Ian Hatter on Whitetail Harvest

[Fisher-Dude]

Interesting whitetail harvest studies quoted by Dr Ian Hatter at the BCWF convention:


%Male.......%Female....Buck/doe.....Fawn/doe....Stable Herd.....Sustained
harvest.......harvest.......ratio.............rati o.............size............harvest


0%...........0%...........50/100...........24/100.............10,000.............0
25%..........0%..........19/100...........24/100.............10,000..........333
50%..........0%...........9/100............24/100.............10,000..........322
25%.........13%.........43/100............56/100..............8,160........1,242
50%.........25%.........32/100............97/100..............5,875........1,674

[6616]

Interesting whitetail harvest studies quoted by Dr Ian Hatter at the BCWF convention:


%Male.......%Female....Buck/doe.....Fawn/doe....Stable Herd.....Sustained
harvest.......harvest.......ratio.............rati o.............size............harvest


0%...........0%...........50/100...........24/100.............10,000.............0
25%..........0%..........19/100...........24/100.............10,000..........333
50%..........0%...........9/100............24/100.............10,000..........322
25%.........13%.........43/100............56/100..............8,160........1,242
50%.........25%.........32/100............97/100..............5,875........1,674

That was a great presentation Pat. Clearly shows we could be sustainably harvesting about 4 times as many white tails in Regions 4 and 8 as we currently do. An "any deer" GOS like Alberta and Saskatchewan for example looks sustainable. It's interesting to note that the Alberta target harvest is 25% of the bucks and 10% to 12% of the does each year and they attain that approximate harvest level with their lengthy any deer season, and their deer population continues to expand. On top of that their hunter success rate is much higher due to more open country, and their winter mortality is higher due to more severe and longer winters.

[Fisher-Dude]

A few other points from Ian's presentation:

- WT population in BC has likely DOUBLED in the past 10 years
- many jurisdictions are questioning whether we can even get enough hunter harvest to control WT populations
- culling may be required in rural settings (ie shoot them and leave them to rot because we don't kill enough for our freezers! God forbid!)
- more liberal hunting seasons are required to increase hunter harvest (yet we resist season changes?)
- proximal jurisdictions all (AB, SK, MB) have lengthy either sex GOS seasons, and way more liberal bag limits than BC - why don't we?
- 4 pt buck seasons are the least accepted seasons in hunter opinion and have the least regulatory effectiveness, yet we still use antler restrictions in BC!
- GOS any deer, and maximum sustained yield go hand in hand for highest hunter acceptance and highest regulatory effectiveness - time to open her up boys!

[BCrams]

- 4 pt buck seasons are the least accepted seasons in hunter opinion and have the least regulatory effectiveness, yet we still use antler restrictions in BC!


Region 7-B in the Peace. 4 point white-tailed deer restriction. I shake my head everytime this comes up.

[Fisher-Dude]

Region 7-B in the Peace. 4 point white-tailed deer restriction. I shake my head everytime this comes up.

Why is it still in place? What do the 7B clubs say about it?