They've Got To Be Kidding..........

[Lawdog]

I picked this up off the net.

California Plan Would Eradicate Exotic Deer

POINT REYES STATION, CA--Originally introduced for hunting in the 1940s, fallow and axis deer are becoming somewhat of a nuisance at California's Point Reyes National Seashore. So much so that park rangers say they consider the deer to be an invasive species that are threatening native deer and elk and causing extensive damage to the park's vegetation.

In an effort to remedy the situation, Point Reyes officials have created a plan to eradicate the park's more than 1,000 nonnative deer by using shotguns and contraception. Meat from the animals would then be donated to local charities and food shelves.

The park's draft plan calls for sterilizing approximately one-fourth of the animals and shooting the rest. A final plan is expected to be released later this year or early next year, and could go into effect as early as 2006. The plan calls for all deer to be removed from the park by 2020.

In the past, park rangers had been allowed to use rifles to keep each herd's population at approximately 350 animals, but that stopped 10 years ago after an increased amount of public opposition to the killings. As a result, park officials say both populations have been allowed to repopulate with no natural predators to keep them in check. Officials say the park's fallow population increases an average 11 percent every year, while the axis population increases 20 percent annually.

Officials say it's not possible to eliminate the deer by contraception alone because they say it's almost impossible to sterilize every animal. Expense is another issue as contraception costs approximately $3,000 per animal, compared to $300 to shoot them.

This is just plain dumb.   :roll:   Why not hold drawings for tags like other big game animals and use the money for Point Reyes Park?   :idea:   Those that live out west should get a hold of the California Parks Department and let them know how you feel about this.  Lawdog
 

[Redhawk1]

Lawdog, I have to agree. The State would save money by not having to pay for all the contraceptives and outright killing of the deer. They could make a little money and have hunters do the job for them, through hunting.  

[bigbore442001]

It makes no sense and it will cost the people a ton of money. But it is politically correct. You would have every fruitcake out of San Francisco down to LA protesting such a hunt. That is the unfortunate state of affairs in a liberal state. The people are accustomed to having an expensive bureacracy deal with an issue that normally would have been done for nothing a generation ago.

[JeffG]

The US National Seashore did the same thing to feral hogs on Cumberland Island Ga., a few years ago. They were allowing deer and hog hunts annually.  When their historical endowment for the island came through, and coincidentally they came under lawsuit to protect the loggerhead turtle nesting sites that the hogs were foraging in; they shot the hogs with rifles, and trapped them out.  The wild horses on the island are untouched there however, go figure... :roll:

[bigbore442001]

Hogs are ugly, horseys are pretty. No common sense but that is the way it is these days. A generation ago, the common sense solution would have been a hunt for both. Not today.

[markc]

Kalifornia and common sense do not go together.  Would be good to see them allow a limited # of hunters to control and not eradicate the # of exotic deer there.  Texas allows hunting in the state parks by drawing each year to keep #'s in check.  It works well and gives alot of folks a chance to hunt places normally off limits.