Post by cambygsp on Oct 26, 2005 5:40:32 GMT -5
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State's whitetail deer hunters lead in kills
By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser
Deer hunter Clay Hardy can lay claim to being a national champion of sorts, part of a team that racked up the highest whitetail deer harvest numbers in the nation for the 2004-2005 hunting season.
Hunters in Alabama bagged 535,000 deer last year, according to state estimates. Wisconsin came in second with a harvest of 517,169 animals, according to the National Rifle Association and state wildlife department Web sites. The rest of the top five includes Georgia, Michigan and Texas.
Hunting creates an $800 million a year economic impact in Alabama, according to information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And whitetail deer are the most popular game animal in the state.
"It kind of surprises me that Alabama is No. 1 in the country," said Hardy, a Montgomery resident. "I know we have a lot of deer and deer hunting in this state. But you read in the magazines about places like Texas, Iowa and Kansas just having deer running all over the place. I knew Alabama had to be in the top five, but I didn't know we were leading the pack."
Harvest figures fluctuate each year, but Alabama always is near the top, said Gary Moody, wildlife chief for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The state's lengthy seasons and liberal bag limits are the main reason for the high harvest numbers, he said. Archery season for deer runs from mid-October to Jan. 31. Gun season runs from mid-November to Jan. 31. In most central Alabama counties, a hunter can take a buck and a doe a day for the length of the season.
Other states known as deer-hunting hot spots have shorter seasons and limits of three to five animals per hunter.
"We do have a long season, but that allows our hunters to chose when they want to hunt," he said. "States that have 10-day to two-week seasons see an incredible amount of hunting during that time. Those states basically just shut down for hunting season. You miss a weekend hunting in Alabama, and it's no big deal. You miss a weekend in some states, and you miss your hunting for that year."
Alabama has a deer herd estimated at 1.7 million animals. Deer can't be rounded up and counted, so that figure is arrived at by a formula using harvest numbers from hunters, field studies by state officials and limited counting of deer in selected areas of the state.
It wasn't always this way. Up until 60 years ago, there were so few deer in the state, only a few counties had a hunting season. An aggressive stocking program in the late 1950's and early 1960's led to the most abundant deer herd in the nation.
The success has been too much of a good thing. In parts of Alabama, particularly in the Black Belt region, the deer population is stretching the capacity of the land and endangering more and more drivers.
"I know we bag a lot of deer in this state but there are still places where we're approaching overpopulation," said Jeff Turner of Prattville.
Turner hunts on family-owned land in Dallas and Wilcox counties, in the heart of the Black Belt.
"Hunting is the best way to control the population. If we don't do it, mother nature will balance herself out through starvation and disease."
Over the past five years, state officials have made major shifts in seasons and regulations in an effort to increase the harvest. Crossbows were allowed last season, along with a blackpowder firearms season. Legally taking does has gone from five to seven days a season in most of central Alabama to taking a buck and a doe a day for the entire season.
"Through education and getting the word out, we are finally getting our harvest ration where it should be," Moody said. "We have been taking about 50 percent does and 50 percent bucks for the last two seasons. No one in their right mind expects a hunter to take 200 plus deer a year.
"Our long seasons allow hunters and landowners the opportunity to have the time to decide what type of management practices they want to use. In the long run, that means good things for deer hunting in the future."
State's whitetail deer hunters lead in kills
By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser
Deer hunter Clay Hardy can lay claim to being a national champion of sorts, part of a team that racked up the highest whitetail deer harvest numbers in the nation for the 2004-2005 hunting season.
Hunters in Alabama bagged 535,000 deer last year, according to state estimates. Wisconsin came in second with a harvest of 517,169 animals, according to the National Rifle Association and state wildlife department Web sites. The rest of the top five includes Georgia, Michigan and Texas.
Hunting creates an $800 million a year economic impact in Alabama, according to information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And whitetail deer are the most popular game animal in the state.
"It kind of surprises me that Alabama is No. 1 in the country," said Hardy, a Montgomery resident. "I know we have a lot of deer and deer hunting in this state. But you read in the magazines about places like Texas, Iowa and Kansas just having deer running all over the place. I knew Alabama had to be in the top five, but I didn't know we were leading the pack."
Harvest figures fluctuate each year, but Alabama always is near the top, said Gary Moody, wildlife chief for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The state's lengthy seasons and liberal bag limits are the main reason for the high harvest numbers, he said. Archery season for deer runs from mid-October to Jan. 31. Gun season runs from mid-November to Jan. 31. In most central Alabama counties, a hunter can take a buck and a doe a day for the length of the season.
Other states known as deer-hunting hot spots have shorter seasons and limits of three to five animals per hunter.
"We do have a long season, but that allows our hunters to chose when they want to hunt," he said. "States that have 10-day to two-week seasons see an incredible amount of hunting during that time. Those states basically just shut down for hunting season. You miss a weekend hunting in Alabama, and it's no big deal. You miss a weekend in some states, and you miss your hunting for that year."
Alabama has a deer herd estimated at 1.7 million animals. Deer can't be rounded up and counted, so that figure is arrived at by a formula using harvest numbers from hunters, field studies by state officials and limited counting of deer in selected areas of the state.
It wasn't always this way. Up until 60 years ago, there were so few deer in the state, only a few counties had a hunting season. An aggressive stocking program in the late 1950's and early 1960's led to the most abundant deer herd in the nation.
The success has been too much of a good thing. In parts of Alabama, particularly in the Black Belt region, the deer population is stretching the capacity of the land and endangering more and more drivers.
"I know we bag a lot of deer in this state but there are still places where we're approaching overpopulation," said Jeff Turner of Prattville.
Turner hunts on family-owned land in Dallas and Wilcox counties, in the heart of the Black Belt.
"Hunting is the best way to control the population. If we don't do it, mother nature will balance herself out through starvation and disease."
Over the past five years, state officials have made major shifts in seasons and regulations in an effort to increase the harvest. Crossbows were allowed last season, along with a blackpowder firearms season. Legally taking does has gone from five to seven days a season in most of central Alabama to taking a buck and a doe a day for the entire season.
"Through education and getting the word out, we are finally getting our harvest ration where it should be," Moody said. "We have been taking about 50 percent does and 50 percent bucks for the last two seasons. No one in their right mind expects a hunter to take 200 plus deer a year.
"Our long seasons allow hunters and landowners the opportunity to have the time to decide what type of management practices they want to use. In the long run, that means good things for deer hunting in the future."
