Chronic wasting disease, bovine tuberculosis and other diseases have caught mainstream attention in recent years, but little has been done to stop these diseases. What does the future hold? Here’s a closer look, as it pertains to Michigan and other big whitetail hunting states.
Editor’s note: This is a guest editorial by Richard P. Smith, an award-winning outdoor writer and photographer living in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan who has been hunting whitetail deer and black bears for more than 60 years. Smith is a recognized expert on whitetail deer and black bear behavior and biology as well as hunting these popular big-game animals. He has authored 28 books and thousands of magazine, newspaper and online articles in the hunting industry over the past six decades.
Dear Deer Management Groups:
My suggestions for improving deer management in Michigan, which can be done fairly quickly, are to lift the ban on deer hunting with bait in the Lower Peninsula, eliminate mandatory antler point restrictions in both the LP and UP and to increase the black bear harvest in the UP through the issuance of more bear licenses.
Lifting the ban on baiting for deer hunting in the LP will increase the deer harvest and do a better job of controlling the spread of diseases as well as better manage the deer population. The best way to control the spread of disease is to reduce deer numbers and density. Reduced deer harvests resulting from a ban on baiting, on the other hand, increases deer numbers along with vehicle collisions with deer and the spread of disease.
Concerns about the use of bait spreading CWD and TB are unwarranted. I’ve walked with whitetails of both sexes and all age classes for close to 30 years and I can assure you whitetails have close social, nose-to-nose contact whether or not baiting is legal. I produced a video that clearly shows what I’m talking about in terms of how CWD and TB is spread among whitetails.
I’ve also hunted deer over bait for more than 30 years and have had plenty of opportunity to observe the interaction between whitetails at baits. Deer that are most likely to have nose-to-nose contact at baits are those that are related such as does and their offspring. Those animals engage in nose-to-nose contact multiple times on a daily basis through mutual grooming. Does that have CWD or TB usually spread the disease to their fawns whether or not baiting is legal.
Nose-to-nose contact of unrelated whitetails at baits seldom, if ever, occurs because deer simply will not tolerate the presence of unrelated deer nearby. Does that are at a bait and have a higher social rank than unrelated deer that approach a bait normally chase the new arrival away. If the new arrivals have a higher social rank than those at a bait, deer that were feeding will leave in response to the approach of more dominant animals. If they don’t leave, they will be chased away.
Why adult bucks have the highest prevalence rates of disease is related to breeding activity. Bucks lick (taste) the urine from multiple does to determine if they are in estrus. As part of breeding behavior, bucks lick the noses and rears of does they are courting. They only have to come in contact with one infected doe to become infected themselves. The fact that adult bucks breed multiple does increases the chances of that happening.
A DNR report titled “DEER BAITING IN THE NORTHEAST LOWER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN” that was released in June of 2002 confirms that baiting increases deer hunting success. The use of one gallon of bait was legalized during 2001 in deer management unit 452. According to the report, bowhunters who used bait had a 41% success rate compared to 13% success among bowhunters who did not use bait. Bowhunters who used bait tagged 4.9 deer for 100 days of effort compared to 1.8 deer among nonbaiters. Firearms hunters had a 51% rate of success compared to 39% for nonbaiters. Gun hunters who hunted over bait harvested 8.3 deer per 100 days versus 7.4 for nonbaiters.
The use of bait by wildlife services personnel who are conducting deer culls also verifies the effectiveness of this method to increase the harvest of whitetails.
With declining hunter numbers, it is essential to increase the success of those who remain in order for them to do their part to manage the state’s deer herd. Lifting the ban on baiting is a good way to make that happen. The bottom line is a ban on baiting does not reduce the spread of diseases. Due to the social nature of whitetails on a daily basis at all times of year, and the intimate contact between bucks and does during the breeding season, the spread of diseases continues. In fact, the ban on baiting accelerates the spread of disease through reduced deer harvests. THE ONLY THING A BAN ON BAITING FOR DEER DOES IS PRODUCE A FALSE SENSE THAT SOMETHING IS BEING DONE TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF DISEASE!
