Deer Hunting
Changes Needed

I believe our Vermont Fish and Game Dept. has let us older sportsmen down.

The Department, in omitting the shooting of spikehorns, in my mind, is only doing a partial job. If we were to rebuild our deer herd and maintain good conservation for all wildlife, we also have to wonder what exactly all the biologist are doing all the while and where are they spending their time. Perhaps it is time to reduce the employ and possibly seek voluntary help.

I have spent a lot of time in the woods in the past, 55 years as a matter of fact. I probably have had better luck hunting deer than the average hunter. The point is it doesn't appear to be the sport that it once was.

Youth Weekend, in my opinion, is a complete flop; our young people are not being taught to hunt deer with a form of pride, instead they are only being instructed how to kill a deer, regardless of its size or sex. One major error was to allow youth hunters to participate for several years following, instead of ending the training period after the first deer kill.

The reported deer kill in my area following youth day was a total of 73, including only seven mature bucks, appropriate kills. Forty-nine were doe, eight of which were fawns. There were 12 button-horn buck, weighing 50-72 pounds, and five fawn, three of which weighed in at 48, 54 and 55 pounds.

The bottom line is we are killing too many antlerless deer!

I would also like to talk about the lines of food supply for deer, as well as bear. The Fish and Game Dept. failed to mention why the bear are showing up at our bird feeders. One good reason is that there are too darn many turkeys.

In my time outdoors I have noticed commonly 30-60 turkeys in a flock and have seen more than 100 on the same cornfield at the same time, more than likely several traveling flocks gathered together. That flock of turkeys could not have left one kernel of corn for the deer. Some food items in each of their diets are: apples, berries, corn, beech nuts, acorns, and clover, to mention a few. It's a shame there just isn't enough food to go around.

Alternatives: One—allow the turkey hunter to shoot two or more each fall.

Secondly: Shoot fewer antlerless deer every year.

Thirdly: Parents and guardians should teach youth sportsmanship, not only how to kill and how to meat hunt.

Ron Sanford

Randolph

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