CA Deer population has dropped by 50% since 1990 according to DFG

[lewdogg21]

Somone PM'd me saying 26 more posts. FWIW where I deer hunt I think the deer carrying capacity is limited by lack of forage, a huge fire was replanted in reprod and other plants were killed with herbicide to get the trees established and probably predators.

[1meanchevy]

Yes regardless, they all take orders from the commission and their soup de jour policies on how to do stuff.

FWIW that's a very low salary for someone who got a degree in real science.

Yeah, I understand what your saying.

FWIW science degree earners are more then welcome to come join us BIG MONEY makers out in the private sector... jk lol

[lewdogg21]

Low entry level paying science jobs is one of the main reasons I left Ecology as my major and changed it to Construction Management. Plus you had to have your Masters to do anything and you still made nothing.

[1meanchevy]

Low entry level paying science jobs is one of the main reasons I left Ecology as my major and changed it to Construction Management. Plus you had to have your Masters to do anything and you still made nothing.

Your talking to a PM right now (Chico State) , and you need to look at the bigger picture.

[taperxz]

Low entry level paying science jobs is one of the main reasons I left Ecology as my major and changed it to Construction Management. Plus you had to have your Masters to do anything and you still made nothing.

Depends on the science doesn't it?

[taperxz]

People I know at applied bio and Genentech do quite well.

[1meanchevy]

People I know at applied bio and Genentech do quite well.

Bet they work their butts off too

[taperxz]

Bet they work their butts off too

Not as hard as I do. When thers work these days.

[24Sailor]

Low entry level paying science jobs is one of the main reasons I left Ecology as my major and changed it to Construction Management. Plus you had to have your Masters to do anything and you still made nothing.

Way to many people do this unfortunately....I was tempted by $$$ but chose to pursue it anyhow out of passion.

I'm not criticizing your decision to follow the money.

[lewdogg21]

Way to many people do this unfortunately....I was tempted by $$$ but chose to pursue it anyhow out of passion.

I'm not criticizing your decision to follow the money.

I've been out of school for 10 years so I'm past second guessing myself. I like what I do now for the most part.

[toby]

I've been out of school for 10 years so I'm past second guessing myself. I like what I do now for the most part.

Exactly you have to love/like what you do or it can make you miserable and others around you as well, Money aint always the answer and being comfortable does not always work. I was in the Environmental field for a few years, Money was great, working outdoors was fantastic but I was BORED and unhappy. I quit and followed my passion. I'm happy! I am a Hunter.....well I work too. Back to the topic.....what was it?

[24Sailor]

. Back to the topic.....what was it?

Deer population ....in case you missed dropped by 50% since 1990......BTW you guys are funny. Wonder if they used this year's harvest tags to establish a population count?

[jabell]

so i'm one of those a.d.d. types that will comment without reading all the replies or even the newspaper article so sorry in advance if i'm being redundant.

where i hunt in central kalifornia the locals tell me there are way less deer now than the pre 1970's when the hog population started to explode.
the hogs munch up all the acorns that the deer have relied on throughout their evolution here in kali resulting in less twin births & survival success of the population.
so the theory is the invasive swine population that dfg considers a game animal & collects a tag fee for is really the culprit in this mysterious decline in deer.
it's high time to deregulate the taking of kalifornias destructive invader hogs & remove all the restrictions when it comes to harvesting them.

for instance:

no tag requirements.
no restrictions of hunting times or use of lights.
no method of take restrictions.

even if we killed the very last kali hog all we would be doing is returning the enviroment to it's natural state.

and i really, really want to be able to hunt at night so let's get this campaign rolling to save the deer.

all aboard?

[chicoredneck]

I think everyone has brought up valid reasons for the low deer population in CA in comparison to some other states (though I tend to disagree with the doe harvesting logic, but thats a seperate topic).

Most if not all these conditions existed in 1990, however. The question remains, what has changed since 1990 to induce a 50% herd loss?

[24Sailor]

Most if not all these conditions existed in 1990, however. The question remains, what has changed since 1990 to induce a 50% herd loss?

In 1990 the deer population had exceeded the carrying capacity. It takes several decades for those things to re-adjust. The current population is by no means scarce.

The article blames habitat loss as a contributing factor, but its not the only culprit. Nowhere in the article is "POACHING" mentioned as a possible contributing factor.

The only time hunting had a negative impact on the population was during the Gold Rush. Domestic food cultivation was abandoned in favor of unregulated commercial hunting to feed the hungry citizens (Unregulated?? kind of akin to poaching).