The 3 Hunters                                               Hampshire High School

                                                                                                                                 10/25/2007

                                                                                                                                   2:04:00 PM

As a group of hunters, we believe that the deer should be allowed to keep thier place in nature.

We believe that if people are having problems with the deer, then we can take care of that by

extending the hunting season by a month. The deer that have Chronic Waste Disease should be

found and killed so that the disease won't be spread throughout the deer population. This would

help cut out some of the deer population that are taking out cars. This would leave bigger deer

for better hunting, but they won't take up as much land as a greater size population of deer.

Also, there should be a field made just for the deer so. This would help keep the deer healthy

while keeping them away from the farmers crops. This will also keep the forest healthy because

 the seedlings will be able to survive now that the deer have a food source.

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THE CAMOFLAGED DECACHJA Buffalo Gap HS

                                                                                                                            10/31/2007

                                                                                                                             7:10:00 AM

Deer-hunting season is upon us again, and hunters around the country are packing their guns

and heading for the woods.Some people advocate a "kinder and gentler" solution than hunting,

such as deer contraception. But the reality is that deer contraception in the wild has no

politically viable funding source, which renders it a non-option for a million-plus deer herd.

Can you imagine the cost of trapping and inoculating every female deer in the herd, perhaps

twice each year, and keeping track of all that? Hunting is the only way to control the deer herd

in the short run, and perhaps in the long run.  We have come to the solution of extending rifle

hunting season by two weeks, a week earlier and a week later, since this is most hunters

preferred choice of hunting. By having two extra weeks of hunting should give hunters ample

time to thin out the population. This will lead to a reduction of car wrecks, crop destruction,

and unnecessary confrontation with these animals.  Reducing the population of deer in our

forest would be a good thing. We understand that once deer overpopulate our forest the flow

into public areas. If we reduce that number of deer in the forest then they will less likely

wonder to public areas. Deer is not our only form of meat so there for a reduction in population

 would not harm us.

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That is a great solution but what about the other types like bow, and muzzleloader? What if we could also raise the bag limit from 6 to maybe 8-10 per year?  J.S.

hunter Buffalo Gap HS

                                                                                                                              11/1/2007

                                                                                                                            8:58:00 AM

  A lot of people say that deer are starting to get overpopulated. People say that deer are

destroying everything, such as farmer’s crops, cars, and even landscapes. Maybe that is true,

but it is not happening just because the deer are getting overpopulated, it has been happening

ever since the deer have been around. As a hunter, my point of view is that I do believe that

deer are becoming a little bit too overpopulated. If people do agree with me and say that deer

are becoming overpopulated, then these people should look at some reasons why overpopulation

is occurring. Here are three ways that these reasons of overpopulation can be solved.    The

first reason overpopulation can be occurring is because of the state. Just about every year,

hunting licenses’ prices go up to a higher cost. Some people feel that the expensive price is

just too much to pay. These people still like to hunt, but do not want to pay a lot. Other people

would probably be willing to pay that much to hunt; however, those people probably still can not

hunt because they can not afford to pay it. This is causing a lot of people to stop hunting. If

the sate thinks overpopulation is occurring, then they should not keep raising the cost of

license.             Another reason people may think deer are starting to overpopulate is because some

people buy land and then will not allow hunters to hunt and kill them. The landowners think the

deer are pretty to look at; further more, allowing nobody to hunt. If a non-hunter buys land and

this does happen, then overpopulation will occur. When overpopulation occurs, too many deer

will start to pile up in an area too small to support them. Once too many deer pile up in one spot,

then diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease, (CWD), will start to settle in on the herd and will

eventually die out because of starvation. So, if the state would force the people, who buy land

and allow no hunting, to have to allow hunting then overpopulation would be quite as much of a

problem.           One more reason that overpopulation would be occurring is because of the cities. In

all cities deer are becoming heavily populated because not too many people hunt them or have a

place to hunt them in the cities. In mostly all cities, the only thing hunters can do is bow-hunt,

and not a whole lot of people bow-hunt. And, in some cities, the city does not even allow people

to hunt at all. So, if a hunter is not allowed to hunt in a city, then how can hunters keep the

population down? They can not. If people feel that overpopulation is becoming a big deal, then

the cities that allow no hunting at all should allow hunting and the cities that only allow bow-

hunting should allow muzzle-loader and rifle hunting too. Most of the deer population is in the

cities, because the deer know they are safe from a gun. And, if not too many people bow-hunt

then not a lot of deer are going to be killed.      Some people say overpopulation is taking effect

into the state in which we as Americans live in. My point of view is that I do believe

overpopulation is occurring, but there are ways that it can be solved. The state can lower the

cost of its hunting licenses, the state should force the people, who buy land and allow no

hunting, to allow hunting, and also, cities should allow more than just bow-hunting. These are the

 reasons why I think overpopulation is occurring. This would not cost the community anything

but time and a little bit of money for a license. And, by doing these things the deer population

would go down, but not vanish. It would leave a few deer in the woods to be big, fat, healthy

deer. Ten healthy deer are always better than thirty or forty starving deer.

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  From:    hunters from hampsire high - Hunter - HHS

                                                                                            11/7/2007            8:22:00 AM

     IF you dont check the deer in your pretty much ignorent. For one as we all know there is

     a case in West Virginia with CWD (chronic wasting desease) and how are you going to

     know that the deer doesnt have it? You really dont, thats one reason why you check your

     deer in. Another is if you dont check your deer in how do we know your not killing more

     then what the limit is so i say yes check the deer in its a law so abide by it!!

       Response    hunter - Hunter - BGHS

                                                                                       11/9/2007        10:17:00 AM

             who said i didnt check my deer in. i said if licenses keep going up then people

             would kill more deer for their money or people wouldnt even buy a license. im not

              the ignorent one because i didnt say that i shouild kill as many as i want, hunt as

             long as i want, or not have a limit.

 

  From:   J.S. - Farmer - BGHS                                                                  Ask

                                                                                            11/9/2007           10:07:00 AM

     Everything you wrote makes more sense than anything i have read on this site you were

     very through with what you said, but what is to be done if those remaining deer die also?

 

 

The Three Musket-deers Rappahannock High School

                                                                                                                              11/1/2007

                                                                                                                             9:14:00 AM

  Deer population is at an abnormal high. This has caused many problems to a great number of

people.  The main problems we see are the destruction of the agricultural business and the auto

insurance business.  Hunters are not the evil trigger-happy hillbillies that many people think we

are.  Hunters contribute to the economy in many ways and provide many services to people. 

The overpopulation is due to the fact that deer have no natural predators in this region.  The

only predators are humans, and we are restricted to only six deer per year.  By letting hunters

bag a few more deer per year, the population will lessen, and the problems caused by deer would

 therefore lessen.         The auto insurance business is suffering from deer/car collisions.  There

are an average 500,000 deer/car collisions per year.  Insurance agents estimate that there

are actually four to six times more collisions than are reported.  These collisions average in

100 deaths.  The average insurance claim is 2,000 dollars.  Hunters reduce deer population and

 reduce this damage.     In the agriculture business deer are continually grazing on the crops

planted in fields.  The