Wow... i'm not even touching this one... "mass killings"???? "Afraid they will be killed by the park service soon"??? lol OH please....
Gburg Battlefield deer.
I've been seeing anywhere from 3-12 deer in teh morning and evening on the way to and from work. I haven't seen that many deer on the battlefield since before the mass killings. It's nice to see, but i'm afraid that they will be killed by the park service soon.
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What's so funny? They did a kill in VF Park and it workd just fine. For now, there are no herds of deer in the park. I may have seen a half dozen deer in the park in the past six months. Before the shoots I would see as many as 20 in a group with many groups all over the place.
Killin'time...obviously you don't know what's going on here. They slaughtered several hundred deer over bait in a few years (mass killing) and continue to "maintain" the population at acceptable levels each winter. It is well known fact in the area. I haven't seen but maybe 3 deer on the park this year. The OP is correct.
I have seem lots and lots and lots of them.Too bad its illegal to hunt and trap there.Or I'd start sniping form little round top and a few other places.I have seen a very good red fox near the one orchard with the house next to it.
LOL I love it... Yeah.. I know nothing about the deer in gettysburg... Again.. loaded words filled with emotion.. "Slaughterd"...... bownut... I know ALOT about the deer situation in Gettysburg.. Although I don't work for park service, or USDA, I was part of the deer study in Gettysburg. No, I'm not the guy making the calls on how many deer there need to be "culled" every year, or how many deer per square mile there should be... But I WAS part of the study which radio collared, help track, trapped, surveyed, etc... the deer in gettysburg just 2 or 3 years ago... So... do tell me i don't know what's going on here...
You may know about the conditions there now but I'd bet a dollar you were still filling diapers when there actually was a deer herd on the park. I helped the grad student from PSU do his study back in the mid 80's. Interesting enough, his study concluded the herd was in great shape and healthy, unlike the herd at Valley Forge. It was a slaughter the first few years they started "culling". Brought them out by the trailer load. No other word for it.
So, since you know it all about the deer management in gettysburg, you then know that in order to stabalize the deer population, and KEEP it at a certain level, you have to continue to cull deer every year. otherwise the population doubles, triples, etc in just a couple years and you're back to square 1. But you already knew that.. What it comes down to, and i've heard the agrument time and time again, is that people like driving around and seeing, 20, 30, 40 deer in a field, turning around the corner and seeing the same in the next field. Anyway who thinks that's healthy for deer herds is pure ignorant to deer management.
Personal attacks stop now! Thread will be locked if they continue.
There have always been federal lands, such as a battlefield park, where hunting is not allowed.
And deer do expand in areas where hunting cannot take place or will not take place.
It's a good thing hunting does not take place at Gettysburg National Military park. Can you see the publicity if an errant shot hit a battle monument.
Reminds me I got word of a homeowner who saw several deer in her back yard. It's a wonderful place for deer. Just not a place for hunters; suburban area you see.
And deer do expand in areas where hunting cannot take place or will not take place.
It's a good thing hunting does not take place at Gettysburg National Military park. Can you see the publicity if an errant shot hit a battle monument.
Reminds me I got word of a homeowner who saw several deer in her back yard. It's a wonderful place for deer. Just not a place for hunters; suburban area you see.
I don't understand why the majority of these threads turn into arguments...
Killin'time,
I was shocked to see deer on battlefield property because it's been many years since I have.
As far as "managing" the deer herd; what deer herd? I understand wanting to keep numbers in check, but the magic number seems to be 0. As in 0 deer on battlefield property. Not healthy numbers. There is a big difference.
There's a lot of politics involved in what happens on the Battlefield, and that's a whole different discussion, but my post was spot on and worded properly for discussion purposes. The only emotion I see is in your posts.
I was shocked to see deer on battlefield property because it's been many years since I have.
As far as "managing" the deer herd; what deer herd? I understand wanting to keep numbers in check, but the magic number seems to be 0. As in 0 deer on battlefield property. Not healthy numbers. There is a big difference.
There's a lot of politics involved in what happens on the Battlefield, and that's a whole different discussion, but my post was spot on and worded properly for discussion purposes. The only emotion I see is in your posts.
It's not the management of the deer counts at GNP that bothers me quite so much, though I do miss seeing some of those big bucks - it's that they baited next to private land to draw those deer onto Park land to be killed and that they start their kill before the regular deer season. If they'd do it over the winter after law-abiding hunters on private land had a chance, I'd feel differently. It would save them a lot of money as well.
That's a very good point. The battlefield attracts deer from all over the area like a funnel.bpashunt said:It's not the management of the deer counts at GNP that bothers me quite so much, though I do miss seeing some of those big bucks - it's that they baited next to private land to draw those deer onto Park land to be killed and that they start their kill before the regular deer season. If they'd do it over the winter after law-abiding hunters on private land had a chance, I'd feel differently. It would save them a lot of money as well.
They don't do any baiting and aren't allowed to start until Oct 1st.
Well back in the mid to late 90's I was working for an elecrtical contractor that had a contract to do some electrical work on the Gettysburg battlefield. One of the houses we were working on was the home of one of the park service personnel and he said he had been working nights helping sharpshooters kill deer in the park. They according to this person had a reefer and a butcher hired and all of the deer killed were field dressed and taken to the butcher shop and the meat was given to different organizations in the area. I did not witness any of the killing but have no reason to disbelieve a park employee. This employee said the would sometimes kill as many as 100 in a single night and some times just a handful. This contract took us several months to complete and I do know deer sightings were less frequent toward the end of our time there.
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