The bovine TB program has been far too aggressive.
I hope it doesn't take a decade to rebound to a healthy deer population, all my little hunters are going to lose interest.
The DNR will eventually come to terms with the fact that they have beat the dead horse for a couple too many years and we will see a 180 degree change in the management plan. We have been unlimited on antlerless tags for several years in a row, plus the DNR has slaughtered thousands over bait piles and from helicopters year round. They have extended hunts and opened special seasons including spring seasons when does are carrying fawns. Their eradication efforts have been year round, night and day. When the DNR finally realizes they have beat the dead horse a little too long, they will issue bucks only tags and it�s likely there will be no lottery option for antlerless for several consecutive years.
The deer population has been plummeting for years now with this bovine TB program in action. The DNR sets quotas for testing samples for the core area, but the truth is it has been several years since that test qty has been a realistically obtainable number for the core area of interest. The truth is that sympathetic hunters from outside of the core area have been hauling deer to TB test sites from outside of the TB area in order to help the hunters in the TB area in reaching test quota numbers. You see, If test quota numbers are reached the DNR says they will not slaughter deer via the �sharpshooter� method.
This year not as many hunters from outside the TB core area hauled deer in to our test sites to help reach the quota. I honestly believe hunters from outside the area thought the program was over with so they didn�t bother. Last I heard we were far shy of the quota number. I don�t know what they will do about it. I like to think they will look at registration numbers and accept the fact that there just aren�t any deer to hunt and that�s why they didn�t reach the test quota. I like to think they will just leave it alone, be done with it. But it�s very likely they will bait them into fields in areas surrounding the core area and shoot them with night vision scopes or with spotlights, fire up the helicopters and find where the few survivors are hiding and slaughter them from the air.
It was likely 3 years ago that the deer population was depleted to a dangerously low number in our area. I find that hunters are typically 2 or 3 years ahead of the DNR in realizing the impact of the DNR�s godlike efforts.
I�ve weathered poor hunting before in slow rebound areas following severe winter kill and heavy impact from gray wolves (MN iron range mid to late 90�s)
But I�ve never seen such an empty forest, seemingly vacant of deer. Everything else is doing fine, bobcat, fox, rabbits, martins, squirrels etc.
Everything that the DNR isn�t playing god with is doing just fine.
