This is just one example of one of the many 35 mm photos I took of deer at the corner of Sprigg and Bertling in the early 1990’s.

CAPE GIRARDEAU and JACKSON,

Again why does this affect you? Jackson and Cape Girardeau, Missouri are just two examples of why it does. Well have you seen deer in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson City limits? Well less than 5 blocks from downtown Jackson I have seen 14 deer in one group a little over years ago. In Cape I have counted over 10 in one group.

By the way deer population will double in size in less than 3 years if the habitat exists and there is nothing like nice yards, trees and flowers. Not counting most people will start feeding the deer to get a chance to view them in the back yard. That 10 deer in Cape Girardeau is closer to 20.

Almost forgot, Town and Country city council has passed law keeping individuals from taking care of their own deer problems also.

What is funny I wrote this article over 12 years ago and was published in local papers and regional magazines and nothing was ever done.  I said at that time “When this issue comes up in Cape Girardeau, Jackson or any small town for that matter in Missouri. Remember where the city limits use to be and where they are now. How will your money be spent?

SUCCESS STORY

This comes from our good neighbors to the south and how effective deer management & controls can be handled. The article below comes from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

BULL SHOALS – Deer hunting has gone downtown in Bull Shoals.

Problems with the many deer inside the north Arkansas town led to a special permit hunt, archery only, to reduce the overabundant deer that have caused accidents on roads and decimated gardens and shrubbery. The hunt has a new twist, too. Participants have to prove their ability to use a bow to before they obtain a permit.

The Bull Shoals urban hunt is Arkansas’ first attempt to ease the nuisance deer problem by a coalition of partners and a carefully restricted hunt. The hunt opened Dec. 1 and will continue through Feb. 28 in the quiet Marion County retirement-resort community of 1,787 people bordering the lake of the same name.

The partners are Bull Shoals’ city government, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Bowhunters Association.

Numerous other Arkansas towns and cities, all the way up to Little Rock, have problems with deer. They cause vehicle accidents, they damage shrubbery, gardens and even lawns. But many people love ‘em, and here is where emotions enter the scene.

The framework of the Bull Shoals hunt:

•          All the meat from the deer is donated to the Arkansas Farmers and Hunters for the Hungry program.

•          Only compound bows or traditional longbows can be used.

•          Only hunters with special permits can participate, and the permits were issued after attendance at a mandatory training course and after each hunter passed a proficiency test. Each had to prove he or she could shoot a bow effectively.

•          Landowner permission is required. This includes city lot owners and/or residents.

•          Deer killed have to be brought to a designated check station at Bull Shoals Boat Dock.

•          A participating hunter must kill a doe before he or she can kill a buck.

•          There is no limit on the number of deer a hunter can kill.

•          Deer killed in the special hunt do not apply to a hunter’s statewide season limit of four.

•          Outside these restrictions and special rules, all regular Arkansas deer hunting rules apply, including licenses. 

On the first day of the hunt, seven deer were killed inside Bull Shoals. There has been opposition to this hunt from some Bull Shoals residents. Some not in favor are retirees who delight in feeding birds, small animals and even deer. When the offerings of corn and other food isn’t there, the deer turn to tender, well-cared-for shrubs, to gardens.

What’s the answer to city-deer issues?

Donny Harris, chief of wildlife management for the Game and Fish Commission, said,

“The most effective means of controlling deer in urban areas is by hunting in some form. Trapping and relocating them just is not efficient, and a lot of deer die in the process. Contraception is a possibility in the future, but the technology isn’t here yet. Perhaps an orally administered contraceptive will be developed.”

Game and Fish Commission officials view the Bull Shoals special deer hunt as a pilot project. Lessons hopefully can be learned, and similar operations can be conducted in other cities with problems of too many deer in town.

Bull Shoals isn’t a typical Arkansas small town. The hunters aren’t roaming through subdivisions looking for deer standing on manicured lawns. Bull Shoals’ terrain is extremely steep in much of the town, rocky and tree-covered. Property lines aren’t easily determined.

The leaders of the Bull Shoals effort already are saying this hunt won’t cure the headaches. Winston Parkinson, a Bull Shoals resident who helped plan the hunt, commented after the opening day, “We’ll have to do this again next year and maybe several years after that. 

I would like to thank the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for all the information for this article. 

WOODS or YOUR HOUSE

I hear this all the time also. How can you shoot those pretty animals, they are just like pets to some people feeding them in their back yards.

But those same people have their head buried in the sand. Those same people lives have caused the problem and they have just ignored it.

The house they live in, the roads they drive on, the place they work, the items they buy everyday use to be woods. Just drive down 55 and look at all the house that use to be woods.

Well those same people have displaced more animals than I will kill in lifetime of hunting.

If no hunting is allowed in the City of Cape Girardeau we could go to the next solution.

You feel so bad for the whitetail deer, then I have a solution, tear your house down, tear up the roads, stop working, plant your land back in the trees that where there before the house was there. Go back to the time when your ancestor hunted for the food.

If no hunting is allowed in the City of Cape Girardeau we could go to the next solution.

We could bring the predators back that use to hunt the deer. Wolf, or Cougar but they would cry out how terrifying that would be to see cross the back yard chasing the deer.

