I was wrong! It took me a few years to figure it out, but my usually optimistic perspective was wrong. For several years I have been telling many of you that Dr. Gary Alt and the Pennsylvania Game Commission had made a huge mistake by forcing antler restrictions down the throats of Pennsylvania's residents. I have gone on record as saying that the NYS DEC was going about it in a better way. That gradual implementation would be advantageous for New York hunters as they would be less resentful to having a different scheme suddenly enacted. I have said, 'that easing into a new strategy would be received more easily by those against, and understood by those for, who understand their necessity for implementation in the Southern Zone'. One problem to that theory, I did not count on the hierarchy of the DEC turning into spineless jellyfish and turning deer management in New York into a futile action. The DEC did not have the foresight to further implement the plan on the basis of science. In fact, their refusal to see the importance to the herd and deer hunting was myopic!
Gary Alt was right; in matters of science, hunters opinions should not have any bearing!
See, Gary Alt had a plan, a real deer management plan, to solve a real management problem. He had a huge unhealthy deer population whose sex ratio had grown way beyond the norm. As a true man of science, he realized that the herd health was in jeopardy and that delaying the implementation of a remedy could have serious consequences. He saw the problem for what it was, "biology related". He did not account for the initial public relations nightmare that was festering, but then again, he did not have too because he was sure of his course of action and he set the plan in motion. Even when the Pennsylvania "sportsmen" mocked and threatened him, he knew that his plan was sound and logical. He dealt with the reality of the situation; regardless of the upheaval in the sporting community. He was absolutely correct in his assessment that the herd was more important than the lambasting that he (personally) was getting from the court of uneducated public opinion. Science should rule when it comes to the well-being of the specie! Science should rule on behalf of the specie even while biologists debate the necessity of the action! At the very least, science tells us that age diversity in the herd is important to functioning NORMALLY!
Dr. Alt is a true hero of deer conservation in my opinion, as he put herd health above the protean whims of the uneducated sportsman!
Now, many will sneer and be quick to point out that WE don't have the over-population problem that Pennsylvania had! Well, that is only partially true. In sheer volumetric numbers that is true, but there are regions of this state that you can't find a deer and there are regions of this state where the sex ratio is way beyond the high-side (5:1 ratio) of norm, that is accepted by most biologists. Many biologists believe that the 5:1 ratio is impossible to exceed, but prior to the Pennsylvania implementation of the antler restrictions, the western study area (WSA) was documented at 9.8 does to 1 male deer and the eastern study area (ESA) 6.2 does to 1 male deer. (Behavioral Ecology Advance Access - "Dispersal" - published online on August 4, 2008 -- by Oxford University Press) Those numbers represent a reality that prevails in regions of the northeast, including large tracts in New York's Southern Zone. The facts remain, that the DEC has failed to address these problem areas and has failed miserably when accounting for deer herd populations. The use of the Citizen Task Forces to count and relay deer numbers is just not reliable. Groups that meet every 5, 10 or 14 years (as is the case in WMU 3H) can not possibly account for the fluctuation of deer densities that occur annually.
The DEC touts a 2.3:1 (DTB Ratio) in the southeast region of New York State. Believe me, that if that number was even close to reality the DEC would not be looking to implement a new 5 year deer management plan. Why? Because if that number were true and accurate, we would not need a new plan, we'd be looking to tweak an already successful plan and that is just NOT the case!
Back in November 2009, (after the Region 3 DEC deer meeting in Middletown) I found myself in discussion with Director Riexinger, in the back of the auditorium. We briefly discussed a variety of conservation issues. One of which, was of course the further implementation of "antler restrictions". It was at this time that the director lamented to me that her single most "regret" in her tenure as Director of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources was that 'she had not furthered the implementation of antler restrictions'. I remember my exact words and thoughts at that moment. I said, "Director all it takes to rectify that situation is the stroke of a pen". I realize that it is a little more complicated than that, but in reality, not much more! My thoughts, at the time, were that her words allayed a lot of my apprehensions as to which direction the DEC would go. I walked away from our meeting feeling very good that Director Riexinger was going to do the right thing! She has NOT! Instead, the DEC has stepped backward into a bucolic malaise as they "hope" the winds of time and a ouija board mentality will show them the way to their new management plan!
Director Riexinger is viewed and positioned to be Mr Grannis' fall-guy. It is her reputation and her legacy that remains in question. She will bear the brunt of the criticism that will be heaped on her along the passage of time. Her posture, that evening, to me now appears to have been disingenuous and calculated. She needs to stand and be counted as Dr. Gary Alt did for the amelioration of conservation in his state.
As for me and how wrong I was? I, like Director Riexinger, are capable of mistakes, or errors in judgment (whichever you prefer), but my mistake was simplistic and borne of a liberal well-intentioned thought and can easily be rectified by a writing such as this. Director Riexinger's path and policy on antler restrictions now reek of insincerity and apathy! As sportsmen's numbers dwindle, and the hunting tradition is staggering to the attrition line, It is time for you Director Riexinger to act on behalf of the deer herd and the thousands of outdoorsmen who have proffered this change in deer management philosophy!
What say you, Director Riexinger?
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