School: East Hardy High/  Class: Ag 1
Teacher: Arthur Halterman
POV Group Name: Hunters 2
Date: 11/08/2006/  Time: 01:33 PM

We are going to voice our opinion as hunters. Back when the indians were still around, hunting was a way to survive. In order to live you had to either hunt, gather, or fish. Basically, deer out number us in so many ways it is not even funny. Here are just a few ways that we found that the deer out number us. Deer are able to view 310 degrees around it's self. They are nocturnal, and can see the ultra violet light range which makes them more active in early morning and late afternoon. Their hearing is far superior to that of a human, and they can detect the faintest sound. The deers hearing is so sensitive that it can determine how far away a sound was made. Deer have a highly developed sense of smell and it is one of the best weapons for detecting approaching danger. The deer can pick up the faintest odors. There are many flaws for being a deer, but not as many as us. Deer are colorblind. If you are a small deer you have small ears. Most people think that the bigger the antlers, the older the deer. That is a huge lie. The best way to tell a deers age is to look at its teeth. Now we will talk about the affect the deer have on the forest and plants. Deer can fill their stomachs in one to two hours depending on the amount of food. When food is adequate, deer stay in one place for a long time. There is more than 500 different species of plants that are utilized by whitetail deer in the United States every year. If there is more food in the forest for the deer the earlier they will reproduce. We looked up deer reproduction and found out that most does reproduce when they are at least two years old. But in recent studies it has been proven that when there is a lot of food the does produce earlier. For example one doe reproduced when she was barely a year old because there was so much food and she was a lot healthier. We also learned that the bucks keep their antlers longer if they are healthier. So for you big buck hunters feed the deer. For you environmentalists kill the deer. But eat them because that would be wasting good meat. Don't really kill the deer environmentalists, let the hunters do it for you. Us hunters love to kill deer not because it is a sport or because of the antlers big bucks have it is simply to support our families with the meat that the deer gives us just like the indians. So technically we are helping the environment as well as our families because we are being supportive of not only our family but also to our community. The deer are over populated and together as hunters and environmentalists we can solve this problem and save the environment from the deer so together we can help the trees grow and the plants to re-populate.

School: Hampshire High School/  Class: Block 4
Teacher: Mr.Moore
POV Group Name: Hunters (Block 4)
Date: 11/08/2006/  Time: 02:12 PM

We the hunters are concerned about the deer population in Hampshire County. One reason that we are concerned is the deer body size. The deer in Hampshire County are extremely small. One reason that the deer are so small is insestation. Another reason that deer are so small is the amount of food available to the deer. If there were less deer the deer wouldn’t be as insect and there would be more food to go around and therefore the body size would increase. I am a hunter that goes after trophy deer. This means ether deer that have big body size or big antlers. We can achieve this by closing buck season for one or two seasons. We would only shoot the does for these one or two years. With this the deer population would decrease and get bigger deer. I am more that just a hunter. I am also a conservationist. I also look out for the well being of the forest and the farm land. The problem that two many deer cause for the forest moves over to the farms. That is food. The forest can not produce enough food for all the deer in the woods. The way that this hurts the woods is that the deer eat all the new small trees that are about to sprout. Even with all this the deer still don’t get enough food. This causes the deer to go to farms. This is a big big problem. The deer can cost a farmer a lot of money in a years time. The farmers depend on there crops for money. This can make them very mad. That is why we need to cut down on the population of deer. The next reason that we should cut down on the deer population is a very important one. Deer can cause death. I say this because with to many deer in the woods they’re forced to move and find food. This causes them to go in the road which then leads to accidents. If there where less deer the deer could stay out of the road and stay in the woods. This would save a lot of money for people with insurance and the coast of repairing a vehicle. That is why we need to cut the population of deer down.

School: North Harford High School/  Class: Environmental 2 B4
Teacher: Mrs. O'leary
POV Group Name: 3 Hunters
Date: 11/10/2006/  Time: 11:31 AM

Hunters are important because they keep the balance of animals controlled in the woods. The hunters are taking over the job of previous predators that were killed because they were thought to be the threat in the beginning. It could mean more competition for food between deer which could start self-extinction. This would take away the need of hunters. Some of the possible solution would affect us greatly. For example, as hunters we are against the fencing off of under story. Fencing off areas will hinder the hunter’s ability to hunt in certain areas. If we aren’t able to hunt in certain areas, deer will become over populated in that area. Eventually, deer will learn where it is safe, and may start migrating away from other areas where hunters may go often. Many of the families may depend on the deer for food. Taking away the deer population may send some people into starvation. With the lowering of the deer populations in the fall when they are out in the corn fields still feeding, it would lower the amount of accidents. A lot of accidents take place because of deer in the road. As of October 1997 67% of auto vehicle accidents were caused by deer, not including those gone unreported. [Statistics taken from: MD department of Natural Resources Press Release]. In our opinion the season should be extended and the amount of deer allowed to be hunted should be increased. This will give hunters enough time to get out and get their quota, as well as reduce the amount of deer. Overall this will help the environment and the ecosystem, and mankind itself. Woo.

School: Hampshire High /  Class: Enviromental Science
Teacher: Mr. Moore
POV Group Name: The Hunters (Environmental Science)
Date: 11/08/2006/  Time: 10:29 AM

We are the hunters, we are the ones who will kill the deer for the farmers and the homeowners. We are the one’s who buy the permit’s, we regulate how many deer are in an area, also the lower population of does will reduce the birth population of deer, and the growth of trees and sprout the trees would be greater. If we as hunters are allowed to hunt and kill more deer we would be helping the farmers and the homeowners by regulating the deer population. If we kill more deer the farmers would be able to sleep easy at night knowing that the deer are not eating their crop. The farmers should allow the hunters to come on their property and hunt the deer, with permission first and if the homeowners don’t want deer destroying their land they should allow us to do the same thing as the farmers  Two Saturdays out of fall, all people to bag 3 does a day.Ø  We need more days or weeks to shoot deer, and more deer to bag a day.Ø  Should be able to spot light 3 days out ofØ Lower hunting licenses Ø the year. We should be able to road hunt, does only in the fall of each year. You can only kill 2

Thoughtful Questions

From: Hampshire Hunters/  Class_Name: 2nd Block/ 
Teacher: Mr. Moore/  School: HHS/ 
Wednesday, November 15, 2006/  Time: 10:26 AM

By lowering the number of does you will increase the aboundance of food to be ate by the young bucks, which will help them.

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From: Foresters/  Class_Name: Env 2/  ¶Teacher: oleary/  School: NHHS/  Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2006/  Time: 12:47 PM

Spot light hunting is illegal, so why would you resort to breaking the law to kill deer?

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From: The Farmers/  Class_Name: Environmental Science 2/  ¶Teacher: Mrs. O'Leary/  School: North Harford High School/  Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2006/  Time: 12:57 PM

1. Why shouldn't you have permits to hunt? 2. Why is having a buck better than having a doe?

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From: The Mighty Hunters/  Class_Name: ag 1/  ¶Teacher: Mr.Halterman/  School: EHHS/  Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2006/  Time: 01:32 PM

Ok.So let me get this straight. You want hunting season to be twice as long, right? Well, if you make hunting season longer, when will it be? If you go up until January, then you would be killing a lot of deer. If you kill all the does during hunting season, then the bucks will leave and go into another area and then, you will have no babies OR Big Bucks. If you have no babies, the deer population will cease to exist. And to the point about killing only does, what idiot will actually let the biggest buck that they have ever seen waltz right past them with their tongues out going ha ha ha you can't kill me becuase government made it legal. We've never obeyed the government before, so why should now make any difference?????