If any community out there is fearful
that a proposed controlled archery deer hunt would fail ought to
first visit the Holden Arboretum in Northeast Ohio.
Straddling Lake and Geauga counties and
spread over two townships, one village and one city, the 3,500-acre
Holden Arboretum has for several years conducted a controlled archery
deer hunt. All in an effort to get a handle on the four-legged
riff-raff.
And it appears the nation's largest (or
second largest) arboretum has just gone and done that, too.
All without stirring the pot of
hyper-active opposition from either neighbors or Holden's dues-paying
members.
By way of full disclosure, my wife and I are both annual Holden members, and I am one of the institution's roughly 65 to 70 permitted archery hunters.
Just how successful the controlled
hunts have benefited the Holden Arboretum is seen in the cold, stark
statistics kept by the organization's natural resources staff and
backed by its small and fully functional police department.
Last year Holden's permitted hunters
shot 30 deer, 24 of which were antlerless animals.
The prior hunting season (2011-2012)
saw 49 deer shot. The season before that and the figure was 42 and
before that, 47 deer.
Thus the permitted hunters have inches
ever so close to achieving what the Holden Arboretum and any other
deer-plagued outfit or community strives for: A healthy – but
stable - white-tail population that is not at war with homeowners,
motor vehicle drivers and perplexed community officials.
All three of those elements, by the
way, are factored into how the Holden Arboretum monitors the comings
and goings of deer on the reserve as well as the status of its
plants.
Holden engages a multi-prong strategy
to both study deer numbers and the impact the critters have on the
arboretum's browse, says the institution's conservation biologist
Mike Watson.
Presently, says also Watson, the best
scientific projection is that the arboretum has 14 to 15 deer per
square mile, down from the high-water mark of 30 deer per square mile
as determined in 2006.
Ideally, Watson says, Holden's goal is
to see a deer concentration of 10 to 20 deer per square mile.
“So we're about in the middle right
now,” Watson said.
Yes, it has taken a number of years to
achieve something close to parity in Holden's deer herd size yet the
fact remains it is far from being an impossible or unreachable
objective.
To assemble such success with minimal
muss, fuss and expense, the Holden Arboretum utilizes willing archery
hunters.
The Holden Arboretum does not lack for
volunteers, each of whom have unique hoops to jump through.
Not only must hunters conform to
Holden's set of rules (hunt only within their respective assigned
zone, must report all kills, no harm to trees or plants, be courteous
toward trespassers, among others) but observe the requirements
established as well by Kirtland Hills Village or Kirtland City.
For the former that means registering
with the village's police chief, obtaining a special village permit,
the requirement that a permitted hunter must shoot at least one doe,
and any buck taken must have a minimum of six antler tines.
In Kirtland City's case, any Holden
hunter must kill a doe before shooting a buck, a rule enforced by
virtue of the fact that all successful deer hunters must physically
present their animal to the community's police department.
Oh, yes, Kirtland City likewise
requires that each participant must successfully complete an archery
proficiency test.
If any permitted Holden hunters
believes either the village's or the city's rules are too draconian
or unfair, they aren't talking. At least not publicly, anyway.
The reason is simple to understand, as
well. The Holden hunters know a good thing when they see – and
found – one.
They have exclusively use of a
designated area for the entire length of Ohio's archery deer-hunting
season, and generally enjoy few or no interruptions or harassment by
non-hunters or even from other deer hunters.
In the end, therefore, not only is the
Holden Arboretum within shouting distance of getting a long-term
handle on its deer herd, but several dozen archery hunters are having
a really cool time enjoying a pretty exclusive outdoors experience.
It's the best of both worlds and is
something that other institutions, arboretums and communities can
emulate and achieve.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
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