The Deer Management Subcommittee is recommending bow hunting of deer on some Harvard Conservation lands and will present its report to the Harvard Conservation Commission on Thursday, Sept. 12, in the Town Hall meeting room. There are many reasons why this is a flawed solution to save a forest that is not under immediate threat, but three key reasons are paramount.
Overpopulation? Deer browse studies of Harvard forests conducted by Mass Wildlife estimated that Harvard’s deer population is “moderate” and much lower than in eastern Massachusetts. Dr. Allen Rutberg, a deer population expert at Tufts Veterinary School, does not believe there is a deer overpopulation issue in any part of Massachusetts. Forest decline is multifactorial, and a 2010 study by the Yale Forestry School concluded that deer density is not the leading factor in forest decline. So the perception that we have an overpopulation of deer in Harvard leading to forest decline is questionable at best.
Failed Precedents. The Deer Management Subcommittee wants to start a bow hunting program now, before the deer population increases further. However, Dr. Rutberg stated that deer populations tend to remain at steady levels over decades. A major hunting experiment was conducted at Blue Hills Reservation in Milton a few years ago, but there was no significant decrease in the deer population, likely due to “compensatory rebound,” whereby twin fawn births are three-fold higher in hunted herds. Similar results were reported in Tyler State Park in Pennsylvania after 25 years of hunting with no decline in deer numbers. Several Massachusetts towns have also implemented bow hunting, including Weston, Sherborn, and Andover, but there are no data showing reductions in deer populations after years of hunting.
Humane Considerations. Bow hunting is not humane. The Humane Society reports a 50% “crippling rate” of wounded deer from bow hunting when injured deer flee into adjacent forest to bleed and die. Furthermore, Dr. Rutberg has published statements that “advocacy of lethal control of wildlife promotes destructive attitudes about wildlife” and that “animals should be protected from needless suffering at the hands of humans.”
Daniel and Melissa Tracey
Shaker Road
