The Poor Orcas Islanders... too many deer

[lokidog]

Loki go on that Facebook page and recommend that a couple packs of wolves be released on the islands and see what kind of response you get😊 Please post them up here

There was discussion about cougar and bear....

We had a jerk enviro here on Decatur that wanted to bring in coyotes.     He died a few years ago in a hiking fall, so no worries about that now.....   

[Special T]

Loki go on that Facebook page and recommend that a couple packs of wolves be released on the islands and see what kind of response you get😊 Please post them up here

If it were possible to live trap a couple of be all for it.  The state rep for that area lives on Oscar and is a anti hunting wacko

[luvmystang67]

I think it'd be great to bring back all these natural predators we supposedly killed off.

I'm pretty sure there's no tangible evidence that permanent populations of real predators lived on the islands over any long period of time since the last ice age.

I'm from Friday Harbor.  Most of the land I used to hunt has been picked up by the Land Preservation Trust.  It basically becomes county-owned land and then it is leased back to farmers.  We'll see how long it can keep up.  As the good ol crew passes on, a group run primarily by dems dictates the new order on the property.  They claim to keep it used as it was historically, they conveniently omit hunting from the history books.

It is thick with deer though, almost to the point of being very little fun past the age of 10.

[baker5150]

Loki go on that Facebook page and recommend that a couple packs of wolves be released on the islands and see what kind of response you get😊 Please post them up here

There was discussion about cougar and bear....

We had a jerk enviro here on Decatur that wanted to bring in coyotes.     He died a few years ago in a hiking fall, so no worries about that now.....   

Walker?

[lokidog]

Loki go on that Facebook page and recommend that a couple packs of wolves be released on the islands and see what kind of response you get😊 Please post them up here

There was discussion about cougar and bear....

We had a jerk enviro here on Decatur that wanted to bring in coyotes.     He died a few years ago in a hiking fall, so no worries about that now.....   

Walker?

Yes

[hollymaster]

Loki go on that Facebook page and recommend that a couple packs of wolves be released on the islands and see what kind of response you get😊 Please post them up here

There was discussion about cougar and bear....

We had a jerk enviro here on Decatur that wanted to bring in coyotes.     He died a few years ago in a hiking fall, so no worries about that now.....   

Wacko?

Fixed it for you. 

[RB]

Live trap them and relocate to any of the Puget sound GMU's and problem solved. The antis have a "safe" solution and the hunters have a solution, and a full freezer! 

[fishnfur]

There's no reason that land trust properties must be anti-hunting.  Over-browsing of native flora is very detrimental to those critical environments.  We just need to find the right messenger to persuade the "powers that be" that limited hunts are in the best interest of the environment being held in trust.

On the other hand, my extended family and I are in the process of selling a chunk of land on Guemes to the Skagit Land Trust.  They probably don't allow hunting either, so never mind what I said....   We should probably all move on and find some other pass-time, like fishing, or darts.

[Schmalzfam]

I have a chunk of private land 80acres on Orcas I can hunt.
The landowner was telling me a few years back that someone from the game dept. Was talking about bringing mule deer back over AGAIN, to increase the size.....
She said it had been done in the past.
Has anyone else heard of this?
More public access would be a great way to start decreasing the numbers, but a lot of hunters avoid the islands, due to the lack of access.
Bringing the island genes, possible diseases, etc. To the mainland,  I think would be a mistake.
Not to mention, that some are so domesticated and clueless you would be just ringing a dinner bell for all the predators.

[fishnfur]

Mule deer to the SJI?  Sounds like bad science (at least based on the studies I read and commented on about 18 months ago). 

Those island Blacktail are the size they are because of their environment, not genetics.  Removal of predators resulted in too many deer, which have over-utilized the food resources available and created scarcity of browse for the entire population.  When food is scarce for maternal does, it results in underweight fawns at birth.  Those fawns must then try to thrive through the same scarcity of food during their early growth phases.  As you might guess, after suffering malnutrition since they were just a few cells growing in the mothers placenta, a population of abnormally small adult deer eventually becomes the norm.   

If you took a freshly impregnated island doe and put her in an environment without food shortage, the fawn would likely be of normal birth size and grow to normal adult BT proportions, assuming it had adequate food during it's early years. 

[JakeLand]

Mule deer to the SJI?  Sounds like bad science (at least based on the studies I read and commented on about 18 months ago). 

Those island Blacktail are the size they are because of their environment, not genetics.  Removal of predators resulted in too many deer, which have over-utilized the food resources available and created scarcity of browse for the entire population.  When food is scarce for maternal does, it results in underweight fawns at birth.  Those fawns must then try to thrive through the same scarcity of food during their early growth phases.  As you might guess, after suffering malnutrition since they were just a few cells growing in the mothers placenta, a population of abnormally small adult deer eventually becomes the norm.   

If you took a freshly impregnated island doe and put her in an environment without food shortage, the fawn would likely be of normal birth size and grow to normal adult BT proportions, assuming it had adequate food during it's early years.

make sense to me   

[Night goat]

you guys obviously don't know the local san juan deer hunting secret method 

maybe lokidog knows it


you need two things....

a ball peen hammer....

and an apple


 

 

[singleshot12]

you guys obviously don't know the local san juan deer hunting pet harvest secret method 

maybe lokidog knows it


you need two things....

a ball peen hammer....

and an apple
 

 

 

 fixed it for ya    How does someone hunt pets or livestock 

[Shrimper]

These deer provide the best venison, unbelievable how good it is.

[singleshot12]

Except for the ones eating dog food, they tend to be very greasy.