Head Hunter
Tony Hansen joined the Michigan OutofDoors Magazine and MUCC team in 2003. Since then he's spent more than his share of time in the woods and on the water, gathering the stories and the information you look for in Michigan OutofDoors Magazine's media outlets.
Popular Articles
Recent Articles
- Lead Ban denied for Hunting—Fishing Still at Risk >
- Busy Day at NRC >
- We’ll See You At The Expo >
- NRC meeting update >
Archives
Antler Restriction Meeting Dates Set
June 17th, 2010 by Tony Hansen.As reported in Michigan OutofDoors Magazine, the Natural Resources Commission tabled a decision on antler point restrictions in the TB area of the northeast Lower Peninsula (DMU 487) at its June meeting. The issue will resurface in July after a pair of meetings are held in an effort to further educate the public as to the rationale behind the measures. Those meeting dates have now been released:
-- June 22, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Harrisville Township Hall, 114 S. Poor Farm Rd. (located off of M-72, two miles west of Harrisville), and
-- June 23, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Alpena Civic Center, 133 Johnson St., Alpena.
Meetings will be attended by both local and Lansing wildlife officials. Details regarding the proposal and anticipated results will be provided and a question and answer period will follow. Time will be reserved to accommodate those interested in having one-on-one or small group discussions with DNRE staff.
The proposal would require at least three antler points on one side for each buck taken in the DMU.
"The Department has been making strides towards TB eradication by reducing deer numbers and the concentration of deer at baiting and feeding locations for the past 15 years," said DNRE Wildlife Veterinarian Steve Schmitt. "But, while the long-range trends have reflected reductions in deer numbers and TB, progress has stalled over the last five or more years."
"We're aiming to take regulations further than past approaches to simply provide ample opportunity for hunters to take does," said Brent Rudolph, DNRE Deer and Elk Program leader. "The proposal is intended to work in conjunction with a recently adopted regulation change - allowing antlerless deer to be taken under a firearm or combination license in the regular firearm or muzzleloader seasons in that area - to direct harvest towards those segments of the deer population that will aid the most in TB eradication efforts."
Leave a Comment Comments (2)
Click here to get the News & Blogs Feed delivered to your RSS.
Previous Comments
#1 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 17, 2010
Please someone help me understand if that TB logic is seriously supposed to hold water or if this is just junk rationalization. I notice Schmitt is not quoted as saying this would work - does he or other biologist really think antler restrictions will help with TB? It’s a simple question to ask.
My knee-jerk reaction was that antler restrictions will not lead to a decrease in local deer densities, nor will it lead to fewer long-lived deer, and in fact may go “the wrong way” with respect to TB problems. I’m concerned that people will fall one way or another on this issue based entirely on their antler opinions, and it will have nothing to do with TB. I’m not strongly on either end of the antler debate (though I worry about high-grading - the effects on the genetics), but let’s at least give the major pros and cons of a proposal, and debate those.
Some greater depth of reporting might be nice.
#2 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 18, 2010
I’ve reconsidered.
Maybe lack of bucks in the freezer will cause more does to be shot, and that might reduce density, help reduce TB, and increase buck/doe ratio as well.
It might work.
I still worry about high-grading, and not just in the future - it may have already altered the gene pool. We may be selecting for bucks with runty antlers, and that may be correlated to other poor attributes. I admit that selection occurs to some degree even without antler restrictions. We may not be collecting any prospective data to adequately tell if that is happening.
-rork
PS: From my current computer I can’t log in or identify, since no fields are visible. From another computer yesterday, I was unable to comment because it demanded email address but showed only a name field an no email field.