Eliminating MAPR
Mandatory antler point restrictions are not needed as a management tool to produce older age class bucks nor increase the harvest of antlerless deer in Michigan. In fact, MAPR reduce hunter success and harvest. With reduced hunter numbers, it is essential to promote regulations that increase success and harvest. Due to reduced hunter numbers and the tendency of many hunters to voluntarily pass up young bucks, many yearling bucks live long enough to reach older age classes. DNR check station data confirms that the percentage of yearling bucks that make up the buck harvest in counties without MAPR has declined.
Regarding the two buck tags that come with combination deer licenses, having one of those buck tags restricted to a whitetail with 4 or more points on one antler is not an issue. The problem is when both buck tags on combination licenses are restricted. So, in my opinion, it is important from a deer management standpoint, that all deer hunters have the opportunity to shoot a buck of their choosing that has at least 3-inch antlers.
Supporters of MAPR claim that the majority of deer hunters support protection of yearling bucks with spike and forked antlers. If that is indeed true, no regulations mandating protection of yearling bucks are necessary. Protecting those deer on a voluntary basis will accomplish that goal without penalizing the minority who are happy to shoot a yearling buck.
Many of the older bucks with the largest antlers that are bagged by hunters every year in the state are shot in counties that do not have MAPR, proving that these regulations are not necessary. The cover of the January 2024 issue of Woods-N-Water News is a perfect example of the quality of bucks being produced on an annual basis in counties without MAPR. Eight of the biggest bucks taken by hunters in Michigan during 2023 seasons, all of which were at least 4 ½ years old, are shown on that cover and none of them came from counties with MAPR. And those pictures represent a small sample of the older age bucks bagged by Michigan hunters in counties without MAPR.
A 3-year MAPR experiment conducted in the southern Michigan CWD Management Zone between 2019 and 2021 confirmed that those regulations do not increase the harvest of antlerless deer enough to reduce deer numbers. In fact, deer numbers increased during the experiment, as reported at the May 2023 Natural Resources Commission meeting. Mandatory deer registration data from 2022 and 2023 confirm that MAPR are not necessary for hunters to harvest equal or close to equal numbers of antlerless and antlered deer. Similar harvests of antlered and antlerless deer were achieved in many counties during 2023 seasons without MAPR, based on registration data.
In some counties without MAPR, there were even more antlerless deer registered than antlered. St. Joseph County is a perfect example. A total of 1,919 antlerless deer were registered compared to 1,784 antlered. In Branch County, the harvest of each class of deer was almost identical; 2,398 antlered versus 2,393 antlerless. During 2022 seasons, registrations for antlerless deer exceeded the antlered harvest in Crawford, Montmorency and Oscoda Counties.
Supporters of MAPR are fond of spouting off ratios of antlered versus antlerless harvests in counties with MAPR as being better than those without MAPR. A big part of the reason for the better ratios in counties with MAPR is because of the reduced buck harvest in those counties, not necessarily an increased antlerless harvest.
The best way to increase the harvest of antlerless deer in counties where that is the goal is to offer incentives for hunters to do so by reducing the cost of antlerless licenses and/or offering free doe permits. Educating hunters about the importance of harvesting antlerless deer from a management perspective is also important. Letting hunters know, for example, that reducing doe numbers can increase the quantity and quality of bucks present, would be beneficial.
Increased Disease Transmission
The biggest reason to eliminate MAPR besides the fact they are not necessary and unnecessarily penalize some hunters, is they are responsible for the spread of disease. Where diseases are known to exist, it is important to allow hunters to tag as many whitetails of both sexes and as many age classes as possible to reduce the spread of disease. That is accomplished by reducing deer numbers and density. MAPR prevents hunters from accomplishing that by protecting the majority of yearling bucks, some of which are infected with CWD. It’s common sense that protecting diseased deer from hunters results in spread of the disease.
Protecting yearling bucks that have CWD through MAPR not only results in spread of the disease where those deer were born and raised, those young bucks are known dispersers and are often responsible for introducing the disease to new areas as they travel to different locations.
