Will there be deer in Pennsylvania 100 years from now? Perhaps, perhaps not. Pennsylvania whitetail deer face an uncertain future. It all depends on getting control of the herd, keeping it within the carrying capacity of the habitat and reducing the herd far enough in the near future to allow the damaged habitat to recover. That won't be easy to do in the years ahead. The most economical and efficient way to return the herd to carrying capacity is by hunting, but the number of hunters in Pennsylvania has been declining. Some estimates indicate there will only be a quarter as many hunters as there are now by 2040. That might sound like good news to anti-hunters, but it also spells hard times and eventual doom for the deer. We cannot replace hunters in Pennsylvania with natural predators. The public would not tolerate wolves and mountain lions and such introduced predators would quickly be eliminated. We are dependent on sport hunting to manage the herd. Pennsylvania used to boast of 1,300,000 hunters. Now license sales are below the million mark and are projected to plummet much further. Sportsman's clubs and the game commission are working hard to introduce young people to the sport of hunting. It is not an easy task with all the other distractions currently available to the young folks. Some of you might oppose the encouragement of hunting, but I would rather see a kid out there hunting than destroying the habitat with an ATV. To encourage interest, special seasons for junior hunters have been included in the game laws the past two seasons. Sportsman's Clubs are conducting workshops to introduce young people to the hunting tradition. Their success will determine whether or not deer will be a part of Pennsylvania's future.
Disinterest in hunting may not be the only problem decreasing the number of hunters. An old friend of mine said she didn't buy a hunting license this past season because deer hunting has become too expensive for her. She paid $85 just to get her deer processed. Add to that the price of the licenses, the ammo, equipment and gasoline to get to the game lands and beef started looking better to her.
What will happen to the deer if there are insufficient hunters to control the herd? The threats of overpopulation are many. Malnutrition, starvation and disease head the list. The current herd is too large to sustain. Severe damage to the habitat has already occurred in many areas and will probably get worse since the means to manage the herd size is beginning to disappear. Overpopulation in a species of this size is a serious matter. Primary food supplies are close to being depleted. Malnutrition begins when secondary foods have to be exploited. When malnutrition sets in, the deer are more susceptible to other maladies such as disease and severe winters.
A disease getting close attention right now is CWD (chronic wasting disease). CWD is now prevalent in eight states and two Canadian provinces. It affects the nervous system of elk and whitetail deer and eventually forms lesions on the brain. Over a period of years there is a progressive loss of weight and body condition, accompanied by excessive salivation, increased drinking and urination, depression, loss of muscle control and finally death. No cure or treatment exists. There is no known risk to humans or domestic animals and CWD has not been found on any deer tested in Pennsylvania - yet. Some biologists believe it is only a matter of time before it appears here. Pennsylvania hunters travel to western states to hunt and bring back infected animals, particularly elk. No one is certain how the disease is transmitted, so improper disposal of the waste body parts could introduce the disease into Pennsylvania. Because of the size of our herd, it will probably spread rapidly. The only means of control is to totally eliminate the animals in the area of infection, no easy feat. Large numbers of animals are being killed in Colorado and Wisconsin where they have been exposed to the disease in an effort to keep it contained. Computer models show that CWD, if it appears anywhere in Pennsylvania, has the potential to wipe out the herd in 25-50 years.
Even if the herd is kept disease free, the damage to the habitat will eventually catch up with them. Our forests are regenerating with species that deer do not like to eat and do not supply adequate nutrition when the deer are forced to eat them. Malnutrition and the related ailments will ultimately decrease the herd below minimum levels, hunted or not.
To save the whitetail, we need to reduce the herd below the carrying capacity until the habitat recovers. Nobody knows how long that will take. Patience will play a major role in habitat recovery. Will the sportsmen be able or even willing to meet the challenge of reducing the herd size? Today's hunters like to see lots of deer. Convincing them the deer must be reduced even in areas where they currently appear scarce will not be easy. Will they accept the fact that the days of seeing 50 deer a day should end forever? The path to scientific and efficient deer management in the years ahead are loaded with pitfalls. I remain optimistic, but it will require the cooperation of everyone. That includes hunters, anti-hunters, property owners, the game commission and the general public. Sportsmen must accept the fact there are too many deer and be willing to hunt harder. Young people must be recruited into the hunting heritage. The Game Commission must allow hunters more time to hunt and more anterless deer to be taken. Property owners must take down the no-hunting signs and anti-hunters must accept the fact that deer have to be harvested. Steps must also be taken to isolate our herd from CWD and other diseases. If all that can be achieved in the next decade or two, there is hope we will always be graced by the beauty of whitetails in Penn's Woods.
