Cornelius08

Remember the enviro nuts coming out not long ago by screaming to the masses and posting in every newspaper & internet source that pgcs deer plan was the best thing since sliced cheese? We were all just supposed to overlook the fact the study was done by Bryon Shissler Consultant to dcnr & audubon society. Whom also had direct input into the structuring of the deer plan by being a pgc/dcnr liason. He also was one of the "masterminds" taking part int he infamous audubon deer studies. Also Marrett Grund(also took part in the audubon deer study sham that pgc uses to base many management decisions on and credits on many webpages as such)...anyway, Marrett took part in the nations best study as shisslers cohort... He was a Pgc deer biologist who did more than his part in putting the failed plan into place, again another unbiased agendaless individual. lmao..

These fine gentlemen came out is support of their own environmental extremist deer program shamelessly...

Anyway, Here is a link to the study results... Very obtuse and often vague in content. http://www.pinchot.org/?module=uploa...oad&fileId=427

Some things I found interesting;

It seems the only criteria for rating high was to put tons of emphasis on vegetation & extreme biodiversity. States were awarded bonus points for having as many ways to kill deer as possible, as well as if they completely ignored sportsmen of their states. Considering Pgc is tops in all three, and now including birth control guidelines in their management its not hard to see why the antideer crusaders found pgc top of the pile.

Another thing I found interesting that Im sure helped put pa "over the top" is their stance on deer birth control. The one they just came out with in the latest deer chronicle stating they would support rigorous testing etc. etc. According to the asnine Shissler study, here is what most other states think of it: "few states had a policy" "and most biologists indicated the agencies would NOT likely grant a research permit for deer fertility research"... Then Shissler went on to state it was because these other states are basically far too hunter concerned.

Maverick 1

Lets not overlook the desire to further remove the influence of hunters by seeking outside funding.

Cornelius08

Thats a big part of the master plan.

Audubon wants it badly as does every other "antideer" stakeholder.

Interestingly many animal rights groups are pushing very hard for the same.

Then we have a few hunters (supposedly anyway) who say they want alternate funding. Anyone wishing to see alternate funding for pgc has their head planted firmly. Its not even debatable its not a good thing for hunting or hunters period.

Btw, I saw Mr. Bluetick posting on another board about this topic. Shisslers assessment of the pgc management plan. Mighty interesting how he supports the opinion even though shissler is an audubon punk and dcnr flunky and is a straight up ecoflake. (even according to doug!!) lol.

Also intersting how bluetick posted pgcs position on smaller wmus (that its not gonna happen) and used some individuals statement from years ago in wisconsin who said they were not ideal. Perhaps someone should tell the durn fools that despite the insignificant statement made by god knows who, years ago...Wisconsin, currently....years after this supposed statement.....STILL has the smaller & many wmus! lmao. I think that pretty much says it all. Pgc will use any tad bit of anything even if it amounts to absolutely nothing to support their econut agendas.

Maverick 1

As a matter of fact, they seemed to express disdain anytime input from hunters was called for.

Cornelius08

The environmental extremists may have fooled some dummies into believing they're are our "pals" but make no mistake, they are enemy #1. Easy to see how some may be fooled by their "gestures" of goodwill (which always have alternate agenda), and the fact that some have been embraced into some "sportsmens" organizations. There is a far too heavy a price to pay for that "friendship".

Anyway, I spoke of Wisconsin. Found it funny how they are complaining so loudly since their harvests have fallen off. Id seen some on hpa state "we'll soon be in the same boat". Little did the fella know that we been in that boat and it sunk further since...

Wisconsin is wailing like the world is coming to an end over "20 year low buck harvest"even though they harvested over 16,000 more bucks and over 100,000 more doe than we did last year.....With them having a couple'a hundred thousand less hunters to boot!! Imagine that. The number one record book state in the nation....and If they had to hunt here with such lower quality and a more pathetic harvest numbers, theyd probably hang themselves. lol. Btw wisconsin, we have just recently had a buck harvest that you'd have to span nearly double that many decades to find another pa buck harvest as low.

Screamin Steel

Very scary stuff indeed, and sickening that the PGC has sunk low enough to be supporting the deer contraceptive BS. That alone should send a clear message that they have no plans to alter their current course, and that if we as hunters oppose them, they are ready and willing to seek other means to carry out their plans for herd decimation/ eco extremism.

