ing trails to cross their property or permit access for picnicking or bird watching to claim tax deductions for making their property available to others.  There is no reason why hunters and their interests should be treated more preferentially than the interests of other citizens.

Antlerless Harvest Opportunities
If purchasing a hunting license allows hunters the option of killing a buck, deer management permits should be limited to antlerless deer only.  Even so, a substantial number of deer killed on these permits will be young males, and killing males does not inhibit population growth but rather stimulates it.  I take strong exception to the proposal for "early doe only seasons" because the seasons are already too long for non-hunters who have to limit their activities for nine-and- a-half weeks as it is without even any respite on Sundays.

Bag Limits
I am opposed to increasing bag limits as long as it is legal to kill any bucks, other than antlerless,   during the next two years.

My position is in response to DEC  claims that they are unable to control the deer population.  The population will be much less difficult to control, --indeed would probably exert its own natural inhibitions against breeding during population peaks--if the normal 50/50
male/female population balance were restored.  If claims that the deer population is too high are correct, the best scenario would be to kill no antlered bucks for at least two years.

Hunter Education
Making hunter education available to everyone who wants it is a good idea, but I object to getting it "into schools"  because that would amount to proselytizing other people's children to take up hunting and kill wild animals.  Sending handsome, uniformed conservation officers to visit classrooms every autumn to peddle their pro-hunting ethic to impressionable children amounts to the same thing as promoting a particular religion in schools, which is against the law as it stands now.  If families who embrace the hunting ethic want their children to hunt, that is their prerogative, but other families who are opposed to killing should also have the prerogative not to have their children indoctrinated with. what they consider a false concept

Hunting Implements/Techniques.
.Allowing the use of rifles and cross bows in areas that are now limited to shotguns should not even be considered because their longer range increases the danger to the public at large  People wouldn't even be safe from a stray shot in their homes.  Allowing scopes on muzzleloaders might promote better aim and reduce the wounding rate, which would be an advantage although it would not be consistent with the concept of using an antique weapon and giving users a special season.

Information and Education
DEC already does a good job of getting out information on the "needs and benefits of deer management and the traditions and values of hunting."  Almost every newspaper has a columnist who is glad to include information from DEC press releases in their articles and columns.  Many papers print them verbatim.  A lot of space, too much in my opinion,  is also devoted to photographs of hunters holding up the heads of the deer they have killed.  Inexpensive informational pamphlets like the one outlining these suggestions are educational and effective.

Law Enforcement
Yes.  More officers are needed.  They are presently assigned more territory than they can possibly cover.  Tougher laws and penalties might make their job easier and might  help to prevent some of the transgressions that occur without affecting legal hunters..

Season Recommendations
Do NOT lengthen seasons.  They are already too long.  Do NOT create "system which allows legal extensions when needed" which could result in  seasons being made even longer.

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Venison Utilization
I wonder who is expected to pay for "free process for venison donation".  The charities or institutions which receive the donations?  The butcher who does the work? The taxpayers as a whole?  Or should the hunter who enjoyed killing the animal be expected to pay for this pleasure?

The question of safety should also be considered.  Deer can be infected with heart worm and a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) called "chronic wasting disease", which is a relative of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis or "mad cow" disease).  TSEs are transmitted between species by eating the flesh of infected animals.  Two deer hunters and a woman who ate venison have already been infected with this horrible disease.

Youth Opportunity
Do not engage in programs designed to lure children into hunting against their parents' wishes.  The increase of violent crimes and especially the school massacres in recent years have prompted studies to find out why people commit such crimes.  One common denominator is that violent criminals almost invariably get their start by committing violent crimes against animals.  If a child is psychologically predisposed to violence, encouraging him or her to start killing wild animals might push that child over the edge and lead to violence against other animals and humans.

Women's Opportunities
Why try to induce more people to hunt?  It is NOT necessary to have more hunters to control the deer population.  All that is needed to control the population is to stop killing bucks.  The deer managed to keep their numbers in balance with their habitat and other species long before humans came along to manage them.  It is hunting and game management that have created pockets of perceived overpopulation.

The Future
I think the perceived population problem is a result of DEC being dependent upon hunting license fees for much of its income.  As more people put the frontier mentality behind them and come to terms with a more crowded world, the number of hunters will probably continue to decline.  I think the solution should be to finance the department from the general tax fund and reduce the emphasis on hunting and killing wild animals in proportion to the percentage of the population that still hunts.  Most of the department's energy could then be devoted to preserving habitat and providing interpretive wildlife programs for the population as a whole as opposed to promoting a controversial killing ethic to secure more funding. for the benefit of a very small minority (less than 5%). (End of submission)

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Submission from Wildlife Watch

Deer Management Initiative