For those in southern NJ, the Division will be holding it's last meeting on the proposed ARP's in zones 28, 30, 31, 34 and 47 on Thursday evening at 7:30pm, at Cumberland Regional High School. Attendance has been light, but that is probably not a bad thing as this "presentation" is decidedly anti-APR.
I know they do not want them implemented, and I know why, but even I was a little surprised by the lack of objectivity in this presentation. The data was heavily presented in a manner that showed APR's as a failure, when in fact, the program looks like it has had some level of sucess to me, when looking at the numbers they presented.
For example, they used an average number of bucks harvested from a five year period prior to APR's (1995-1999) in the zones that have them now as a baseline, then compared them to an average of bucks harvested post APR, through 2008. The numbers came from the zones with APR's in place: 27, 29, 35 & 63.
A basic summary of what they reported was that alot fewer 1.5 yr old bucks were being killed, and only small increases on 2.5 and 3.5 yr old bucks were seen since the regulation went into effect.
I don't have the exact numbers, but their point was that since hunters were killing fewer bucks in the post-APR period than they were in the pre-APR period, the regulation was not a success.
First and foremost, I think that is the entire point of the regulation: to protect some yearling bucks, which means it did it's job.
Also, they did not take into account that the entire herd has been significantly reduced...35 to 40 percent...in that time frame. In the mid to late 1990's, the herd was estimated by the Division at as high as 200,000 animals, and this is the Pre-APR time frame they are using. In 2009, the herd was estimated by the Division at 120,000 to 130,000 animals, depending on which publication you read.
So, there are fewer deer total for the post APR period, and should be fewer of all age classes in the herd, and reflected in the harvest during that time. We also have fewer hunters since the pre-APR period: approximately 12,000 fewer, which should result in fewer bucks harvested.
With fewer hunters, and a deer herd that has been reduced 35-40 percent, we had modest increases in 2.5 and 3.5 yr olds harvested, not a decrease, as would be expected.
Against the backdrop of 35-40 percent less deer, and less hunters, even a stabilized number of 2.5 and 3.5 yr olds harvested could be seen as a success. However, we actually increased the number of those age class deer harvested, and it would follow, increased the number of those in the herd, yet the Division presented these results as a failure because ALL or most of the 1.5 yr olds saved, were not harvested later as 2.5 or 3.5 yr olds.
I do not think APR's are the savior of deer hunting in NJ, but I do think they will help, especially since the Division is completely opposed to ever reducing the number of buck tags from 6 to 1 or 2. According to them, that will not work either.
APR's are implemented to reduce the number of 1.5 yr olds bucks killed, and increase the number of older bucks in the herd. It's clear, even from their own numbers, that this has happened in the zones that have APR's in place. It is even more impressive that during a time of total herd reduction of nearly 40 percent, we managed to increase the number of bucks in the 2.5 and 3.5 yr old age class, rather than have them decrease as the rest of the herd did.
How anyone can see that as a failure is beyond me, but go to the meeting and see it for yourself. Go prepared and be sure to ask questions.
Surveys on this issue will sent out this week or next to those who bought permits in these zones. Please fill it out and support APR's.
I know they do not want them implemented, and I know why, but even I was a little surprised by the lack of objectivity in this presentation. The data was heavily presented in a manner that showed APR's as a failure, when in fact, the program looks like it has had some level of sucess to me, when looking at the numbers they presented.
For example, they used an average number of bucks harvested from a five year period prior to APR's (1995-1999) in the zones that have them now as a baseline, then compared them to an average of bucks harvested post APR, through 2008. The numbers came from the zones with APR's in place: 27, 29, 35 & 63.
A basic summary of what they reported was that alot fewer 1.5 yr old bucks were being killed, and only small increases on 2.5 and 3.5 yr old bucks were seen since the regulation went into effect.
I don't have the exact numbers, but their point was that since hunters were killing fewer bucks in the post-APR period than they were in the pre-APR period, the regulation was not a success.
First and foremost, I think that is the entire point of the regulation: to protect some yearling bucks, which means it did it's job.
Also, they did not take into account that the entire herd has been significantly reduced...35 to 40 percent...in that time frame. In the mid to late 1990's, the herd was estimated by the Division at as high as 200,000 animals, and this is the Pre-APR time frame they are using. In 2009, the herd was estimated by the Division at 120,000 to 130,000 animals, depending on which publication you read.
So, there are fewer deer total for the post APR period, and should be fewer of all age classes in the herd, and reflected in the harvest during that time. We also have fewer hunters since the pre-APR period: approximately 12,000 fewer, which should result in fewer bucks harvested.
With fewer hunters, and a deer herd that has been reduced 35-40 percent, we had modest increases in 2.5 and 3.5 yr olds harvested, not a decrease, as would be expected.
Against the backdrop of 35-40 percent less deer, and less hunters, even a stabilized number of 2.5 and 3.5 yr olds harvested could be seen as a success. However, we actually increased the number of those age class deer harvested, and it would follow, increased the number of those in the herd, yet the Division presented these results as a failure because ALL or most of the 1.5 yr olds saved, were not harvested later as 2.5 or 3.5 yr olds.
I do not think APR's are the savior of deer hunting in NJ, but I do think they will help, especially since the Division is completely opposed to ever reducing the number of buck tags from 6 to 1 or 2. According to them, that will not work either.
APR's are implemented to reduce the number of 1.5 yr olds bucks killed, and increase the number of older bucks in the herd. It's clear, even from their own numbers, that this has happened in the zones that have APR's in place. It is even more impressive that during a time of total herd reduction of nearly 40 percent, we managed to increase the number of bucks in the 2.5 and 3.5 yr old age class, rather than have them decrease as the rest of the herd did.
How anyone can see that as a failure is beyond me, but go to the meeting and see it for yourself. Go prepared and be sure to ask questions.
Surveys on this issue will sent out this week or next to those who bought permits in these zones. Please fill it out and support APR's.
