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Photo by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
A deer as it walks through a parking lot in the Yosemite Valley on August 28, 2013 in Yosemite National Park, California.
The strange saga of California's deer herds is in the spotlight again this weekend as fall hunting season nears.
Deer numbers statewide are down 80 percent, a new invasive louse is causing deer baldness on the Peninsula and in parts of the Sierra foothills, and predation of fawns by mountain lions and bears is taking out a higher percentage of the herds than ever.
Yet the high numbers of small black-tailed deer near civilization can make it seem that there are more deer than ever, and in turn, create the illusion that there is no need for concern or steps to conserve the deer.
This story returns to the forefront as the Tuolumne Herd, already under siege from lice, will try to survive into next year with much of their wintering habitat and ground feed incinerated north of Groveland by the 257,000-acre Rim Fire.
Meanwhile, the mountain hunting seasons open this weekend and next across most of the Sierra Nevada and Northern California, where prospects are slim for most.
Here are the latest notes from afield:
Deer numbers: The Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are now 445,000 deer in California, down from 2 million in the 1960s and 850,000 in the 1990s.
Your local deer: Many deer now spend their entire lives in a 5-mile radius, often in local parks, golf courses and the backyards of foothills homes.
Car vs. deer: Your odds of hitting a deer with your car in California are roughly 1 in 1,046, according to State Farm Insurance.
Hunter vs. deer: In the central Sierra Nevada, the odds of a hunter getting a deer this season are estimated at 4 to 15 percent; in the state's northern mountains, the odds are 15 to 24 percent. Most people don't realize how poor the success rate is even among avid, skilled woodsmen who know how to track and stalk game trails.
No migration: The once-great deer herds of the Sierra Nevada, which migrated from the Sierra crest to wintering grounds in the foothills each fall, are gone. Heavy traffic on highways, new subdivisions and shopping centers have blocked their routes and diminished their winter habitat.
Predation: One study captured 96 healthy fawns and tracked them for seven years; of those killed by predators, 49 percent were killed by mountain lions, 27 percent by coyotes and 22 percent by bears. In other studies, bear predation of fawns has been much higher. Another study equipped 25 adult does with radio collars; in three years, 11 were killed by mountain lions, one by coyotes.
Habitat loss: For 30 years, California's population growth has converted about 75,000 acres of wildlife habitat per year to housing, a loss of 2.25 million acres of places where wildlife can no longer live.
Diminished habitat quality: In many national forests, diverse ecosystems were cut down and replanted with conifer monocultures. With few hardwoods and less material to browse in second-growth forests, food for wildlife has been reduced. With that, overall nutrition for deer can be poor, which can bring reduced survival rates and antler growth.
Deer baldness: In 2009, biologists found a deer in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Tuolumne County that died from an infestation of nonnative lice that caused baldness and internal parasites. A similarly infected deer was found on the Peninsula. Since then, roughly 600 deer carcasses have been found showing the affliction. At this point, there is no cure.
Rim Fire: The same area with the highest incidence of nonnative deer lice, the Tuolumne foothills, is the same area where the Rim Fire turned deer winter habitat into a moonscape. With no food, the deer are likely to crowd into areas outside the burn area, thereby increasing the ability to pass the nonnative lice to other deer.
Drought: Two straight years of subaverage rain and snow across the state have led to poor soil moisture levels in many areas, and in turn, poor growth of vegetation and browse that deer, especially fawns, need for food to survive.
Low buck-doe ratios: In the Sierra foothills, low fawn survival from drought and predation means fewer bucks reach adulthood. For instance, the buck-to-doe ratio in Zone D-8 (mostly located in Sequoia National Forest) is roughly only 20 bucks per 100 deer.
Illegal pot grows: Scientists have not quantified the damage that the high number of illegal pot grows in national forests have on deer. But game wardens have verified illegal traps, poisons and poaching - and common sense would say, based on the scope of the operations, there has to be a collective impact.
Passion for the sport: Some avid hunters hike, spot and stalk for days. For them, camping, fair chase and woodsman skills are paramount in the low-odds attempt to get a buck. Surveys show that these hunters have more passion for their activity than those in any other outdoor sport.
Erosion of hunter skills: At the other extreme, some hunters go "deer trolling" by driving on Forest Service roads in pickup trucks, with sofas in the back and rifles on their laps. It's no wonder some people reject the idea that hunting is an ethical, fair-chase pursuit.
Deer openers: This weekend, the mountain deer season opens for rifle hunting in the central Sierra Nevada for most D zones, and in the northern part of the state for most B and C zones. A few other zones open next weekend. The X zones, located mostly on the eastern side of the Sierra and Cascade ranges, open the first Saturday of October.
Deer revenue: Money for deer management and wildlife restoration funds come primarily from the sales of deer tags. Last year, 182,000 tags were sold, which continued a long-term decline, but sales still helped generate $300,000 for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicle's outdoors writer. E-mail: [email protected]. Twitter: @StienstraTom
` 0 Tom Stienstra|Outdoors Writer
Most of it seems pretty spot on.
Comical that "Fish and Wildlife" is making provisions for Wolf Introduction, when the decline in numbers is quite clear. And, the elk populations are even more dicey.
Must be the new Common Core math standards
To be honest... I've never seen as many big muleys coming thru the CBH Records Program as I have in the past few years. Some giants and quite a few of them. I'm not sure what that trend means. On the other hand, Big Columbia Blacktails have been scarce. Ed F
I'm all for putting grizzlies and wolves in California. Will even assist in relocating some from Wyoming.
Heck I think they need even more black bears and mt. lions as all Californians know these two species never harm anything.
They should outlaw all types of hunting with dogs especially bear and mountain lions-oh wait, they already did that.
Hmmm predators population exploding-prey species numbers plummeting-no way the two could be connected !!!
Great article if you are a bear or mountain lion not so much if you are a deer.
Gotta love Californians for leading the way on how to take care of the wildlife.