03-30-2004, 03:36 AM
[font "Arial"][size 2]The Minnesota Legislature will be considering trophy deer hunting regulations in four northwestern Minnesota counties. At press time, state Sen. Leroy Stumpf, DFL-Thief River Falls, was expected to propose “Quality Deer Management (QDM)” rules for Kittson, Marshall, Roseau, and Pennington counties.
Under the proposal, hunters could only kill bucks with four points or more on one antler or with an antler spread wider than the deer’s ears in an alert position. However, hunters in the four counties will still be able to kill two bucks (the only place in the state where this is allowed) using more than one weapon, such as with a bow and with a gun. Also proposed is a special, antlerless-deer-only firearms youth hunt that would be held on October’s MEA weekend.
DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam, who joined Stumpf and Congressman Collin Peterson for a morning hunt on a farm where QDM is voluntarily practiced last November, says his agency hasn’t formulated a position on the proposal. QDM advocates met recently with DNR officials and Merriam says the concerns of state wildlife professionals were “social concerns, not wildlife management concerns.” However, he also noted that the DNR has no baseline data to evaluate a change in the deer hunting regulations, nor any indication whether trophy-oriented regulations will produce an adequate harvest to effectively manage the deer populations.
“There are good reasons why we are not touting the regulation changes,” Merriam said.
The QDM proposal originated with Minnesota Quality Deer Management, Inc., an organization with 700 members statewide. Annette Stephens of Greenbush, who with her husband Clyde have practiced QDM on their 260-acre farm and hosted Merriam, Stumpf, and Peterson on their hunt last year, says so far they’ve heard no negative responses to the proposal among the phone calls and e-mails they receive daily. She says the four counties presently have an abundance of deer, more evident by the DNR’s issuance of intensive harvest permits allowing hunters to kill up to five antlerless deer.
“Our first goal is to reduce doe numbers,” Stephens said.
By requiring hunters to pass up small-antlered bucks, QDM advocates hope they will instead shoot more antlerless deer. Stephens said the restriction should protect all yearling bucks and most 21/2-year-olds. Last November, the Stephens’ four-member hunting party killed eight does and two bucks, including Annette’s first.
“They were QDM bucks, with antlers as wide as the ears,” she said. “They were nice, but not trophies.”
If the proposed youth hunt comes to fruition, young hunters who participate won’t be allowed to kill antlered bucks. Stephens said the antlerless-only restriction was based on the concern of some QDM advocates that kids might kill trophy bucks. However, many hunters may have other concerns about the October firearms hunt.
MEA weekend, when the hunt is proposed, is at the height of bird hunting season, a time when camouflaged waterfowl and grouse hunters are afield with their dogs. Clark Hendrickson of Thief River Falls says he has safety concerns about heading out with his Chesapeake Bay retriever to hunt ducks and grouse while a youth deer hunt is occurring.
“Waterfowl hunters are out very early and late in the day,” Hendrickson said. “I don’t want someone out there with a deer rifle at the same time.”
Stephens said QDM advocates have considered the safety aspects of the youth hunt and are suggesting that bird hunters, and perhaps their dogs, be required to wear hunter orange clothing when the youth hunt is occurring.
Hendrickson, who has hunted deer in Minnesota for 40 years, said that he has no problem with individuals or hunting parties choosing to practice QDM, but he doesn’t believe the concept should be required by law. He points out Minnesota deer hunting regulations have already become so complicated that last fall the DNR had to issue a booklet just to explain to hunters how to buy a deer license. He also noted all-season and multi-zone buck licenses already give trophy hunters ample time and opportunities to pursue large-antlered deer. He is also concerned the Legislature is overstepping its bounds by creating deer hunting rules.
“Speaking as a deer hunter, I don’t want the Legislature telling me I can’t shoot a spike buck,” Hendrickson said.
Typically, deer management and hunting regulations are the province of the DNR’s wildlife professionals. DNR big game specialist Lou Cornicelli said he hasn’t seen Stumpf’s proposal. The DNR’s deer committee, made up of the agency’s whitetail experts, has not discussed the proposal or its possible implications to deer management.
Although northwestern Minnesota presently has high deer numbers, historically the population has fluctuated dramatically in response to winter conditions. Hendrickson said data from a long-standing aerial survey of the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge, conducted annually in February, illustrates those fluctuations. In 1995, the survey counted 1,290 deer. Severe winter weather took its toll and the population plummeted to 455 deer in ’96, 432 in ’97, and 504 in ‘98. By 2004, following a string of mild winters, the count reached 1,912 whitetails. The highest count occurred in 1982, at 3,444 deer, a dramatic rise from a winter-induced population crash to 797 in 1978.
“It’s the weather that manages the deer herd in northwestern Minnesota, not anything else,” Hendrickson said.
Stephens acknowledges deer numbers will rise and fall based on the weather. While the present deer hunting regulations allow bucks-only hunting when deer numbers are down, neither she nor Commissioner Merriam could predict what might occur under the QDM management scenario.
