Hunting Vital to Recovery of Forests Damaged by Deer

Parks and wildlife refuges are often sanctuaries for wildlife, yet when whitetail deer are allowed to multiply without predation, bad things begin to happen.

Although park visitors enjoy seeing whitetail deer in a tame and docile state, overpopulation can be devastating to forests, and a definite “browse line” soon occurs. In winter, when food is scarce, deer browse the lower buds and small branches from trees, leaving the summer foliage to form an umbrella of leaves. Although these trees usually survive, small saplings and trees freshly sprouting from acorns quickly disappear.

Natalie van Hoose explains the science behind the State of Indiana’s decision to introduce hunting in order to bring back a more balanced forest in this informative post. This is the kind of science that’s of real interest to sportsmen.

Regulated deer hunts in Indiana state parks have helped restore the health of forests suffering from decades of damage caused by overabundant populations of white-tailed deer, a Purdue study shows.  A research team led by Michael Jenkins, associate professor of forest ecology, found that a 17-year-long Indiana Department of Natural Resources policy of organizing hunts in state parks has successfully spurred the regrowth of native tree seedlings, herbs and wildflowers rendered scarce by browsing deer.

Jenkins said that while hunting may be unpopular with some, it is an effective means of promoting the growth and richness of Indiana’s natural areas.

“We can’t put nature in a glass dome and think it’s going to regulate itself,” he said. “Because our actions have made the natural world the way it is, we have an obligation to practice stewardship to maintain ecological balance.”

Indiana state parks historically did not allow hunting. But by the 1990s, white-tailed deer populations in parks had swelled to such size that many species of native wildflowers such as trillium and lilies largely disappeared, replaced by wild ginger and exotic species such as garlic mustard and Japanese stiltgrass, plants not favored by deer. Oak and ash tree seedlings gave way to highly deer-resistant or unpalatable trees such as pawpaw.

The health of deer in state parks also dwindled as their food sources shrank.