DECEMBER 22, 2009 ISSUE
Old Traditions Emerge as New Trends in High County Hunting
The 2009 deer hunting season is now underway in the High Country.
The 2009 hunting season is underway in the High Country and many hunters are noticing an increase in the number of young deer they are seeing. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has been working closely with hunters in the area to monitor deer populations in different areas to insure that the health of the herds is sound.
Around the turn of the 20th century, widespread over-hunting had reduced North Carolina’s deer population almost to extinction. Since that time the number of deer in the state has risen steadily and is now estimated to be around one million.
“Overall, the Wildlife Commission up here is doing a good job of managing the overall number of deer in the area,” said Toma Fuller, a local hunter and conservationist. “The deer I see are notably healthier. Last year, there were more apples on the trees than people can remember in their lifetime. So obviously, that made the deer population really healthy,” Fuller continued. “However, this year we didn’t have many apples and we didn’t see many acorns. As a result of that we could see some deer that aren’t as healthy because they don’t have enough food.”
A short supply of food in a burgeoning population might mean that the health of the herd as a whole could deteriorate, allowing diseases to stand a better chance of spreading throughout the herds, and this worries Fuller and other hunters in the area.
One way that the number of deer in an area can be controlled is by taking more than just the big bucks from the herds.
“Most of us are out there hunting because we enjoy being out there in the woods and we enjoy eating the meat,” Fuller said. “But you also have to make the connection between the number of deer, what the deer are eating and the health of the deer. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is this a good year to take maybe a couple more?’”
Maintaining the size of deer herds in the area through hunting is one of the top objectives for hunters. But one of the biggest misconceptions among non-hunting people in the area, according to Fuller, is that some people think that hunters are out there just to get a big buck so they can have it mounted on their wall as a trophy.
“I think a lot of people assume that these big buck hunters go out there and they don’t care what they shoot as long as it’s a big buck and they can take it home and hang it on their wall,” he said. “I think there is a small population of hunters out there like that, but there are more of us who actually study the population and say, ‘Alright, this herd of deer has one big buck here and there’s two or three younger bucks. So it’s a good time to take that big buck because we know that these young bucks are up and coming and they need room to flourish.’”
For Fuller and many other hunters like him in the High Country, hunting is not simply about killing a deer. Fuller believes that if he understands the patterns of the animals he pursues—how they live, their quality of life and what they eat—he will come to understand more about the animal’s life, which, in turn, helps him appreciate the animal who’s life he is taking.
“If I get out there and I see where they’ve been eating acorns and I see they’ve been taking a new trail to the far side of the hill where there’s an apple tree with apples on it...well, to me, I’m just as happy that day because I now understand that population a lot better. Hunting for me often results in a kill, but it’s not always about the kill. It’s about being connected to my food source in a closer way.”
Fuller was slow to get into hunting, due in part to the misconception that hunting is only about going out and bagging trophy bucks.
“I first got into hunting after I met my friends Alex and Natalie. Shortly after meeting them I came to realize that they actually [hunted] because it was a way for them to be out in the woods and actually feel good about what they were eating at night,” Fuller recalled. “They knew that the life of the animal they took actually lived a good life, ate good food, roamed the mountains freely. Just like we want to do. Why not allow our food source to do the same?”
Another aspect of hunting that Fuller seeks to achieve every time he goes out is to minimize his impact to the Earth.
“To me, the lowest impact we can have is to be a hunter,” he said. Part of this philosophy stems back to Fuller’s days of teaching outdoor education. A large part of the education process revolves around the importance of the principles of Leave No Trace. Both hunters and backpackers share many of the same core principles and beliefs. The key component of both activities is time spent in the woods, in nature, far away from the hustle and bustle of city streets, observing the natural world.
“I think it’s good for people to get out into the woods and actually be a part of nature. For some people that may be just going out there and seeing deer and seeing squirrels and not actually killing them, but in the very least just going out there and being a part of it,” Fuller said. “And for some people I think they’ll realize that this is a perfect food source.”
“Because, ultimately, inside I think we all want to feel good about what we eat. If we’re going to take an animal’s life to further our own life, then at the very least I would like to think, ‘Alright, the life that I’m taking so that I may live on lived a good life.’ Because I only want to put something that’s positive in my body—something that’s lived a good life. And I know those deer out there were raised well, they’re free, they’re happy. And I think there’s no better food to put in your body.”
For more information on hunting in North Carolina, click to www.ncwildlife.com.
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