North Carolina Wildlife Federation Asks You to Make a Difference in Your Community this Deer Season
OutdoorHub 08.28.13
The North Carolina Wildlife Federation, in collaboration with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, will be reaching out to hunters, land managers and their communities in September, helping each to more effectively use white-tailed deer as a resource.
One workshop will be hosted by the Columbus County Cooperative Extension office on Friday September 13th 7:00pm. Teleconference meetings are also scheduled (details below). All are free to attend.
If farm income is being lost because of deer damage, if you would like to receive additional income earned through offering hunt opportunity, if you are a hunter looking to support a landowner’s long-term deer management goals through hunting opportunity, if you are a non-profit whose goal is to serve the nutritional needs of your community – then this program is one you won’t want to miss.
Hard-working North Carolina farmers lose more than $30 million each year due to crop damage caused by deer. Effectively managing deer numbers in farming communities can go a long way toward both reducing that financial loss and improving the quality of the deer in those areas
The associated economic and recreational benefits of promoting hunting access as a deer management tool are also not to be ignored. Each year approximately 250,000 sportsmen/women take more than 2.9 million trips afield in NC in pursuit of deer. In fact, more than $311 million are spent annually on deer-related hunting expenses in NC. It is estimated that two-thirds of that money is used for gas, food, lodging, hunt leases, and supplies – monies that contribute to the NC rural tax base. As community-based food shelters are in constant need for a quality source of protein, hunters can make a real difference by contributing venison through NC Hunters for the Hungry.
Learn more the benefits of developing a community-based plan, how to develop deer harvest strategies that make a real difference, and gather some ideas about simple, low-cost habitat improvement projects that can not only take the pressure off of row crops but benefit wildlife as a whole. Special Hunt opportunities being offered in Eastern North Carolina will also be announced, each hunt promoting cooperation between farmer, hunter, and their community.
If unable to attend the meeting in Columbus County on September 13th, participants may join this discussion by attending one of two 1-hour teleconferences scheduled – one on Monday, September 16th, another on Monday September 23rd. Both will begin at 7:00 pm. Participants should call 1-209-647-1000 and enter pass code 745232# to be connected to the call. Contact Guy and Judy Gardner at 919-552-9449 for more information.
Farmers Manage Deer is project of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation under a 2-year program sponsored by the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission with additional support from the NC Soybean Producers Association, Project partners include the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, NC State University, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, NC Hunters for the Hungry, and the Quality Deer Management Association.
