Hunting committee focuses on deer populations

Members of Rockingham County’s hunting advisory committee heard an update on local hunting from George Strader, a district biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, during Thursday’s meeting. Strader addressed members and the audience about deer population options and fox trapping and tagging in the county.

Strader said hunting has been relied on over the years to control the deer population in the county. He said as populations have increased, more emphasis has been placed on doe hunting.

“Deer populations have remained stable in areas where hunting is widespread, but in areas where it’s limited, there’s no check on the deer population,” he said. “We have many farmers who complain about crop damage, so we’re trying to encourage them to allow hunters to hunt on their land.”

A Website has been developed through the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to connect farmers who want to offer hunting leases. Strader said although the Website is generating a response, a lot of farmers still don’t want hunting on their land for various reasons.

“When I met with soybean farmers in Orange County, only half of them allow farmers to hunt on their land, while most of them had major problems with crop damage,” he said. “Hunting is the most practical and economical way to control the deer population, so we hope that more farmers will sign up to allow hunting on their property.”

The committee also addressed issues with bag limits and what to do with deer once they’ve been killed. Strader mentioned the “freezer effect,” which happens to many hunters in the area. Freezers fill up at home and no longer have room for any new meat. Strader mentioned the Hunters for the Hungry program, which is not readily available in Rockingham County.

Barry Joyce, a wildlife enforcement officer for the county, said needy families could benefit greatly from this, and the committee should look into this program or a similar one for the county.

“If only hunters knew where they could take the deer for it to be processed and given to needy families, that would help a lot of people in the county,” he said. “We can possibly look at fire departments or other organizations that could develop a list of names or places where hunters can take a deer.”

Strader said some things that will improve hunting overall would be to develop uniform trapping seasons for surrounding counties to avoid confusion, increase trap size restrictions and to review bag limits for deer.

“Confusing rules and regulations limiting trapping in the county really keep people from trapping when otherwise they would,” Strader said. “We need to keep the regulations simple and encourage people to hunt, not discourage them.”

The committee also outlined issues to tackle in upcoming meetings, including rules concerning the disposal of deer carcasses, fox trapping regulations, and hunting regulations in municipalities.

For more information on hunting farmland, visit http://www.agr.state.nc.us/hunt/. Current regulations on fishing, hunting and trapping can also be found at http://www.ncwildlife.org/.