Farmer wants more deer hunting licenses to reduce crop damage
By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/23/2012 9:21 AM
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MINNEISKA, Minn. — A farmer near Minneiska says changes are needed to the state's deer hunting rules to protect crops.
Bob Marg, who works with legislative issues for the Winona County Farm Bureau, is gathering input from farmers and hunters for a proposal he hopes will be approved by the Legislature this session.
Marg's farm has had $3,800 in wildlife damage over the last three years. Farmers nearby say they have lost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 annually.
Deer can damage standing crops and stored forages.Some frustrated farmers have responded by illegally shooting deer, said Marg.
His proposal wouldgive a farmer with 80 acres — or less than 80 acres but with at least $500 in crop damage — a free license to take a buck or doe. The license would be provided regardless of the area's hunting designation, which is based on the strength of the local deer population.
Currently, only farmers who have 80 acres of agricultural or gazing land and live in an area where the deer population is considered high can receive a free landowner license to take one antlerless deer per year.
If their area's designation allows them to take more than one deer, farmers pay fees to do so.
Marg's proposal would allow farmers to receive additional free, antlerless licenses up to the legal limit for their area.
If they have crop or feed damage, farmers would receive extra free, anterless deer licenses to take deer that exceeds the legal limit. The number of extra licenses available would be a decision for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources based on the level of damage. Farmers would be able to designate others to use these extra licenses.
The proposal would have the DNR compensate farmers for a percentage of crop damage if local deer populations hit certain targets.Marg doesn't expect this part of his plan to pass, but he included it because he wants the DNR to reduce deer populations.
"My job is trying to farm, I'm not DNR, I shouldn't have to be doing everything," Marg said. "The DNR should have that role. If they have a problem in the area, if people complain, they should try to get hunters."
He has been talking about his proposal with Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, and Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona.
Miller is strongly considering carrying the legislation, although he says it may need to be tweaked. He would prefer an agreement be reached first between the DNR and farmers.
"First of all, we need to make sure that the property owners, the farmers, are allowing people to hunt on their land," Miller said.
The DNR controls deer populations through hunting.However, some private landowners don't give hunters access to their property or hunters aren't taking enough antlerless deer —the does —to control the population, said Don Nelson, DNR area wildlife supervisor for southeast Minnesota.
"It boils down to access," Nelson said. "The deer belong to the people of Minnesota but we don't own access to those deer. The landowners control the access to those deer."
Farmers need to allow hunters on their land as a farm management tool, he said.
Nelson isn't sure if Marg's proposal to give farmers multiple free, antlerless deer licenses would be helpful since few people shoot more than two. They usually don't have use for additional venison, he said.
According to Marg, most farmers would be satisfied with one or two extra licenses.
Eight deer have been taken on his land this winter and he has recruited hunters to go into nearby state-owned land, but Marg says some hunters he has worked with have been ineffective.
He lives in an area designated Hunter Choice, a category put in place last year for areas where deer populations should be maintained. Farmers here pay $26 for a deer license to take one buck or one doe per year.
Residents in a Hunter Choice area can't receive the free, landowner antlerless deer license. The DNR is working to change that this year, Nelson said, and Miller plans to do what he can to resolve that issue this legislative session.