Crop Damage permit reasoning

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  • Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,064
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    So school me on how they determine how many deer get shot on a particular farm. For reference the Feds shot 250 (aprox.) deer off Antietam Battlefield last year. It was a bit excessive, but people hunting nearby farms haven't been reducing the doe population very well. They set that is motion and the feds got forced into it. The first Saturday of rifle before could have 75 - 100 deer in the field by Sharpsburg Pike. Now its empty almost.

    Then this past year the DNR gave one farmer a 50 deer permit which is fairly close to the battlefield. This farmer has his brothers hunting all the rifle and BP seasons to reduce the herd impact on their farmer and provide meat before the permit.

    Now my friend that live next to the farm says he would be lucky to see even one deer in three days if he sat in his tree stand and over a distance also. I understand thinning and controlling them, but outright slaughter of the herd, how is that management?
     

    44man

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    10,129
    southern md
    Deer migrate

    They give me cdp’s in lots of 30 and no matter how many we shoot my crops are damaged so bad every year that I am thinking about quitting or trying to grow something deer don’t eat but can’t find anything profitable that I can do by myself that will turn enough profit
     

    ironpony

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2013
    7,191
    Davidsonville
    I've seen a couple articles recently relating to the decline in hunting in general which also states hunting will continue to decline. My first thought is exactly what you are seeing and it will be argued as humane no matter how many animals "need" to be culled. Locally, myself and nearby farmers are seeing more deer than ever before. On a side note the income from hunters licenses and such is used for conservation and this is also declining leaving states with a decision as to wether to conserve or not.

    Honestly I believe herd slaughtering will grow/have to grow, to keep a smaller healthy herd and it will be called humane! I could be wrong though.
     

    kalister1

    R.I.P.
    May 16, 2008
    4,814
    Pasadena Maryland
    It's not just Crop damage. My backyard backs up to the "Magothy Greenway" and the DNR put on special permitted hunts back there every year.
    No idea how they calculate the numbers?
     

    44man

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    10,129
    southern md
    It's not just Crop damage. My backyard backs up to the "Magothy Greenway" and the DNR put on special permitted hunts back there every year.
    No idea how they calculate the numbers?

    They have a number considered to be the proper amount of deer per acre. I don’t remember it but they do.

    For crops like beans they have these 10’ squares made out of 1x4’s. They brought them the first time I called, laid 3 I think of them out and they needed a certain number of destroyed beans per square. I had the required number in 2 square feet that was needed in 300 or some such shit. They told me to shoot away and not worry about when the paperwork got there. I still can’t keep them under control so like I said I am thinking about quitting. Plus I am old fat and crippled and no longer have anyone to help

    It also doesn’t help when a LOT of people feed deer and more than ever don’t hunt and houses are going up everywhere pushing the deer to farms and woods like never before
     

    gwchem

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 18, 2014
    3,434
    SoMD
    They have a number considered to be the proper amount of deer per acre. I don’t remember it but they do.

    For crops like beans they have these 10’ squares made out of 1x4’s. They brought them the first time I called, laid 3 I think of them out and they needed a certain number of destroyed beans per square. I had the required number in 2 square feet that was needed in 300 or some such shit. They told me to shoot away and not worry about when the paperwork got there. I still can’t keep them under control so like I said I am thinking about quitting. Plus I am old fat and crippled and no longer have anyone to help

    It also doesn’t help when a LOT of people feed deer and more than ever don’t hunt and houses are going up everywhere pushing the deer to farms and woods like never before

    If you need help getting rid of the deer, lots of us in the county would be happy to. Just let me know if you need a hand come summer/fall.
     

    Ranchero50

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 15, 2012
    5,411
    Hagerstown MD
    Antietam covers a lot of ground. I certainly don't think 250 is a large enough number. I've seen herds of 70+ off 65 up from the Battleview on many occasions before winter. There were @ 25 there this past Sunday evening. The 20+ herd below Dunkird Church is doing fine and has pretty much scalped that little triangle of field.
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,365
    SoMD / West PA
    They have a number considered to be the proper amount of deer per acre. I don’t remember it but they do.

    For crops like beans they have these 10’ squares made out of 1x4’s. They brought them the first time I called, laid 3 I think of them out and they needed a certain number of destroyed beans per square. I had the required number in 2 square feet that was needed in 300 or some such shit. They told me to shoot away and not worry about when the paperwork got there. I still can’t keep them under control so like I said I am thinking about quitting. Plus I am old fat and crippled and no longer have anyone to help

    It also doesn’t help when a LOT of people feed deer and more than ever don’t hunt and houses are going up everywhere pushing the deer to farms and woods like never before

    If you want help getting rid of deer, I know quite a few people who would love to help.
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,158
    Deer migrate

    They give me cdp’s in lots of 30 and no matter how many we shoot my crops are damaged so bad every year that I am thinking about quitting or trying to grow something deer don’t eat but can’t find anything profitable that I can do by myself that will turn enough profit

    You can get $1000/acre/year for solar panels. Guaranteed money, not dependent on the weather, bugs, or commodity pricing.
     

