Deer.
Oh Deer.
Okay. I know I am going to get my hunting friends all ruffled. But don’t get you panties in a bunch over this one…. I mean… I eat meat. So I am being a bit hypocritical here. But it’s on my limited brain… so here it goes.

They say there is an over population of deer in certain parts of the United States. The “They” who says this are…. humans…. of some sort or another. And, Ohio is one of those places of “over population”.

But let’s consider it, eine moment, bitte.
Large mammals…. including deer…. and predators such as wolves and bear were wiped out here in Ohio.

Now this whole pluckiness happened during the nineteenth century by hunting and deforestation. Who do you think did the hunting and deforestation? Yep. And guess what. By 1904, there were no deer in Ohio. Zippata. None. Zilch. Nadda.

So… the humans said… WHOOPS. And they decided that white-tailed deer needed to be reintroduced to Ohio (via a government stocking program) in the 1920s and 1930s.

It worked. Since their re-introduction to Ohio……deer have been living happily in the Buckeye State. They are found in every county in Ohio. Today, the deer population in Ohio exceeds 750,000.

But now the geniuses are saying that the growth of the deer population has created problems. Here is “why” they purport there is an over-population. The natural predators of deer have been eliminated from the state. This has allowed deer populations to grow unchecked. I ask them … who’s fault is this? Again…. humans. We are the ones who “offed” the predators.

They say…. that large deer herds have destroyed plants and small trees. They also say that deer will damage local farm crops. Not only that …. they are like… well… a deer in the headlights. You see…. they are involved in over 23,000 deer / car crashes each year. Guess who is driving the cars? It ain’t the big bad wolf.

Well… the “THEY” established a hunting program. Ohio hunters take over 200 thousand deer each year and generate more than $10 million in deer permit revenue for the state.

This is how and when they are hunted….. this year in Ohio.
Archery – Sept 28, 2013 – Feb 2, 2014
Muzzle-loader (antler-less deer only) – Oct 12-13, 2013
Youth Gun – Nov 23-24, 2013
Gun – Dec 2-8, 2013
Muzzle-loader – Jan 4-7, 2014

If we hadn’t jerked around with the whole balance of things in the beginning, we wouldn’t have to be killing them now.

But we did. And now we do.

I understand that now there is a “need” to control this. But I don’t like it. I don’t want to lose the likes of my friend Emaline the Doe… here in this photo…  I just don’t.

You know…. when I told her about all of this… she stuck her tongue out in all earnestness.

And take one more moment to consider this. The planet is over populated with a lot of things…. including more than 7 Billion people. I hope the “THEY” don’t put an Open Season on us…

… but you never know.

“Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they’re in the game.” – Paul Rodriguez