August 19, 2020
As hard as it is to believe, the time is nigh for you to get ready to go deer hunting again. Even though the year has just been lost to corona, it is our duty, nay - our responsibility - to keep this deer herd under control and if we drop the ball for even one season, we're liable to find ourselves overrun by whitetails like the Australians were by cottontails in the 1950's.
I've been watching the local herds here in Ohio and it seems as if three things are prominent this year. First of all, there are a ton of bucks running around. Actually I have seen several sets of local bucks, staggered as if they're siblings, running together in velvet.
Secondly, I've noticed that there are some velvet bucks starting to merge with does. It is the middle of August and they're still in velvet so this is something that is a bit mind boggling to me because I'm used to not seeing this behavior until about a month from now. One thing that has occurred to me is that with the advent of the corona virus there have been fewer instances of herd thinning because everyone has been staying in and fewer are being hit by cars. Therefore family units are staying together and there is a likelihood of inbreeding much like the whitetail deer of the Florida Keys have gone through. This could result in much smaller bucks in the future if something isn't done.
The third thing I've noticed is the fact that these deer are spending an abundance of their time in the crop fields. This isn't unusual except for the fact that the local deer are in the fields all day long it seems, whereas in times past I have noticed that they seem to be predominately nocturnal. This could be a problem come winter which can cause herd damage if they are competing with each other for limited herd resources.
In any event, the point is that we are going to need you to all get out into the woods and thin that population out as much as you can. This practice is what keeps the herd strong and healthy. Studies have proved that overpopulation leads to inbreeding, (smaller bucks), and bad nutrition, (poorer quality meat).
So get that military surplus tent out and get ready for deer camp this year.