    44man

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    10,129
    southern md
    You can get $1000/acre/year for solar panels. Guaranteed money, not dependent on the weather, bugs, or commodity pricing.

    well that's something to think about but as much as we shoot and as bad as they look and I am sure they want people running around looking and working on that stuff all the time and , well, I just don't like people in general so I am not sure that would work very well, and I am the nice one in the family.

    we almost sold our tdr's and put the swamp into that zakia trust thing they asked us to do for money but , well, we aint that hard up, at least not yet.

    but I do thank you for the info and I will definitely keep it in mind.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,818
    I think the old holding standard was three deer per square mile.

    Beware the solar game. Those panels don't last forever and are expensive to decommission from what I've heard.

    Wished I lived closer. I could help out on the deer slaughtering.
     

    onedash

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 24, 2016
    1,026
    Calvert County
    They have a number considered to be the proper amount of deer per acre. I don’t remember it but they do.

    For crops like beans they have these 10’ squares made out of 1x4’s. They brought them the first time I called, laid 3 I think of them out and they needed a certain number of destroyed beans per square. I had the required number in 2 square feet that was needed in 300 or some such shit. They told me to shoot away and not worry about when the paperwork got there. I still can’t keep them under control so like I said I am thinking about quitting. Plus I am old fat and crippled and no longer have anyone to help

    It also doesn’t help when a LOT of people feed deer and more than ever don’t hunt and houses are going up everywhere pushing the deer to farms and woods like never before

    All the woods look like parks because neighborhoods are the perfect conditions for deer. When calvert lowered the minimum safe distance to occupied dwellings to 50 yards I bought a crossbow and started shooting them in my back yard. I only shot two this year. Last year I shot 12. That seemed to have put a nice dent in the heard. I think other people in the immediate area did the same thing because I had some cams out and I'm definitely seeing far fewer deer. They didn't eat my plants until August last year.
    There are so many people looking for places to hunt that I would think any farmer could get the heard as small as they wanted it and even make a few bucks. But it seems like they ask for too much money or flat out don't want people on their land. And maybe there is a good reason for it based on previous hunters abusing the land. I don't know. I asked one person if I could hunt their farm and they said no. They don't allow anyone, including family,to hunt on it. And it's not even an active farm. As long as I can shoot 1 or 2 a year to keep my freezer full and they don't demolish all the plants in my yard I'm happy. I might even be able to plant a garden soon.
     

    shootin the breeze

    Missed it by that much
    Dec 22, 2012
    3,878
    Highland
    They have a number considered to be the proper amount of deer per acre. I don’t remember it but they do.

    For crops like beans they have these 10’ squares made out of 1x4’s. They brought them the first time I called, laid 3 I think of them out and they needed a certain number of destroyed beans per square. I had the required number in 2 square feet that was needed in 300 or some such shit. They told me to shoot away and not worry about when the paperwork got there. I still can’t keep them under control so like I said I am thinking about quitting. Plus I am old fat and crippled and no longer have anyone to help

    It also doesn’t help when a LOT of people feed deer and more than ever don’t hunt and houses are going up everywhere pushing the deer to farms and woods like never before

    Like others said above, plenty (me!!) would be willing to help you out. It's a drive but would be ok with me.
     

    Blacksmith101

    Grumpy Old Man
    Jun 22, 2012
    22,162
    The DNR runs a managed hunt on Fair Hill NMRA every year to control the herd. When they started about 20 years ago the herds were enormous and you could see the browse line on the trees. When they started they ran the hunt for a week every year and were taking several hundred deer each year but as the numbers declined they cut back the number of days and number of hunters. Currently it is two days and about 50 hunters per day but the count taken was way down this year because of bad weather. Next year they will have more deer or expand the hunt to make up for it. I have been told they have a target number for the herd size based on carrying capacity of the available range land and they use aircraft with thermal imaging to count deer, usually in winter when there are no leaves. Still see some deer, saw three last night, but the browse line is no longer conspicuous.

    I assume the professional biologists at DNR are doing a balancing act between farmers wanting less crop damage, hunters wanting more deer to hunt, the anti all hunting, spreading population, declining number of hunters, and all the other competing interests. In my lifetime deer have become noticeably more nocturnal so they are evolving along with everything else.
     

    foxtrapper

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 11, 2007
    4,533
    Havre de Grace
    The biggest issue is lack of private land to hunt like said above, followed by the developments that keep popping up, which can turn your hunting spot into being within the safety zone, or you have to deal with deer dying in the yard of some anti hunter who lives in that new house. The lease thing can be ridiculous. One farm near me is 200 something acres and one guy leases it for 10k a year. Another I tried to get to trap on is 2 guys with a hunting lease. No idea what they pay, didn't ask the landowner lady. But she decided that I could not trap even after deer season ( for coons and mink) because she was worried my being there might cause an issue with the hunters. And yes, it is not easy finding places to trap too. I talked to a guy who works at APG and he says there might get to be some changes such as allowing trapping again. I want to trap beaver and otter like never before lol. And maybe catch coyotes like I catch foxes- actually catching them since I hear they are deep in them there. And ooooh maybe grey foxes in there too!
     

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