Effective Times to Hunt Deer

One of the things, which a hunter must realize when he go for hunting, is that he must respect some restriction given by the land owner where he hunt the deer.

In other states, where the snow is not so much of a problem, the food supply might support a greater number of deer, but there is a limit. I am sure that the Pennsylvania herd has passed its peak and must decrease in numbers as time goes on. Perhaps there will not be a sudden drop in these numbers, due to starvation, but in many areas of that state, there is insufficient food to maintain the present deer population.

The feeding of starving deer would be expensive and would only delay the inevitable. They cannot be driven or persuaded to move to other areas, as this is against their nature. They prefer to remain on familiar ground until the last bit of food has been consumed, and once this food supply is exhausted, it requires years for a new crop to develop to the point where it will support any large number of deer. There is not much that the individual hunter can do about this situation except to aid the officials in their study of the problem and to support any legislation which will limit the deer herd to the food supply.

One of the most serious threats to hunting, as we know it, is the growing breach in the relations between hunters and landowners. This situation may not be entirely the fault of the hunters, but it can only be healed by the hunters' action. Each of us should lean over backwards in an effort to establish and maintain friendly relations with these landowners. Otherwise we will find an increase in the private hunting preserves where we are only permitted to hunt for a fee. This is against the American principle of equal rights for all.

Many hunters seem to think that a license issued by the state gives them the right to hunt wherever they wish. This is far from a fact. The license is merely a permit to hunt the state-owned deer on land which is open to hunting. The landowner has complete control of his land and he has the right to forbid hunting if he so desires. The hunter has no right to hunt on private property without the permission of the landowner, direct or implied. The fact that the owner has not posted his land is usually an implied permit to hunt.

We cannot continue to disregard the rights of these owners and expect them to continue to permit hunting on their land. Many of them will overlook an occasional flagrant violation with the thought that such action is not typical of the hunting fraternity as a whole, but when hunter after hunter commits minor acts of vandal- ism, which are a constant irritant to the property owner, he is apt to bar all hunting on his land. The effects of widespread posting of land may be seen in many of the farming sections of the various deer ranges.

There are many other things which we should watch, such as the forest-fire danger that can cause a tremendous amount of damage to the deer range as well as to the property owner, and the possibility of hunting accidents which cause public opposition to all hunting. If we wish to see the sport of deer hunting continued indefinitely, we must be careful in our conduct in the woods and must examine all proposed laws that would restrict the sport. We should be appreciative of the effort of those who have developed and preserved this heritage for our use; and, as sportsmen, we should de-sire to preserve it, in turn, for those who will wish to hunt in the future. Deer hunting is an American institution that deserves perpetuation until the inevitable advance of civilization demands the use of the last of the deer ranges.

There's a four-pronged buck a-swinging in the shadow of my cabin, And it roamed the velvet valley till to-day; But I tracked it by the river, and I trailed it in the cover, And I killed it on the mountain miles away.

Hunters must remember that we are, in effect, the guests of the landowner and should conduct them, as guests should, if we expect to be welcome to hunt there at some future time. It costs nothing to ask permission to hunt on private land and the very asking is an acknowledgement of the rights of the owner. Such an acknowledgement should establish a guest-and-host relationship, which will imply mutual obligations beneficial to both parties.