Hunter’s are the replacement for the Wolf and Cougar.

Those same people don’t even ask how many people have been in a collision in the City of Cape Girardeau due to a deer. I guess they are waiting on a family member to die because it not a matter of if it will happen, it is a matter of when it will happen!!!

Another solution is EVERY insurances agent that has a client within the City of Cape has every right to raise the rates on the Car Insurance since they will be paying the bill if no hunting is allowed, that just a reaction not a solution

One more thing before I let you go, if you decide to read the next part of this article about Capture Myopathy and the section does not make you mad as a hunter, conservationist or for that matter a true American that today's freedom and modern society exist because your fore fathers hunted this great country, nothing ever will. I know that with a arrow or bullet the kill is quick and no meat is wasted and the animal memory can be preserved.

Some more information on the death of 7 in 10 of the Town and Country Deer, 161 deer died a slow and painful death, Even though they may never pick up a gun or a bow they have killed & WASTED more deer than I ever will with a gun or a bow, but like I said, out of sight out of mind!!!!!

CAPTURE MYOPATHY
by: Jeff Fyffe BVSc MRCVS MACVSc
Provided by"
Deer Industry Association of Australia

The key feature of Capture Myopathy is HYPERTHERMIA - in other words an increase in body temperature.

Essentially "Capture Myopathy"is a disease complex associated with capture or handling of any wild species of mammals or birds.

It will occur when an animal is unable to cool itself and may result from a variety of factors including overexertion, drugs, a heavy coat, reduced blood flow or high environmental temperatures.

In human medicine the nearest equivalent is "muscle melt-down" of stressed athletes.

Drugs

Drugs used for restraint - particularly xylazine, cause an increase in body temperature. This is one reason why these drugs MUST be reversed after use.

Muscle Pump

Muscles exert a pumping action as an animal moves and this aids blood flow. When normal movement is taking place 15% of the total blood volume is in the muscles. In a drugged animal 25% will pool in the muscles causing a drop in blood pressure.

Not only does fresh oxygen arrive, but lactic acid builds up and cooling is reduced.

Fear

Fear is the single most important role in capture myopathy. Weaning is the best time to condition deer to prevent fear ever being a problem. Any animal with a bad temperament should be culled.

Environmental Temperature

Restraint and transport should be avoided on hot days. Temperatures above 27oC should be avoided. Shade must be supplied.

Clinical Manifestations

There are four categories of capture myopathy according to the way the condition presents itself. These are PERACUTE, ACUTE, SUBACUTE and CHRONIC.

PERACUTE CAPTURE MYOPATHY

Death may occur in a matter of minutes due to low blood pH, acidosis, potassium release from damaged muscles and heart failure. There are few post-mortem signs.

ACUTE CAPTURE MYOPATHY

This is a less severe form of the above with the animal lingering before death. Muscle rupture may occur and the animal, if able to stand, will be ataxic. The condition could be confused with Enzootic Ataxia. Dearth occurs in 24 - 48 hrs.

SUB-ACUTE CAPTURE MYOPATHY

Again a less severe form of the above with the acidosis causing muscle and kidney damage. The urine may be a dark brown color. Recumbent animals often have their necks twisted back - known as "Wryneck" in New Zealand. Death takes a few days.

CHRONIC CAPTURE MYOPATHY

These animals survive several days or months but will often die suddenly from a heart attack.

TREATMENT

Prevention is the only treatment for this condition. Once the condition starts it is always fatal.

I would like to thank the Missouri Department of Conservation, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Deer Industry Association of Australia for all the information for this article.

Hope to see you in the woods. Horntagger

Deer Population Control Methods – FACTS

1. IMMUNO CONTRACEPTION VACCINES Process:


a. Use bait to attract deer to designated area.
b. 1st treatment: Capture, tag and dose with anti-fertility agent.
c. Subsequent treatments: Booster agent administered by dart. 

Efficiency:
a. 85% - 90% effective for each deer treated as long as boosters are maintained.
b. 2 doses first year, single dose each year after.
c. 70% plus of females must receive treatment the 1st year. To maintain, must treat 100% of the original 70%.

Logistical Constraints:
a. In order to discharge firearms, permission of landowners & other permits is needed.
b.Need for boosters requires an adequate number of darting sites.
c.Easier to capture for treatment a few does but increasingly difficult to capture a higher percentage of does. 

Legal Issues:
a. State and local permits required.

2.  SURGICAL STERILIZATION

Process:


a.Use bait to attract deer to designated sites.
b.Capture deer and perform tubal ligation or vasectomy. 

Efficiency:
a. 90% effective for each deer treated.
b.No booster required. 

Logistical Constraints:
a. In order to discharge firearms, permission of landowners & other permits is needed.
b.Removal to operating site. 

Legal Issues:
a. State and local permits required.

3. BAIT & SHOOT

Process:
a.Use bait to attract deer to designated sites.
b.Use bow & arrow, shotgun, or rifle.
c.Shoot from elevated stands or blinds to eliminate stray bullets or arrows.

Efficiency:
a.100 % effective for each deer treated.
b.No boosters required.

Logistical Constraints:
a.In order to discharge firearms, permission of landowners and other permits needed.

Legal Issues:
b.State and local permits required.