ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 28, 1996 TAG: 9611290011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: HOLIDAY
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
It was a six-point buck. A dandy. The kind that would make most sportsmen proud. And it was an easy shot.
The hunter examined the antlers through his scope, then put the crosshairs on the buck's dark shoulder. The deer was his, but instead of pulling the trigger he lowered his rifle and said ``bang!'' The startled deer took off.
The act was something that Matt Knox, deer research biologist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, calls ``Let them go; let them grow.''
Fishermen embraced catch-and-release about 30 years ago, with the concept that a trout - and later a bass - was too valuable to be caught just once. Put it back and let it grow to be enjoyed another day.
Now deer hunters are coming up with their own conservation formula. While they can't put a buck back after it is in hand, they can pass up smaller bucks while waiting for a wall-hanger. And for meat, they can take a doe.
Is it catching on?
``Absolutely,'' said Knox. ``I meet lots of deer hunters - average deer hunters - who will say, `I saw an eight-pointer, a six-pointer and a four-pointer.'
``What did you kill?''
```Ah, I didn't kill any of them.'
``When a deer hunter can pass up an antlered buck that is legal and let it go, he has crossed the biggest threshold of all,'' said Knox. ``No longer is he a limit-out, any-buck-will-do-deer hunter. He is looking for quality; for a quality experience. He isn't looking at numbers of deer. It becomes about hunting instead of about killing.''
The quality of the deer hunting experience isn't the only advancement, Knox said. If passing up young bucks becomes a widespread practice, then the quality of the deer herd also will improve. That's one of the major principals of the state's Deer Management Assistance Program, which helps hunt clubs and land owners improve their deer herd through tailored management practices.
``Now there are some places in the state where this is unheard of,'' said Knox. ``There aren't a lot of bucks passed up on the national forest. But on private land, there are more and more hunters passing up the young bucks, because the doe days are so liberal they can kill a doe if they want to put venison in the freezer.''
Virginia got a later start on the ``let them go; let them grow'' concept than some states, Knox said. There are locations where killing a young buck has become a socially unacceptable thing. ``Here in Virginia, you are beginning to see a progression toward , `Let's protect these young bucks,''' said Knox. ``It is a little more accepted in the eastern than western section of the state. I think a lot of that has to do with the length of the season. The eastern hunter has such a long time to hunt he doesn't feel like he is going to miss something if he lets a buck go by.''
Most of the more than 400 co-operators in the DMAP program are located in the east, where hunters put together large holdings of land that can be managed for deer, Knox said.
``I would say nearly three-quarters of them are in some type of quality management program where they pass up young bucks.''
The program, which sends wildlife biologists onto private property to write deer management plans, has grown rapidly and now embraces 1.1-million acres of land, Knox said.
``There is very little attrition. Out of 400 co-operators, we might lose a handful every year. And we will kick out a handful for not keeping the data right or for game violations.''
The landowners and hunt clubs aren't the only beneficiaries of the program which lures new converts every season, he said. ``We get high quality data from DMAP hunters.''
But there's nothing that says you have to be a DMAP member in order to let a young buck walk.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB