Thanks Again
Lou Lynch
HVQDMA.com Webmaster

I am a little taken aback by the innuendo in Mark’s comments. He and “various” hunters are obviously skeptical about the “free” information that was gathered by Mr. Henry and staff. I wonder if he has any idea how much time and effort went into compiling that information? I wonder if he realizes how blessed he is to have Mr. Henry volunteering his expertise and knowledge on local projects?

The Hudson Valley Chapter of the QDMA has done more under the guidance of Mr. Charles Fiscella towards better deer management and public education than any chapter in this country; to this point in history. To subject Mr. Fiscella and Mr. Henry (a renowned world class wildlife biologist) to what amounts to grade school aspersions, is demeaning and insulting!

Had Mark taken the time to do a little reading and investigating he could have easily assuaged the trepidations of the “various” hunters who came to him with their questions. First of all, Vassar College went to great lengths researching their options and then published their findings, and the reasons for which they were going to White Buffalo. All one had to do was Google “Vassar College Cull” and a surfeit of information would have been at Mark’s fingertips. I myself wanted to know the answer to a specific question, “were does specifically targeted during the cull?” I reasoned that HVQDMA would not know the answer since they were not doing the culling so I emailed Dr. DeNicola (White Buffalo) and asked him the question. He responded immediately and assured me that indeed “does” were the target of the cull and that the bucks that were harvested, were harvested due to a specific scientific phenomena that hindered further expeditious culling.

Mark there is a wealth of experience and knowledge there at the Hudson Valley QDMA. I hope in the future you will take advantage of that mastery!

For the record, it should be stated that QDMA was not a part of the deliberations and discussions concerning the issuance of a cull permit, played no role in the decision by NYSDEC to issue a cull permit and did not participate in the field operations when the cull was carried out. However, once the decision was made by NYSDEC to allow Vassar to conduct a cull, it was crucial that biological data from that herd be gathered in a timely manner. NYSDEC failed to put forth the effort to fulfill this responsibility, so members of QDMA stepped up take on this endeavor. As both the number and size of suburban deer populations grow in the Hudson valley, there will be continuing issues about how best to deal with them. Gathering the biological data from the cull will help allow and justify a wider range of options for controlling deer numbers than simply killing deer by sharpshooting. Mark asks for “greater transparency” and that is exactly the reason why the report was posted on this website. You will note that the title of the report is “Selected Data from the 2010 White-tailed Deer Cull at Vassar College.” It was never intended to be a comprehensive report of the complete cull operation, nor should it have been, given QDMA’s extremely limited role in the event.

No pictures were taken of mature bucks because no mature bucks were taken. The yearling bucks and few 2 ½ and 3 ½ deer were hardly noteworthy and a picture of a pile of antlerless deer adds little value to the report of the data. It is inappropriate and insulting for someone to attempt to read “conspiracy” into this simple act of fact-gathering.

Mark also suggests that a viable alternative to the cull is a “trap and transfer” program. There is a very good reason for not doing this and the answer is that there is a long history showing “it doesn’t work.” It didn’t work for the Slide Mountain deer reintroduction program in Ulster County the 1880′s. It didn’t work for the Chapin Estate in the Sullivan County deer reintroduction program in the 1920′s. And it didn’t work for the Adirondack Deer Reintroduction program that was funded under the 1975 Bond Act in which deer were captured in Dutchess County and reintroduced into the Adirondack foothills. Why you may ask? Simply because deer have habitat requirements and a fidelity to a home range unlike pheasants and other standard “put and take” species. If the habitat exists, white-tailed deer will repopulate it, evidenced by what has happened across NYS in the last 80 years. Ruby Rod and Gun Club is to be commended because their membership is currently doing the best possible alternative to enhance deer populations by carrying out extensive and very impressive habitat work to their property. To quote the infamous line from the movie Field of Dreams , “if you build it, they will come”.

Mark also seems to further cloud transparency by erroneously suggesting that fees played some role in the permit process to cull deer. Section 11-0521 of the Environmental Conservation Law is very clear in that no fees are required for either Nuisance Deer Permits or Deer Management Assistance Permits

Urban/suburban deer management is quite likely the Last Frontier for deer management as we know it today. As shown in other locales such as Pennsylvania, hunting as a management tool can successfully occur in these environments and can serve to properly manage white-tailed deer if hunters can adapt to a framework that is different from traditional deer hunting as we know it.

“It ain’t your grandfather’s deer herd.”

I atteneded several meetings at Vassar (open to the public) and many ideas were brought up but this was the most logical and realistic. Knowing the political and idealogical issues surrounding this project, we should be thankful (Not critical) that this even happened at all. Unfortunately opening up Vassar Farms to hunting is a pie in the sky dream. At best one could hope for a managed hunt with uniformed regulations to a well vetted, hand picked crew. By the way, if you think protesters were geared up about this cull what do you think they would do about hunters in there? It’s a can of worms. Move on and seek access from other more huntable areas.

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Great job! This study would not have been done with your generous donation of time, professional skills and effort.

I hope the recommendation to Vassar College included an overhaul of their habitat management plan as well as the obvious inclusion of a hunting strategy and follow-up studies.

What a shame that the DEC did not bother to get involved? I guess they are too busy preparing more nonsensical hunter surveys?