Twenty-two of the CWD positive deer from Montcalm County during the years 2017 and 2018 were yearling bucks, making up 37% of the infected deer tested from the county those years, but they only made up 27% of the total number of whitetails tested from the county. Additional yearling bucks from Montcalm County have been CWD positive since 2018.
Both buck and doe fawns that had CWD have been confirmed from Montcalm and Jackson Counties because infected does pass the disease on to their fawns. Examination of the DNA from CWD positive deer from Ingham and Clinton Counties has confirmed that does infected with CWD spread the disease to their fawns, resulting in an increasing number of young bucks and does (both fawns and yearlings) with CWD.
Montcalm County was part of the DNR and NRC approved MAPR experiment between 2019 and 2021, which resulted in increased spread of CWD in that county as well as other counties where CWD is known to be present. The DNR and NRC dropped the ball big time by not requiring mandatory testing of deer taken by hunters from CWD positive counties during and after the MAPR experiment to determine how much the prevalence rate of CWD increased during that experiment. Mandatory testing of deer from those counties should be implemented as soon as possible to accurately determine how prevalent the disease has become in those counties. That information is essential to have any possibility of further reducing spread of the disease.
It is abundantly clear to me and anyone who is paying attention, that voluntary testing of deer to determine the prevalence rate of CWD anywhere it is known to exist isn’t working. It is difficult for me to fathom how the DNR and NRC could be so supportive of MANDATORY ANTLER POINT RESTRICTIONS in counties known to harbor the disease and not support MANDATORY DISEASE TESTING to determine what impact those regulations have had on disease prevalence!
The only counties where the DNR has been successful in controlling the spread of CWD was in Ingham and Clinton Counties. That was accomplished through elimination of MAPR requirements, even on both tags of combination deer licenses.
UP Connection
Even though only one deer with CWD has been detected in the UP so far, that doesn’t mean that other infected deer are not present. In fact, other deer with the disease are most likely present, but have not yet been confirmed. A map of Wisconsin that shows counties where CWD positive deer have been detected clearly shows the disease has spread from the southern part of the state all the way to the UP border. If the disease has not yet spilled over into the UP, which it probably has, it will soon.
That’s why it is extremely important that one buck tag on UP combination deer licenses be unrestricted like it was prior to 2008 to make yearling bucks legal to all UP deer hunters. Yearling bucks infected with CWD from Wisconsin are the animals most likely to bring the disease to the UP and increase the prevalence rate of CWD in the region.
Having both buck tags restricted on UP combination deer licenses has not accomplished what it was intended to, which is increase the number of older age class bucks. In fact, that regulation has done the opposite. Protecting yearling bucks from hunters with the perception that it would allow those bucks to live long enough to grow another set of antlers simply let many of those deer live long enough to die a slow death during severe winters that followed. Before dying, those deer destroyed valuable winter yards that are no longer capable of carrying as many deer through winters as they used to.
Prior to 2008, there were more than 100,000 deer hunters in the UP and all bucks with at least 3-inch antlers were legal to all hunters. During those years, hunters harvested far more bucks that were at least 2 ½ years old than since 2008. The number of deer hunters in the UP is now down to around 70,000. MAPR on both buck tags of combo deer licenses are certainly not necessary to protect yearling bucks from such low hunter numbers.
Increasing UP Bear Harvest
Increasing the UP bear harvest through the issuance of more bear licenses will increase recruitment of more fawns. Black bears are important predators on fawns. Former DNR deer researcher John Ozoga confirmed that single yearling black bears reduced fawn survival by 22% during each of three years that one bear gained access to the one square mile enclosure at the Cusino Wildlife Research Station in Shingleton. He estimated that one of those bears killed nine fawns.
Additional information about black bear predation on fawns in the UP has been determined through additional studies. During a long term predator/prey study, an adult male bear was fitted with a radio collar containing a video camera. Video showed that bear preying on 3 fawns. Another study conducted in Alger County by Terry DeBruyn, during which he was able to walk with adult female bears, one of those bears was observed killing six fawns one year and DeBruyn was only with her some of the time. She most likely killed more.
