Point missed

Rich Landers and George Orr are telling only part of the antler point restriction story.

Counties north of Spokane since 1996-97 have had 10 mild winters, followed by two severe winters and one mild winter. The slight recovery from 1996-97 was all lost with the 50-60 percent decline in the whitetail population the last three years.

The fawn-to-doe count last year was the lowest in the state’s records, with 42 fawns for every 100 does. Think about this: The counts this year through August are barely 10 fawns to 100 does. Even if this number doubles, we would have a serious problem.

We need to be conservation-oriented for a deer herd recovery before the wolves compound the problem. This is why the stakeholder groups met and came to the conclusions they did. Our white-tailed deer are being killed off at an unsustainable rate.

It’s not about how big the deer is, as Orr suggests. It’s about having a sustainable deer population for grandsons and granddaughters.

Orr and Landers have missed the point altogether. Orr has not eluded game commissioner Gary Douvia’s grip, he just doesn’t get it. Another bad winter and we have nothing left.

John Magart

Northeast Washington Wildlife Group