MANITOULIN––By now most Islanders will have seen this scenario at least once—a pitiful looking creature passing for a deer stumbling along Manitoulin and LaCloche roadsides, seemingly oblivious to the traffic in their search for greenery. This sad picture is what remains of Manitoulin’s deer herd, warns United Fish and Game Clubs of Manitoulin secretary Ian Anderson, and is the reasoning behind a call for a 30 percent reduction in this year’s antlerless deer tags.
“I’m still estimating there will be a loss of between 25-30 percent of deer, especially in terms of fawns for last year and this year,” said Mr. Anderson, a retired Conservation Officer. Mr. Anderson explained that, on average, every doe has 1.2 fawns and that some will have twins and triplets.
“If you travel around Manitoulin and look in fields where deer are and see the ratio of fawns to adults, there are places where they are really scarce,” said Mr. Anderson. “Several times I’ve seen places where we’re seeing two fawns per 10 adult deer. During the bulldozing of trails through the snow this winter to provide the deer access to food, as many as six dead fawns were seen (along one route), which is a large number especially in a small geographical area.”
[pullquote]“I weighed a few of the deer that perished and one fawn was just 38 pounds. It had frozen and died from starvation,” said Mr. Anderson. “So this year we are going to see two age classes having been impacted by the winter and there will be a scarcity of fawns.”[/pullquote]
“I weighed a few of the deer that perished and one fawn was just 38 pounds. It had frozen and died from starvation,” said Mr. Anderson. “So this year we are going to see two age classes having been impacted by the winter and there will be a scarcity of fawns.”
“What is unseen is the fawns that won’t be born,” continued Mr. Anderson. “We’ll see a shortage of two age classes, last year’s fawn crop and this spring’s. This is going to have an impact on Manitoulin Island for years to come.”
With the severe winter Manitoulin Island endured this year, and the loss of deer because of the harsh weather, the United Fish and Game Clubs of Manitoulin (UFGCM) is calling for a 30 percent reduction in antlerless deer tag permits for this fall’s annual deer hunt on the Island. This recommendation has been forwarded on to the Ministry of Natural Resources for action.
“When you can pick up an adult deer and throw it in the truck with the tailgate up you know there is a problem,” said Mr. Anderson.
“In my personal feeling, and to err on the side of caution, we won’t know exactly how many deer we have lost until the harvest this fall,” said Mr. Anderson. “I think it’s a no-brainer that we have to reduce the number of antlerless deer tags another 25 to 30 percent. I think this will be a minimum.”
“If we want make a decision based on the health of the Manitoulin we have to reduce the tags, it’s just a matter of how many,” stated Mr. Anderson. He also said that the deer being spotted in fields and on the sides of roads are probably all the deer that remain after this winter’s hard conditions.
“We have to be hardnosed on this issue (to recommend a decrease in deer tags) or we will be shooting ourselves in the foot,” said UFGCM member Ches Witty at a recent meeting.
“We have to have reductions due to the anticipated loss in deer,” said Mr. Anderson. “I saw more dead deer this winter than I’ve seen in any of the past 20 winters.”
Jim Sloss, UFGCM chair, commended Mr. Anderson and other members of the Deer Save Committee and volunteers for their efforts this winter in saving deer on the Island.
“This recommendation (if approved) would be for one year,” noted Mr. Anderson. “My guess is the harvest may have gone up a little bit last fall, and I suspect hunter success went up as well, but now because of the winter we had, we are now back in the hole.”
Last year’s antlerless deer tags were set at 3,900 (3,500 for Wildlife Management Unit 43B and 400 for WMU 43A) for the annual Manitoulin deer gun hunt.