ManySpurs

This stuff is scary. Very scary. I'm one that has never worried much about our hunting tradition. I figured it would always be there one way or another. But this year, with the lack of hunters around, I'm extremely alarmed. I've never seen so many camps empty on opening day in my life.

blkpowder

This was a good post corn. Shissler is a very scary individual!


Woodlands Management Committee Meeting Minutes
October 19, 2008

Attendees: Martha Dwyer-Bergman, Bob Dewing, Cliff Miles, Jerry Uhrig

Administrative

Minutes

Jerry said that the minutes for the last month's meeting should be up on the website soon.

Goals/Budget

Jerry proposed that we submit a budget request with funds to pay a competent wildlife biologist to evaluate our deer management program.

Reports

Deer
September Culling Report

We are aware of at least two deer being culled so far, one buck and one doe. There is supposed to be a monthly report, given presumably by NJ State Fish and Wildlife. But we haven't seen a copy yet.

Deer Management Program

There will be hunting in the Tourne this winter. Jerry received notice of this in the mail. Shotgun hunting will take place on January 10, 17, 24, 31, and February 7, 2008. The affected sections of the Tourne will be closed to the public on those Tuesdays. It is a controlled culling. We questioned whether it would be from tree stands or whether the hunters would be on the ground. Any questions call 973-829-8417.

Deer Management Forum Report

Jerry and Lynn attended this workshop. Two presenters that stood out were Gary Alt and Bryon Shissler, both wildlife biologists with extensive experience in deer management. A full report on the workshop is attached to the end of these minutes.

Spay-Vac failure

At the Deer Management forum workshop, Bryon Shissler informed us that the problem in Princeton was a bad batch of Spay-Vac.

Attachment


October 1, 2008

Seminar: Deer In Your Backyard - How To Deal With the Challenges of
Overabundant Deer In Your Community

The Ecosystem Management Project and 65 organizations, including Pennsylvania Audubon, the Nature Conservancy and Pinchot Institute for Conservation, sponsored a series of seminars around the state of Pennsylvania. We believe their findings for the state of Pennsylvania apply as well to New Jersey.

The speakers were very well qualified both by education and long experience in wildlife management. Some of the information they presented at the seminar was based on the Report of the Deer Management Forum. This is a 340 page document, Managing White-tailed Deer in Forest Habitat From an Ecosystem Perspective: Pennsylvania Case Study, by Robert E. Latham et al., (may be downloaded on the Audubon website pa.audubon.org). This is a thorough and substantial scientific report authored by wildlife, plant and conservation biologists and policy experts on deer management. Ten experienced scientists and managers reviewed the report. The report includes extensive information on forest conditions, threats, deer impacts, forest recovery research, and deer exclosures, as well as details of how deer might be managed from an ecosystem perspective.

Look at the impacts.
Dr. Gary Alt, former Supervisor of the Pennsylvania Game Commission Deer Management Section, explained that the deer herd must be balanced with the habitat. The greatest mistake in wildlife management is trying to raise more deer than the land can sustain. Vocal members of the hunting community like to see a lot of deer. Instead we should look at the habitat to make decisions about the deer herd.

We need broad-based funding of wildlife management
The present system for wildlife management by the Game Commission is broken. Over-abundant deer are ruining forests and farms. The whole ecosystem is crashing. Decisions are now made in the interests of the 8 percent of the population that are hunters because hunters foot the whole bill. To fix the problem we need broad-based stable funding from all the people.

Deer management influences the quality of our life.

Wildlife management decisions should be made by agricultural, environmental, and community interests, not just hunters.
The structure needs to be changed at the state level. Stakeholders are not represented. Only hunters sit on the Game Commission in Pennsylvania.

Deer have harmed many people. The agricultural industry is badly hurt by the deer browse of their crops. Nurseries are impacted when gardeners give up gardening and when employees contract lyme disease. People are advised that going into the woods is a high risk for lyme disease. Deer are the primary host of the blacklegged tick and there is a correlation between the number of cases of lyme disease and the number of deer. Last year at least 12 people in Pennsylvania were killed in highway deer accidents. People are giving up gardening. Dr. Alt summarized the situation: “I do not believe that deer management should strive to maintain irresponsibly high deer populations to facilitate hunters’ enjoyment at the cost of habitat quality, other wildlife species, or human health and safety.”

