The Experts Speak

Despite the countless deer kills that have taken place in parks and neighborhoods the cry still goes up: "There are too many deer! We've got to do something about the deer!"

Yet government wildlife managers have understood for a century or more that killing a significant portion of a deer population helps ensure more deer will be present for hunting in the near future. Rather than solve problems, deer kills have become a big problem.

Dr. Allen Rutberg, head of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and renowned expert on nonlethal means of deer population management, states that:

"The most visible weakness in the assertion that hunting is necessary to control deer populations is that it has LARGELY FAILED TO DO SO over the last two decades. Just because deer are being killed doesn’t mean that deer populations are being controlled."

Ron Baker, The American Hunting Myth, Vantage Press NY

"As we have seen, wildlife biologists have been nurtured on the hunting philosophy and have been taught that ecosystems can be improved by manipulation."

"Hunting, whether in the presence or absence of large predators is no guaranteed annual 'check' on deer populations." Elimination of predators does not account for large deer populations. Urban sprawl and deer management for hunting do.

Thomas Eveland, Ph.D

"We often think predators control prey, but that is rarely the case. Prey controls predators; predators diminish as prey declines. It is not the case that removing wolves, cougars, and other predators causes deer to increase."

"A quick surge in a deer population can occur if hunting is implemented where it hasn't been before. In any event if hunting is started, it will have to continue."

"Archery has never been a valid control measure for animal populations. It's a recreational offshoot of gun hunting, and as such they can't really sell it as a control measure...so what's often done - and this is done WRONGLY...is that people will come in and they will often use what I call the 'D' words. Devastation - Destruction - Disaster...to talk about these particular animals. And what they do is they steer the public into thinking these animals need to be killed. And many times these people will say, We understand archery is not going to control the deer herd, but gosh, we gotta do something, these things are big rascals we gotta kill some of 'em, just stick a few of 'em, anything."

Gary Alt, former Chief Deer Biologist in PA said,

"Deer management has been the biggest mistake in the history of wildlife management." He refers to it as MALPRACTICE.

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