Letters to the Editor and Others
NJ Division of Fish and Game deliberately increases deer herd
The Record – letterstotheeditor@northjersey.com
8/31/03
Bow hunter Jack Spoto says that bow hunting is "an important wildlife management tool," (Bowhunters gather for annual jamboree, 8/24) but if one studies the data on the number of deer killed throughout the state each year, it seems as if the deer herd is being “managed” only for recreational hunting for those who derive pleasure from killing harmless animals. The trend being followed sees hunters killing more deer every year. This would not be the case if hunters were able to “manage” the deer herd as they say they do. The 1999 Governor’s Report on Deer Management in New Jersey reported that from the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the Division sought to allow deer numbers to increase within sections of Salem, western Cumberland, Gloucester, northwestern Burlington and western Monmouth counties. In the 1990s population increases were sought in zones comprised of a large percentage of public land.
The same report also noted that “deer populations are below the biological carrying capacity throughout much of New Jersey’s deer range,” and therefore are not overpopulated. If the deer herd is not overpopulated, there seems little need for “management” other than people managing to leave the deer alone. The report goes on to say why deer hunting is big business in the state. “To maximize the recreational and economic benefits derived from this renewable natural resource (Burke et al., 1998).”
Slaughtering animals for recreation is not something that is needed in an increasingly violent world. For information on how Fish and Game agencies manipulate the deer herd solely to sell hunting licenses, please visit the Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting’s website at:
http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/
Joe Miele
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
New Jersey Field Office
115 Central Ave.
Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
201-368-8271
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