One question that I must always ask myself, and I believe everyone should ask themselves when presented an option to shoot a deer is: How old is this deer? Is this deer too young? Should I try to shoot a deer that hasn't fully matured?
Just because a deer may be legal to shoot, does not mean that you should necessarily go out of your way to shoot that animal. According to a page on umich.edu, they say that the average lifespan of a whitetail deer is from 2-3 years, but being able to live from 6-10 years if not killed beforehand. This shows that deer are being killed off very early on in their life, and while the population is sustainable, the deer are not fully maturing during their average lifespan. they are unable to reproduce or contribute to their environment to their fullest capability. I don't believe this is an issue everywhere you hunt, some areas in lower michigan have an abundance of mature deer in their population. When I hunt up north however in Atlanta, I do notice that while there is more forestry around, the deer are much smaller, and in much less abundance. This is most likely caused due to multiple issues including the food sources available to deer, being killed off by non-human predators, and being killed off too early by humans. I do believe we should be mindful of it.
Allowing the deer to mature allows for added protection to the sustained population of deer in the state, and it also allows for hunters to get more out of their kills because the deer will be larger and have more meat to salvage.
Some may argue however, and I completely understand and respect the argument that deer are very destructive animals. Deer love plants and vegetation, and are known for eating and destroying crops. Deer are very hard to keep out of gardens and farms because they are able to jump very high, making most fences useless. The deer will also get stuck in the garden fencing after after attempting to jump a high fence as well making for a rather unusual and stressful situation. Adding to the population could make it harder to control the deer and prevent them from getting into our crops, but there should be a balance. I believe that passing on smaller deer and allowing them a chance to grow up and contribute to the environment is important. When I drive up and down the thumb, I periodically see signs posted by the DNR that shows a graphic of a deer at different years in their life, and each year stands next to the last while also growing large and more mature throughout it's life. It really showed me what a difference just a year or two will make in the size of a deer, and how it really is worth it to ask yourself those questions when out in the woods about to pull a trigger.
Just because a deer may be legal to shoot, does not mean that you should necessarily go out of your way to shoot that animal. According to a page on umich.edu, they say that the average lifespan of a whitetail deer is from 2-3 years, but being able to live from 6-10 years if not killed beforehand. This shows that deer are being killed off very early on in their life, and while the population is sustainable, the deer are not fully maturing during their average lifespan. they are unable to reproduce or contribute to their environment to their fullest capability. I don't believe this is an issue everywhere you hunt, some areas in lower michigan have an abundance of mature deer in their population. When I hunt up north however in Atlanta, I do notice that while there is more forestry around, the deer are much smaller, and in much less abundance. This is most likely caused due to multiple issues including the food sources available to deer, being killed off by non-human predators, and being killed off too early by humans. I do believe we should be mindful of it.
Allowing the deer to mature allows for added protection to the sustained population of deer in the state, and it also allows for hunters to get more out of their kills because the deer will be larger and have more meat to salvage.
Some may argue however, and I completely understand and respect the argument that deer are very destructive animals. Deer love plants and vegetation, and are known for eating and destroying crops. Deer are very hard to keep out of gardens and farms because they are able to jump very high, making most fences useless. The deer will also get stuck in the garden fencing after after attempting to jump a high fence as well making for a rather unusual and stressful situation. Adding to the population could make it harder to control the deer and prevent them from getting into our crops, but there should be a balance. I believe that passing on smaller deer and allowing them a chance to grow up and contribute to the environment is important. When I drive up and down the thumb, I periodically see signs posted by the DNR that shows a graphic of a deer at different years in their life, and each year stands next to the last while also growing large and more mature throughout it's life. It really showed me what a difference just a year or two will make in the size of a deer, and how it really is worth it to ask yourself those questions when out in the woods about to pull a trigger.
This isn't the real sign I viewed, but very similar and the same concept.