The only method that works is human directed culling of the herd explained Bryon Shissler, wildlife biologist and President of Natural Resource Consultants. Sterilization is strictly a research program. It is not allowed without a research partner. The failure of the expensive and difficult sterilization program in Princeton was caused in part by a bad batch of Spay-Vac.


Bow hunting is not regarded as an effective control.
There are no examples anywhere in the country where bowhunters have reduced the herd to the level sustainable by the habitat.

Mr. Shissler said that if recreational hunters are used to cull the herd, certain precautions are advisable. The hunters should be selected based on skill, attitude and commitment to your goals. Each should be interviewed. They should have continual access to the area. The community should seek to develop a core group of hunters that return year after year. The program should be monitored.

Changes are needed at the state level.
Wildlife management now rests on a species-specific approach. We need to focus on managing deer from an ecosystem perspective. There is scientific consensus that maximum sustained yield (MSY) deer management has allowed deer to have significant negative impacts on natural resources.

Decisions must be made based on science and focused on the quality of the habitat.

States with a successful controlled hunting program view this as a deer control program, not as a recreational activity. Bryon Shissler recommended some changes in hunting regulations. Antlerless tags should be given at no cost directly to the community or landowner. Exchange of tags between hunters should be permitted. Baiting should be allowed. New Jersey is ahead of Pennsylvania on this. Mr. Shissler also recommended a decentralized program where permits are given directly to landowners. In other words, we need many changes.

“It’s the habitat, stupid.”
Tim Schaeffer, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Audubon, said that most people don’t recognize what a healthy woods looks like. He described the effect of habitat destruction on songbirds and said that Pennsylvania ranked number one for cases of lyme disease. Deer are the main carrier. Farmers who experience crop failures due to deer browse have pressure to sell land.

The system will not change until we get a groundswell from the grass roots. We need a political solution.

Main points to write to the governor and legislators:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Provide diverse, stable funding for wildlife management.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->All wildlife and stakeholders need to be represented
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Use science to make decisions based on indicators in the field.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->Tell them your own personal story.


We need a fresh approach.
Other speakers discussed the suffering caused by deer to the nursery industry and the farmers. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff spoke about the plight of farmers. He also advised that there were two confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease in West Virginia that week. Another speaker said not to blame the Game Commission. They were created in a different era for different needs, at a time when there was a shortage of game. They are applying old tools to a new problem. They are not equipped to solve the problem.

We took a field trip to a deer exclosure
Promised Land deer exclosure revealed much recovery of vegetation where trees allowed sunlight to penetrate the forest floor. Recovery was less in shady areas. Outside the exclosure there was a dense mat of ferns and mature trees with virtually no other understory. The report discusses research at many other exclosures throughout the country. Recovery after fencing depends on the length of time of severe browsing, amount of sunlight, the plant species located there, whether herbicides are applied, and other factors.

We hope our notes from the seminar will be helpful to you in understanding the seriousness and impacts of the deer explosion and what we might do about it. Please call us if you wish to discuss this problem.

Lynn and Jerry Uhrig
One Sunset Road
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
973-335-0878 [email protected] [email protected]

Screamin Steel

These notes are from 2008. Why are they still talking about this herd explosion and growing deer populations, when we have reduced our herd by half OR MORE in recent years? If these nut jobs are not happy with DD in single digits in many areas, one can only assume that they will only be satisfied when they are gone. If hunters had their own government and by laws, Alt, Schaeffer, and Shissler would be tried for high treason, showered in estrous urine, and confined to a pen of mature bucks for a very long time.

Cornelius08

My take on shissler is that hes a complete and total ecoextremist nutjob. If he isnt the very definition, then they dont exist. Its that simple.

Problem is, the same "types" are currently running pgc. I think the part where shissler found that most biologists from the various agencies wanted nothing to do with birth control, or granting permits for testing outside of "fenced areas" because it was counter to "hunting" , yet our commission is so accepting and willing to push forward with "rigorous real world testing" should tell us how extreme our game commission has become.

The fact that this idiot see the pgc deer plan as the best in the nation should be very unsettling to anyone whos a Pennsylvania deer hunter. Wouldve been nice if we were completely different here and found us the very worst. That would probably mean we had some good things going on here.

As for the birth control issue, I see it as spitting in the face of hunters yet again. Nothing new. They use it on unfenced deer within 10 miles of my hunting areas and deer might get shot, but they wont be eaten by me or my family. Im not eating something that could have god knows what in its system. Sounds like a grand future to look forward to. I can only imagine what will be 20 years from now.