Is it true? Does the blacktail buck really exist?
Well, according to an email I received yesterday, my friend Sol may have the proof in his cooler as we speak. I received the email as I came back down off the mountain from my own, unsuccessful archery hunt, so I only gave it a cursory read. I don’t like doing email on my Blackberry, so I figured I’d give it more attention when I got home. I deleted the local copy and headed for the house.
Unfortunately, when I fired up my laptop at home, it ran for about three minutes, made a fizzling sound, and died. No Blue Screen Of Death… nope… this time if just, plain died. With the laptop went all of the email I’d received over the weekend. But what I recalled from Sol’s email indicates that he did, indeed, kill something that may or may not have been a blacktail buck. He was hunting up at the Hedgepeth Ranch, one of my favorite spots, and decided to hit a new area. Through the fog he spotted his target, and with a well-placed shot his quest was ended.
Of course, from the description he sent (there were no photos), it’s possible that he actually took a common jackalope instead. Sol’s relatively new to this hunting thing, and a big jackalope does look a lot like a blacktail deer. In fact, I’ve nearly made the mistake myself. I actually saw two forked-horn jackalopes up in Kokopelli Valley during my hunt on Saturday, but they were too far out for me to get an arrow in them. I started to stalk them up the mountain when I realized what they were and returned my attention to my real quarry, blacktail bucks.
Back in syphilization today, I logged on to the work computer to catch up on the news. Imagine my shock at the image of a blacktail buck, and the accompanying story about the apparent decline of the blacktail deer population in CA. I’d already heard about some of this in a release from the DFG a few weeks ago, but this article offered more detail.
Since they use hunters’ harvest reports to create a picture of the population density, the researchers are still trying to determine if the issue really is a population drop, or if it’s related to reduced hunter success rates.
A team of scientists led by the California Department of Fish and Game is fanning out across the rugged mountains of Mendocino, Glenn and Lake counties in an attempt to figure out just what is going on.
“The deer population harvest has been steadily declining,” said David Casady, an associate wildlife biologist for the Department of Fish and Game. “One of the things we’re studying is whether the population has decreased or just the harvest. Most likely it’s the population that has decreased and the harvest is just tracking that.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/23/MNG31EV7G9.DTL#ixzz0xRkLg14V
The researchers will also have to sort through several theories as to why we’re seeing this decline. A popular argument among some hunters is that the mountain lion population is growing unchecked due to the ban on lion hunting. This may be so, but some folks also need to consider that depredation hunting and public safety kills average over 100 lions per year. During the only sport hunting season in CA, hunters took 118 lions. That’s not much of a decrease in the annual take.
Other theories include degradation of habitat by non-native invasive plant species… due in large part to modern, wildfire suppression policies. I think there’s a real good argument there, although that’s another convoluted discussion.
And there is one other plausible thought out there. Maybe the reduction in population is a natural result of a balanced system, as wild predators increase to take more deer then there are less deer for human hunters.
Personally, I expect that the answer lies in some combination of all of these theories. With the documented upsurge in black bears and coyotes, and the likely growth of the lion population, there are more predators feeding on fawns. At the same time, the spread of invasive plants is choking out native forage. Finally, there are less hunters taking to the field, and those who are hunting are spending less time at it due to the economic times.
Regardless the outcome of what is sure to be a lengthy examination, there’s no question that it’s a complex situation. The answer and resolution promise to be equally complicated.
Dave W.
Beastslayer
There seems to be a correlation with Invasive plant (Cannibis)discoveries and decreases in Blacktail deer sightings, in the parts of Mendocino I frequent.