BRAINERD, MINN. – Described as a "listening session,'' a gathering in this central Minnesota town Wednesday evening attracted some 60 deer hunters. At issue was the perception among most in attendance, voiced repeatedly, that too few deer inhabit the surrounding region, a complaint shared in many areas statewide. Doing the listening, and taking notes, were Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials.
It's no easy task, managing deer to socially acceptable population levels, which the DNR attempts to do. For starters, what constitutes such levels is not easily agreed upon. Hunters want a lot of deer. Orchard growers and others in agriculture generally want fewer. In between are homeowners with at-risk shrubbery, car drivers who fear whitetail collisions at freeway speeds, and ecology buffs who believe too many deer inhibit forest plant diversity.
Still, in many parts of the state there are too few deer, in part because weather bets DNR wildlife managers placed a few years back boomeranged. Bad as last winter was, particularly for northern whitetails, this winter is worse. In advance of these, arguably because of bad luck, the DNR allowed hunters to kill too many deer in some parts of the state.
The result, as Dave Sapletal of Brainerd put it Wednesday evening: "The deer are truly down.''
Added Ron Carlson of Pillager, Minn.: "The deer are down so far I didn't even hunt my home area.''
Hearing this, and more, from the frustrated hunters was a phalanx of DNR officials, headed by wildlife section chief Paul Telander. Also present were DNR research boss (and former big game coordinator) Lou Cornicelli, as well as big game program leader Leslie McInenly and wildlife programs manager Steve Merchant, among others.
Organized by the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, the Brainerd meeting, as well as one held Thursday evening in Cambridge and four others to be held in coming days (none in the Twin Cities), was intended to allow hunters to vent. The underlying assumption — hope — was that the DNR would take the hunters' concerns to heart and do what's required to rebuild the state's whitetail herd.
"I've hunted 62 years,'' said Dave Sapletal of Brainerd, "and in the last three or four years, the bucks just aren't there. Even in Camp Ripley. I spent 17 hours in a stand there last fall and I didn't see a single deer.''