The DNR issued between 11,250 and 12,993 bear licenses annually between 2004 and 2011. Those numbers were cut dramatically in 2012 due to concerns about declining bear numbers in the UP. The data that showed UP bears were declining proved to be false. This is what Kevin Swanson, who was the DNR’s bear specialist at the time, told those in attendance at a Bear Forum meeting in St. Ignace on December 9, 2015.
“What we now know, based on our most recent statistical catch-at-age estimates for the UP bear population, it was not necessary to reduce bear license quotas in 2012,” he said. “The bear estimates that were calculated at that time were based on inaccurate information. The UP bear population was not declining dramatically like those numbers showed.”
In fact, the population reconstruction model showed that the UP bear population had been stable for many years, according to DNR research specialist Sarah Mayhew, who is responsible for estimating bear numbers from the computer model. This is what she told the audience at a DNR sponsored bear symposium held during December of 2014 in Roscommon.
“Based on the data, the bear population in the UP has been stable for about the last 20 years,” she said. “Those figures only include bears that are at least a year old before bear season begins. They do not include cubs.”
In spite of the realization that reduced bear licenses for the UP were unwarranted in 2012, bear license quotas continue to be reduced in the region, ignoring the impact bears have on the UP deer population. It is now time to reverse that trend to benefit the deer population.
Only 5,771 bear licenses were available from the DNR for the UP in 2022 compared to 5,406 for 2023. But the number of people who actually hunted bear in the region, according to the DNR’s 2022 Bear Harvest report was 4,237 and the number of people who have hunted bear every year since 2016 has been close to that level. Actual hunting effort for bear is only a fraction of what it should be.
Low Bear Hunting Pressure
The Baraga Bear Management Unit, for example, encompasses 3,056 square miles. The total number of bear hunters who hunted bear in that unit during the course of three separate hunts, according to the DNR report was 1,060. That’s .34 hunter per square mile. The highest number of permits are issued for the third hunt and the fewest for the first hunt, so bear hunting pressure in that unit was much lower during the first and second hunts.
The Newberry BMU is the largest in the UP at 5,191 square miles in size. Only 939 hunters hunted bear in that unit during all three seasons in 2022, according to the DNR report, which is a maximum of .18 hunter per square mile. The Bergland and Carney BMUs are similar in size at 1,812 and 1,832 square miles respectively. Only 720 hunters hunted Bergland during 2022 compared to 423 in Carney. The maximum number of hunters per square mile in those units were .4 and .23.
You get the picture. Annual hunting pressure for black bear in UP BMUs is extremely low. Bear license numbers can be increased to pre-2012 levels without crowding or an overharvest of bears. Even if UP bear permit quotas were increased to around 10,000 and everyone who drew a permit hunted, that would only result in a maximum of one hunter per square mile. But not everyone who could hunt would hunt, based on DNR Bear Harvest Reports, so hunting pressure would still be light.
DNR estimates from 2008 bear seasons confirm that. A total of 10,753 bear tags were available for the UP that year, but only 7,625 bear hunters actually hunted. An estimated 1,995 hunters hunted the Baraga Unit during all three seasons for a total of .65 hunter per square mile. A total of 1,740 hunters hunted the Newberry Unit that year for a maximum of .34 hunter per square mile.
During the decade from 2000 to 2010, when license quotas were higher, Michigan hunters registered more than 2,000 bears annually, with a high of 2,476 in 2008. Based on current DNR population estimates, the UP bear population was stable during those years and nuisance complaints were low.
Data from Wisconsin, which has less forested habitat than Michigan, is an example of how Michigan is not providing as much bear hunting recreation as it could and underharvesting bears. Since 2016, Wisconsin’s bear license quota has ranged between 11,520 and 12,970 and the annual bear harvest has averaged about 4,000 animals.
An increase of UP bear licenses will not only increase fawn survival, it will better manage the UP bear population by reducing nuisance complaints, increase recreational opportunity from the bear resource, reduce the number of years hunters have to wait to get a bear license and increase revenue for the DNR. Those are all wins when it comes to managing both bears and deer.
Sincerely,
Richard P. Smith
