Humbling Herbivores

                Ever since I was 12 years old, I have had an uncanny fascination with whitetail deer.  At 12, my family moved to a 16 acre wooded lot not far from our previous residence.  When I told my best friend, who hunted with his dad, he quickly convinced me to get my hunting license.  I shot my first deer, a young buck that had yet to grow antlers, also called a button buck, the very next season.  From that point forward, I developed a relationship with the whitetail deer that really changed my life. I am so grateful for this that I am writing here now to introduce more people to the culture that the deer helps to create, and the world needs to know why I love this creature so much.

                  The whitetail deer is an iconic creature in a strange situation.  It no longer has any true natural predators here in Maryland, because the early settlers decimated the populations of all the major predators like wolves, mountain lions, and bears.  As a result, humans have been left with the task of keeping the population in check. Hunters are currently used as a management tool (MDDNR).  If left unchecked, the whitetail deer will decimate a forests understory, destroying habitat for many other species that live there.  I believe that hunting must be done for conservation, not simply as a sport.  It can be seen as a tool for restoration of forests to their former glory.  One example of this kind of damage is the destruction of turtlehead, a plant that the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly relies upon.  The state butterfly of Maryland met its demise in this area simply due to overpopulation of deer.  Another interesting subject is the economic impact that whitetail deer have.  When overpopulated, they can cause problems with crop damage and causing car accidents (Drake).  On the other side of the issue, deer hunting can bring economic positives.  Deer hunters spend millions of dollars every year, and portions of hunting licenses go to purchase land to remain open to hunters and non-hunters alike.  These lands provide vital habitat for the deer as well as other non-game species (MDDNR).

                  Hunting the whitetail deer brought me to a much greater understanding of life in the forests   It takes a lot of footwork, searching the woods for the perfect place, thinking in the way a deer would in order to be in the best position to encounter one.  The hunt is not all about the harvest. To me, it is more about my time out in nature, seeing things that I could never see from my couch.  Hunting whitetail deer has put me out in nature for countless hours as I grew and matured, and eventually led me to my love of nature and to my decision to become an Environmental Studies major here at Salisbury University.   I believe the whitetail is what grabbed my attention because of its size. It amazed me that a creature that was as big as I, if not larger, could be so elusive in a forest that I knew like the back of my hand.  It was truly a charismatic megafauna in my 12 year old eyes. I wanted to know everything I could about deer.  My mother often accused me of caring more about hunting than I did school, and she was right.  I would rush home to finish my homework and then I was allowed out into the woods.   

of Maryland and other places.

                  I quickly learned about the astounding senses of sight, smell, and hearing that the whitetail has.  I had taken up bow hunting because I thought it was much more interesting and challenging to have to be within 20 yards or so of an animal that was unaware of my presence.  I thoroughly enjoy getting up close and personal with these incredible animals.  When bow hunting, I pay much closer attention to little details in their movements and tendencies, and I feel that I learn about deer as individuals rather than as a species.  Every deer is different, and when you spend enough time watching them it is easy to see.  I witness family groups where the mother nurtures and protects the fawns fairly often, and I always sit back and watch.  The fawns will almost always rush in to eat, whereas the mother will sit back and observe, looking for any sign of danger. Individuals also have body language that is characteristic of most deer.  Deer will usually casually enter an area in which they feel unthreatened.  If they detect any threat, they may bob their head nervously attempting to catch you off guard.  I was once fooled when I was younger by a doe that came into an area where I had baited with a pile of shelled corn.  She must have caught a glimpse of me moving, and looked up.  Then, she calmly lowered her head and I finished moving.  In the process, she quickly lifted her head and assured what she had seen, and took off, with her white flag of a tail waving, letting me know I had been duped yet again.  Any time I see a waving white tail, I know the gig is up, and I have been discovered. 

Whitetail deer are truly the ultimate survivors.  I write this from the point of view of a hunter, but there are times where I almost feel like the hunted.  The incredible senses of these critters amaze me more and more all the time.  The senses of sight, smell, and hearing of a mature whitetail are so much better than us humans.  They are able to see about 180 degrees, and they can rotate their ears to pick up sound like radar (Wock).  This makes it important for me, as a hunter, to be very careful to reduce my intrusive scent, minimize any and all movement, and make as little sound as possible.  It takes self-discipline and acute awareness to dupe the keen senses of the whitetail.  That being said, all deer are different, and there are some that are much smarter than others.  I can usually tell by the way that they approach, whether or not they already smell me, or if they don’t.  I try to play the wind in my favor by sitting downwind of where I believe the deer will come from, but they are sometimes unpredictable.  When a whitetail raises its head with its nose in the air, my heart sinks, because I know I have been caught.  I have no intention of harvesting the vast majority of deer I see while out hunting, but the feeling is just the same.  The adrenaline rush of going undetected by such an incredibly smart creature is one of the most gratifying feelings I have ever experienced.  The majority of the enjoyment I get out of what I do comes from the times I am simply watching deer interact in their natural environment, rather than harvesting any deer.  To see something undisturbed in its own habitat is to truly see it in my eyes. 

                  Needless to say, the whitetail took me to school, and taught me a lot in my first few years of hunting.  I always seemed to run into the same matriarch doe that resided on our property.  I never had any real intention of harvesting her, but her senses were the keenest of any deer I have encountered to date.  She would creep through the woods completely silently, pausing to scan every few feet. I knew her by her profound snort more than anything, because she would see or smell or hear me long before I would see her, and she would let out a loud snort, alerting any of her kin in the area that may be nearby.  Eventually, I began to learn how to stay still enough to fool her eyes, and I would see her from time to time, but it was long before I was able to go completely unnoticed to the point where she would come within range.  She was one of the deer I knew best, yet had seen the least. 

 It is not often that I hunt the woods on my property that I don’t remember that old doe teaching many lessons though.  As I have grown up more and more, my respect for these animals has only grown.  There have been many times that I have been taught little lessons in humility, and I have realized that when I am in the woods, I am in their house, and I have to play by their rules.  The lasting impressions that have been engraved upon my mind through my countless experiences in the woods have proved to be valuable in all aspects of life.  My respect for the living world has grown tremendously, and my awareness of the actions of man on the habitats of the animals I love is exponentially more than when I first started hunting.  Deer hunting is a culture in which hunters develop a respect for the living things around them and appreciate the natural world.  I will be forever thankful for my friends and family introducing me to the outdoors and the effect it has left on me as a person. 

-  Tyler Storm

Bibliography

Bestul, Scott. "The Dirty Politics of Deer Management." Www.fieldandstream.com. Bonnier     Corporation. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

Drake, David, Joseph B. Paulin, Paul D. Curtis, Daniel J. Decker, and Gary J. San Julian.             "Assessment of Negative Economic Impacts from Deer in the Northeastern United          States." Extension Journal (n.d.): n. pag. Deer and Forests. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Gill, R. M. A. "A Review of Damage by Mammals in North Temperate Forests. 2. Small      Mammals." Forestry 65.3 (1992): 281-308. Web

Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Deer Hunting: An Effective Management tool”, n.d.    Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Wock, Mike. "Deer Facts - Whitetail Deer Hunting." Deer Facts - Whitetail Deer Hunting. Whitetail Buzz LLC, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.