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General News: Deer Bow Hunt Results Studied at Black Rock
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| Deer grazing is a common sight in the area. |
February 08, 2011
The deer population in the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson was reduced by 35 animals as a result of a bow hunting operation organized by members of the Black Rock Fish and Game Club this past November. This was the second year of the bow hunt, which began after a group of residents formed to find ways to reduce the deer population in the village. The bow hunting is permitted on large property tracts with the permission of owners.
After the bow hunt in 2009 and 2010, the Black Rock Forest Consortium studied the culled deer to see how the deer are surviving in an increasingly competitive environment. According to John Brady, the Black Rock Forest Manager, in 2010 eight of the ten fawns were found to have low weights. The 23 adult deer (19 does and four bucks) were found to be in good health. Two yearling bucks had underdeveloped antlers, a sign of probable feeding competition, according to Brady’s report.
Young Deer Show Signs of Stress
In 2009, the first year of the bow hunt in Cornwall-on-Hudson, a similar study of the 34 culled deer showed low weights among the youngest animals and stunted antler growth in yearlings. That study concluded that the fawns and yearlings showed signs of physical and social stress, suggesting deteriorated habitat.
The 2009 study also estimated that on average there are 79 deer per square mile in the village and 28 deer per square mile in Black Rock Forest. The deer in Black Rock Forest were found to have more weight and other signs of healthier development.
Black Rock Forest Deer are Healthier
Forest manager Brady attributes the healthier forest deer to the management of the herd, which is culled by 40 to 50 percent during the rifle-hunting season. “This creates a healthy bountiful herd while allowing forest regeneration,” Brady wrote in his 2010 report.
The study concludes that the removal of nineteen adult does from the village population will prevent the increase of the herd by up to 35 young-of-the-year in spring 2011. This, coupled with the additional sixteen deer harvested totals 70 individuals that will be absent from the village deer herd in the spring of 2011.
Deer Population May Grow Slightly This Spring
The remaining deer herd, after the hunt, show very good potential for health and reproduction. Bumper acorn crops in the fall of 2010 were expected to supplement their diet greatly. A large component of adult does in the two-to-four-year-old age class will provide a healthy new age class of fawns in the spring of 2011, the study reports.
“If current population estimates are correct, the village harvest total is less than spring recruitment,” the study concludes.
Comments:
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The deer are indeed under stress at this time of year and any exposed greenery will be on their diet. My deer fence is 7' high but now with the snow on the ground it's only about 5' above the snow making my "walled-in" yard accessible. Eek!
One got in on Saturday and I had to "escort" her out the gate. It took some doing. If she realized she was semi-trapped she would have torn up the remainder of the fence; they've done it before.
...And 52 deer around your house also...eek!
posted by Bill Clark on 02/08/11 at 6:40 PM
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