Summer hunts: Are they needed?

PHIL POTTER COLUMN

Whether you love or hate deer, remember one thing: These critters are the cash cows that fund states' conservation coffers. The fight between those who love deer and those who want them exterminated has grown to a point that summer depredation shooting has become the fodder for "deer wars" now being fought.

Who's right? Is it farmers and insurance companies, or hunters and wildlife watchers? Because the root of depredation shooting hinges more on money than population control, consider what a deer is worth in terms of dollars to the total economy.

To state conservation agencies, the total revenue generated from bow, firearms and muzzleloader seasons represents a significant part of their budgets. Deer licenses usually produce more money than all other types excluding fishing licenses.

During regular hunting seasons, deer incidentally fund endeavors such as motels, restaurants, gun sales, and land leases and sales. In terms of cash to the overall economy, deer aren't giant vermin.

But many consider them to be varmints and appeal for their demise. Groups have contrived to get normal hunting rules changed to promulgate summer shooting. The fact that Indiana forbids the use of high-powered rifles during regular deer seasons but allows their use for depredation begs questioning.

Does this special dispensation make rifle use safer or does it encourage more long-range attempts be taken?

What is the magic formula to determine the number of depredation permits? How many depredation permits or "flock tickets" should any one property get and what is the reason for issuance? In Indiana it is not uncommon for a single property to receive 20 depredation permits. That's quite a few considering most individual farms are far less than 300 contiguous acres.

If the idea is to control deer numbers, shouldn't summer shooting be for does only with a "mistake buck" being infrequently allowed? Probably so, but in Indiana summer shooters can legally take a buck for each permit.

Do all farms want depredation permits? No, because many farmers don't view deer as a menace to their income. One farmer spoke off the record, saying that in the course of normal harvesting more grain is lost to spillage or other mishaps than what deer consume. He's probably right because each year after rain falls on harvested fields, they look like golf courses when the wasted grain sprouts.

Does he forgive deer their trespasses because he himself hunts? No, he doesn't hunt, though he allows free hunting on 98 percent of his property during regular seasons. He is one of the landowners who have always granted permission to those who respectfully ask.

"I like to see deer and I know they have wide ranges so I try to protect them while they're on my ground. All they have to do is drift two farms over and they're goners because my relatives don't agree and they shoot them all, big or small. I tell them they don't have a conscience."

Next week: Part Two of the arguments.