Six-Year Investigation Debunks Myth that Deer Hunting is for Population Control

By Janet Piszar, Founder, PUBLIC TRUST WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
PO Box 646, Chatham NJ 07928, hasla2@verizon.net

WHERE: Fish & Game Council Meeting, Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, Robbinsville, NJ

At the April 14th, 2015, Fish and Game Council meeting, copies of government documents surrendered via the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) were distributed to Council members. A presentation was delivered of a multi- year investigation using the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s (DFW) Annual Deer Harvest Summary Reports. PUBLIC TRUST Wildlife Management compiled six consecutive years of DFW data from its Annual Deer Harvest Summaries and its strategies for individual Deer Management Zones (DMZs).

The DFW’s consecutive annual reports, 2008-2014, showed consistently that 58% – 59% of the Deer Management Zones (DMZ) were managed for deer population increase and stabilization—not reduction.  The zones for deer population stabilization and increase are densely located in the central and southern portions of New Jersey, where many farms still exist.

OPRA surrendered documents expose that the DFW conducted no research to determine if in the DMZs managed for increased deer were causing or increasing vehicle-deer collisions or forestry damage and destruction.

Other surrendered documents showed that farmers were applying for deer depredation permits in DMZs that are managed for increase! “I doubt that the farmers even realize that they reside in DMZs managed for increase” stated Janet Piszar, Founder of PUBLIC TRUST Wildlife Management. “This information is not commonly known to exist, is not included on the DFW website and is not readily accessible. Most people have no clue that deer are actually managed for shootable surplus.”

Deer Management Zones managed for decreased showed that the DFW practices deer/wildlife habitat enhancements by having deer preferred food planted in Wildlife Management Areas. This ensures deer health, ample weight and ability to reproduce at peak capacity. This component of the investigation exposes the hidden objective to increase the deer population despite designated strategies for deer decrease.

“The DFW’s true mission is to gain hunter access in these areas, but covertly ensure that the population will not decrease in the future,” stated Piszar.

New Jersey newspapers and media often carry articles about the consistent high number of vehicle-deer collisions, which according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife, merit longer hunting seasons.

“I don’t think there has been a more successful public scam than this, that the Division and Fish and Wildlife has managed covertly for many decades.  Many people still hold the myth that hunting is for population control. It is not. It is about perpetuating the culture of recreational hunting, insuring that the 1% of the hunter population enjoys success and satisfaction and continue to buy annual hunting license” reported Piszar. “What is particularly scandalous, is that the DFW creates the very problems it professes to resolve with hunting.”

Deer and wildlife are a publicly owned resource and the basic requirement is that they be managed for the public benefit. Clearly, covert management of deer for shootable surplus for hunters is not for the public benefit, rather its detriment.

“I believe that those who had a vehicle-deer accident in DMZs managed for increase: 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 34, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46 may be able to litigate for compensatory benefits from the State” stated Piszar.

PLEASE NOTE:

The comprehensive investigation covered six years and compiled documents from:

Rutgers University, the Department of Agriculture, The Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Fish and Game Council, the New Jersey Audubon Society, and the US Fish and Wildlife Services.

Copies of the Division of Fish and Wildlife Annual Harvest Reports that synopsize Deer Management Zones with the strategy for each are enclosed. This is found at the lower corner of each page.

Since its Annual Harvest Report of 2012-2013, the Division of Fish and Wildlife began abbreviating each DMZ strategy, and fails to include a legend for each designation:

From Increase To I
From Stabilization To S
From Decrease To D

One could assume that the DFW is obscuring its strategy for each zone, and protecting itself from such allegations as have been made by PUBLIC TRUST Wildlife Management.