November’s antiquated tradition of killing deer is void of compassion and respect for Mother Nature and her animals.
Thankfully the baby boomer generation is aging out and the DNR, more foe than friend to wildlife, struggles to replace the declining number of hunters.
“The last 25 years, we’ve seen a decrease in the total number of firearm deer hunters and deer hunters in general, in the state of Michigan. That’s not just a trend in the state of Michigan, that’s a trend all across the United States.” He framed the baby boomer population in the next 10 years as, “a lot more of them won’t be hunting anymore. We don’t have the same rate of hunting in the younger generations to make up for the loss of the baby boomers in the hunting population,” DNR Cadillac wildlife biologist Vernon Richardson told upnorthlive.com.
The younger generations directly or indirectly impacted by mass school shootings, I suspect have zero desire to hear gunfire echoing throughout the woods.
Ninety-seven percent of hunters are white, while the fastest growing races in the United States are Hispanic and Blacks, but make up less than 3% of the hunting population. Overall only 6% of the population hunts.
And contrary to popular belief, hunting is not the number one revenue generator in Michigan. Last year at this time, michigantrails.org reported boating/fishing generated $1.2 billion, compared to the dismal hunting/shooting sports of $330 million to Michigan’s economy. Therefore, hunting did not even generate the entire $330 million in revenue.
Furthermore, the DNR deceives the public about Michigan deer being overpopulated, yet they won’t address that around 1914 the deer were on the verge of extinction due to over hunting. According to wildgamedynasty.com “… The deer limit was dropped to 3 in 1901, 2 in 1905, and to only one deer in 1914 (with an estimated 45,000 deer in the state).”
The Michigan DNR can only guesstimate our deer at 1 to 2 million, while worldpopulationreview.com lists Michigan’s 2025 human population at 10,197,600.
The DNR also misleads local Michigan municipalities claiming deer contraception is costly, ineffective, and non lethal measures allegedly do not work.
To the contrary, Fripp Island, South Carolina, Clifton, Ohio, Hastings on Hudson (north of New York City) found birth control efforts were highly successful. And Rochester Hills, Michigan found non lethal measures to be effective. For a more comprehensive view of other cities using birth control and non lethal measures, please visit: deerfriendly.com “Non-Lethal Deer Population Control for Urban and Suburban Environments.”
In May 1999, I wrote the story “Gunning for deer,” for The Metro Times. The DNR told a packed audience at Oakland University, they would only use sharpshooters in the Metro Parks for one year. Fast forward 26 years later, the deer are still being killed by sharpshooters.
As for donating venison to food banks in an attempt to appear charitable, are recipients notified they’re receiving venison? Because there are far more that would knowingly reject eating venison, than those who would.
Massacring deer is finally beginning to lose its deplorable luster. The media needs to stop glorifying a repugnant tradition and instead promote, “shoot with a camera, not a gun.” As humans, it’s time to stop acting like we’re the only species on Earth.
Let us all remember: “The Goal of life, is living in agreement with Nature,” Zeno of Citium
“The Goal of life, is living in agreement with Nature,” Zeno of Citium.
Karen Mouradjian is a Macomb County-based animal rights activist.
