kill for fun, perhaps we should look more deeply at the reasons for the steep decline in the numbers of hunters in this State and around the country.

Don't simply write off those of us who oppose hunting as "animal rights nuts," we "nuts" embody the thinking of the 98% of the
population which opposes the killing of animals for recreation. WE do not represent the minority view; they do.

Spend any time at all observing the Division of Fish and Game and their methods become totally predictable. FIRST, define a "problem" by
documenting an increasing number of "complaints" from the public. The "problem," of course, is always too many of the "wildlife species de jour;" (whether deer, coyotes, bears) the "complaints" are usually from unnamed persons, and involve minor situations of overturned garbage cans, sightings of wildlife, ornamental shrubbery being chewed, etc.  SECOND, in order to deflect public opposition, initially suggest "non-lethal" strategies -but don't spend too much time or effort on this approach or on educating people to live in harmony with their environment because, of course, we really don't want the non-lethal techniques to work.  FINALLY, announce that the non-lethal methods have been an abysmal failure as evidenced by the ever-increasing number of "complaints."  When the Division of Fish and Game is the problem solver, the solution is always the same-it's a "one size fits all" answer to all wildlife issues: killing.

Kent Howell, the author of the opinion piece I am responding to, is
interestingly from Pine Bush.  Pine Bush High School has the dubious
distinction of offering a firearms course for credit boasting that it's the
most popular course offered at the school.  If popularity is the only
criterion for offering a course, then Pine Bush should consider a credit
course in pornography or getting high.

We ask the public to begin the process of rethinking its focus from
promoting the use of firearms to discouraging it, and from killing our wild animals, to protecting them. Once decided that this is a superior form of "management," then it's imperative to let your elected officials know what you want.

Anne Muller, President
C.A.S.H. - Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
POB 562  New Paltz, NY 12561     914-255-4227

Why there are too many deer

Lyme disease                 Population control in Arctic ground squirrels