Baking Pie
You’ve probably heard that deer tag allocations were once again decreased, putting them at an almost 50-year low of 42,300 available tags with antlerless closures in some units.
Whether you prefer a bow or a rifle, you’re a landowner, sportsmen, wildlife enthusiast or all the above, resident or nonresident, you hunt over bait or you don’t, you’re 15 or 85, we can all agree it’s an alarming number.
As the Department’s R3 coordinator, I often hear and field concerns about youth deer hunting opportunities and how we’ll keep this heritage alive if we don’t do something different for our youngsters.
Right alongside youth opportunities, we hear public input and legislative proposals to also modify deer tag opportunities for nonresidents, essential workers, seniors, military service members, people with disabilities, the list goes on.
But the pie is only so big, and as of late, it’s shrinking.
At some point, we can’t cut the slices any smaller.
I know the importance of being introduced to the outdoors at a young age.
I lived it, and I’m experiencing it even moreso today as a mom.
But perhaps of equal importance is having those hunting opportunities as a young college student, failing in a new place and learning how to hunt on your own.
Being away from home for the first time and figuring out how dad knew what time to get up, where to park, and where the deer, ducks or pheasants would be.
Or those after-college-years filled with misadventures alongside lifetime buddies, and understanding the great draw to stay in North Dakota because of the outdoor opportunities the state affords?
Or as a young couple starting new adventures together, learning, struggling and soaking in every moment in the field and on the water, reaffirming that this is home, and daydreaming about the future of passing it on?
My point: We can alter how we slice the pie as much as we want, but it’s just as important that our run-of-the-mill 20- to 65-year-olds have opportunities too.
And it’s time to stop arguing over who’s cutting, what knife we’re using and who’s served first, but start working on baking a bigger pie.
I almost hope this low in deer license numbers serves as a wake-up call to do just that.
This may come off as arrogant, but a small part of me isn’t really phased by deer tag numbers, crowing counts or migrations.
I fell in love with the outdoors, and I’ll be out there regardless, I’ll change units, hunt other states and adjust expectations.
I’ll favor where the opportunities lie and skip where they don’t as populations ebb and flow, ensuring that I’ll always have some pie.
But a bigger part of me is so disheartened because even if I can find ways to pull the trigger, I’d still rather see deer on my way to work again, brag about how North Dakota figured out how to balance the interests and know my grandkids won’t be enduring this same, exhausting, seemingly invisible fight.
You’ve heard it 1,000 times, but it’s time to stop trying to treat the symptoms and start addressing the cause; habitat loss.
Because when we’re back to even 70,000 deer tags, we don’t need to argue about how they get distributed, and it’s surprising how many of these conflicts fade.
I’m proud to say the Department is working on recommendations that came out of the Habitat and Hunting Access Summit last December.
I feel it’s the most important thing I can be a part of as an R3 coordinator looking to sustain this heritage.
But it’s not going to happen overnight, and anyone would be foolish to think our agency can solve this alone.
And while the path to getting there is not easy, the solution itself is simple.
Find a way to get more grass and wetlands back on the landscape.
Period.
And most likely it will be a multitude of different ways, but it will require new and innovative steps to increase funding and advocacy for grass and wetlands.
And if you know anything about baking, it’s a pretty precise science.
You can’t just substitute ingredients or skip steps.
Grass and wetlands.
So again, whether you prefer a bow or a rifle, you’re a landowner, sportsmen, wildlife enthusiast or all the above, resident or nonresident, you hunt over bait or you don’t, you’re 15 or you’re 85, let’s put the fingers down, if only for a while, and address this as North Dakotans.
Let’s get baking, and later we can fight over who gets the first bite.
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