More recreational hunting is not the answer for farmers trying to protect high-value crops from Nebraska’s growing deer population, said Otoe County landowners Jim and Joan Cook.
Deer cut corn yields in half where Cook’s fields fall under the shadow of a timberline and Cook says the deer herd that has assembled this winter is a sign that the problem is getting worse.
“The state doesn’t have a number to say how many deer per acre is acceptable, but when there are 70 or 80 deer in an 80 acre field, it’s too much,” Cook said.
LB836, introduced by Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha, originally proposed unlimited shooting by landowners, night hunting and a $25 tax credit for every deer taken on a property.
The bill that advanced to the full Legislature on Feb. 19, however, was amended. Rather than unlimited shooting, it proposes giving the state Game and Parks Commission authority to extend the hunting season. It would continue the state’s policy of depredation permits for landowners and creates a fund to use permit fees to help pay for some crop damage.
Cook said more hunting permits is not the answer.
The state only sold half of the doe permits available last year for the southeast region, she said, and deer will not spend their daytime hours where hunters frequent.
“You could give hundreds of hunters permission to hunt on your land, but the deer would know they have been there. They will go to a property where there is no hunting and then come to the high-value crop at night,” Cook said.
Cook said she supports the state-issued depredation permits for landowners, suchas 30 deer in 30 days, but only when the meat is used.
“It can’t just be a shooting fest,” she said.
Cook said the landowner needs to find someone who will take the deer and process the meat for human consumption or even dog food.
The Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee advanced LB836 to general file. It has been listed as a priority bill by the Unicameral speaker and is expected to be scheduled for debate by the Legislature.
Nebraska Game and Parks reports that 80,000 deer were harvested in 2008. Last year, 11,952 landowner permits were issued.