While a 2002 survey of Minnesota deer hunters found roughly half had little knowledge of or interest in QDM, Merriam says the concept has local support in various areas of the state. A QDM meeting was scheduled for Nisswa on Tuesday night, and a significant number of hunters in southeastern Minnesota favor trophy hunting rules. Merriam said he hunted pheasants in southwestern Minnesota near Comfrey last fall where local landowners were voluntarily practicing QDM.![[Image: pixel(1).gif]](http://www.outdoornews.com/OUTDOORNEWS/sites/outdoornews/0001Edition/pixel(1).gif)
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Under the proposal, hunters could only kill bucks with four points or more on one antler or with an antler spread wider than the deer’s ears in an alert position. However, hunters in the four counties will still be able to kill two bucks (the only place in the state where this is allowed) using more than one weapon, such as with a bow and with a gun. Also proposed is a special, antlerless-deer-only firearms youth hunt that would be held on October’s MEA weekend.
DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam, who joined Stumpf and Congressman Collin Peterson for a morning hunt on a farm where QDM is voluntarily practiced last November, says his agency hasn’t formulated a position on the proposal. QDM advocates met recently with DNR officials and Merriam says the concerns of state wildlife professionals were “social concerns, not wildlife management concerns.” However, he also noted that the DNR has no baseline data to evaluate a change in the deer hunting regulations, nor any indication whether trophy-oriented regulations will produce an adequate harvest to effectively manage the deer populations.
“There are good reasons why we are not touting the regulation changes,” Merriam said.
The QDM proposal originated with Minnesota Quality Deer Management, Inc., an organization with 700 members statewide. Annette Stephens of Greenbush, who with her husband Clyde have practiced QDM on their 260-acre farm and hosted Merriam, Stumpf, and Peterson on their hunt last year, says so far they’ve heard no negative responses to the proposal among the phone calls and e-mails they receive daily. She says the four counties presently have an abundance of deer, more evident by the DNR’s issuance of intensive harvest permits allowing hunters to kill up to five antlerless deer.
“Our first goal is to reduce doe numbers,” Stephens said.
By requiring hunters to pass up small-antlered bucks, QDM advocates hope they will instead shoot more antlerless deer. Stephens said the restriction should protect all yearling bucks and most 21/2-year-olds. Last November, the Stephens’ four-member hunting party killed eight does and two bucks, including Annette’s first.
“They were QDM bucks, with antlers as wide as the ears,” she said. “They were nice, but not trophies.”
If the proposed youth hunt comes to fruition, young hunters who participate won’t be allowed to kill antlered bucks. Stephens said the antlerless-only restriction was based on the concern of some QDM advocates that kids might kill trophy bucks. However, many hunters may have other concerns about the October firearms hunt.
MEA weekend, when the hunt is proposed, is at the height of bird hunting season, a time when camouflaged waterfowl and grouse hunters are afield with their dogs. Clark Hendrickson of Thief River Falls says he has safety concerns about heading out with his Chesapeake Bay retriever to hunt ducks and grouse while a youth deer hunt is occurring.
“Waterfowl hunters are out very early and late in the day,” Hendrickson said. “I don’t want someone out there with a deer rifle at the same time.”
Stephens said QDM advocates have considered the safety aspects of the youth hunt and are suggesting that bird hunters, and perhaps their dogs, be required to wear hunter orange clothing when the youth hunt is occurring.
Hendrickson, who has hunted deer in Minnesota for 40 years, said that he has no problem with individuals or hunting parties choosing to practice QDM, but he doesn’t believe the concept should be required by law. He points out Minnesota deer hunting regulations have already become so complicated that last fall the DNR had to issue a booklet just to explain to hunters how to buy a deer license. He also noted all-season and multi-zone buck licenses already give trophy hunters ample time and opportunities to pursue large-antlered deer. He is also concerned the Legislature is overstepping its bounds by creating deer hunting rules.
“Speaking as a deer hunter, I don’t want the Legislature telling me I can’t shoot a spike buck,” Hendrickson said.
Typically, deer management and hunting regulations are the province of the DNR’s wildlife professionals. DNR big game specialist Lou Cornicelli said he hasn’t seen Stumpf’s proposal. The DNR’s deer committee, made up of the agency’s whitetail experts, has not discussed the proposal or its possible implications to deer management.
Although northwestern Minnesota presently has high deer numbers, historically the population has fluctuated dramatically in response to winter conditions. Hendrickson said data from a long-standing aerial survey of the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge, conducted annually in February, illustrates those fluctuations. In 1995, the survey counted 1,290 deer. Severe winter weather took its toll and the population plummeted to 455 deer in ’96, 432 in ’97, and 504 in ‘98. By 2004, following a string of mild winters, the count reached 1,912 whitetails. The highest count occurred in 1982, at 3,444 deer, a dramatic rise from a winter-induced population crash to 797 in 1978.
“It’s the weather that manages the deer herd in northwestern Minnesota, not anything else,” Hendrickson said.
Stephens acknowledges deer numbers will rise and fall based on the weather. While the present deer hunting regulations allow bucks-only hunting when deer numbers are down, neither she nor Commissioner Merriam could predict what might occur under the QDM management scenario.
While a 2002 survey of Minnesota deer hunters found roughly half had little knowledge of or interest in QDM, Merriam says the concept has local support in various areas of the state. A QDM meeting was scheduled for Nisswa on Tuesday night, and a significant number of hunters in southeastern Minnesota favor trophy hunting rules. Merriam said he hunted pheasants in southwestern Minnesota near Comfrey last fall where local landowners were voluntarily practicing QDM.
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