More and more Michigan cities are hiring sharpshooters to thin the deer herd these days. Yet more and more cities are banning bow hunting within city limits. What a Joke!  These people keep expanding their towns into the country and wonder why they have deer around.  And now they have banned hunting them and complain about to how many deer and invading their space. Both Grand Haven and Jackson plan to hire sharpshooters this month to thin deer herds. Grand Haven doesn’t allow bow hunting within the city but now all the yuppies are complaining that there hostas are getting eaten by deer.  They are now paying sharp shooters 5 grand of tax payers money to thin the heard. Theydon’t even know how many deer will be taken by the sharpshooters. As for Jackson, they plan on having about 80 deer killed and some area residents complain that the deer overpopulation has created a nuisance. I can understand using sharpshooters in some areas where there aren’t really any places to hunt.  For example, yesterday, there was a herd of eight deer running around downtown Detroit.  I can understand using sharpshooters for things like that, but I don’t understand these cities expanding out into the country and then 5 yrs after the expand they vote and ban deer hunting and then they want to pay 5 grand per sharpshooter to thin the herd when local deer hunters would do it for free.

Written By: Erin Domka

This Christmas my husband and I decided to get our oldest son his first gun.  He is only seven and although he is not quite old enough to hunt himself, we thought that it would be a good idea for him to get comfortable with his gun before he went hunting.  I could not believe the response from people when I told them.  I fully expected people to say the memorable line from The Christmas Story, “he will shoot his eye out!”  But instead everyone was very excited about it, even those that don’t believe in hunting. 

I think times are changing.  People seem to be putting aside their differences and trying to find a common ground.  Everyone I come across can see my love for the outdoors and instead of making their own opinions of it, they are excited that whatever it is that we are doing, we are doing it as a family. 

As for my son Nicholas, he was more than excited when he opened his Christmas gift.  My husband couldn’t wait either, he made sure that it was the first gift he handed out.  I look forward to many great hunts with Nicholas and that gun and when it is time for a bigger one, I look forward to passing that gun on to our three other children.

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10371_10402-199210–,00.html

Tissue samples from a group of deer that recently died along the Clinton River in southeast Michigan have been sent to the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health at Michigan State University to determine why they died. Initial tests by the Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Disease Lab show that the deer did not have Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) or Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), two diseases of particular interest in Michigan. Final toxicology and virology reports are pending.

Approximately 20 deer died in a three-week period along a six-mile stretch of the Clinton River in Bloomer Park in Rochester. Necropsies were performed at the DNR’s Wildlife Disease Lab in Lansing on deer that were in good enough condition to examine. Several diseases were ruled out, but no common cause of death was found. One deer submitted for testing and necropsy died of a fractured skull, but also showed evidence of a bacterial infection, said Tom Cooley, DNR wildlife biologist who performed the necropsies.

“We have sent tissue samples and stomach contents out for further testing to try to determine what killed the deer,” Cooley said. “We were glad to rule out CWD and other diseases, and hope the lab at Michigan State University can help us solve this mystery.”

Citizens discovering a significant die-off of any wildlife species should report it to the DNR for investigation. An online form to report sick or dead wildlife is available on the state’s Emerging Diseases Web site at www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases. The Web site also contains information on a wide array of animal diseases present in Michigan, including CWD. Citizens may also call their local DNR Operations Service Center to report significant wildlife die-offs. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10371_10402-199168–,00.html

Before we begin discussing how deer see, I think it is important to explain the basics of vision. Vision occurs when light enters the eye and is absorbed by specialized cell located in the back of the eye. These cells respond to the light and send a signal to the brain which is translated into sight. The color perceived by the brain is determined by the wavelength of light reflected. Simply, objects do not actually have color; they simply reflect light of a particular wavelength that our brain perceives as color. The spectrum of color ranges from ultraviolet on the short end of the spectrum to infrared on the long end of the spectrum. Humans can see the range of colors between, but not including, these two extremes.

One of the major misconceptions about deer vision is that they can’t see color. In fact, deer can some colors, including yellow and blue. There are two receptors in the eye that take images to the brain. They are called rods and cones. Photo-pigments are unique proteins that undergo a chemical reaction when exposed to light and are designed to pick up light and relay color to the brain. These photo-pigments are located on the cones and determine color. Humans are trichromats. We have three receptors which are red, green, and blue. Deer on the other hand are dichromats. They have two receptors which include blue and green/yellow wavelengths only. Deer cannot see red or orange. So, hunters relax. Simply wearing orange during gun season has no effect on whether the deer can see you or not. Pattern on the other hand is important. Stay away from solid unbroken garments, especially those of light color. Deer do see better in the UV spectrum. UV light is the type of light that causes your clothes to “glow” is certain light. The connection with hunting is that many of the products that we use to wash our clothes with contain color brighteners and UV enhancers. While this information does seem a bit alarming, just think about how long hunters have been harvesting deer without this recent development. One might be a little more careful about what products they are using, but there are many other factors that determine a good hunt.

Deer see better than humans in the dark. This is because rods are the primary receptors for seeing things in low light. Rods in deer outnumber cones 20 to 1. In full sunlight the only receptors that assist in deer vision are the cones. During dawn and dusk there is a transition period in the cones and rods with both functioning until darkness. Deer see best when the rods take over completely. During night vision the rods take much longer to recover if they are suddenly blasted by a bright light source. This might explain the term deer in the headlights. Overall, deer vision is a very interesting topic to discuss, but while hunting it is important that you as hunters don’t just focus on this aspect of the animal. It is important that you focus on all senses of the animal to obtain an optimal hunting experience. Written By: Erin Domka