John Allen
During the interview with Irene Frentz, we met another park ranger, John Allen, who was kind enough to help us answer some questions. John has been in and around the park since he was a child, and knows all the patterns of the deer at the park; where they feed, where they get water, and where they rest. It was told to us that John is excellent in the deer hunting field, and you will hear a lot from him in the following questions.
Green Piece CBG Reporter- Do you think that the deer population has been increasing or decreasing?
Mr. Allen- I would say that since the managed hunt program specifically, I haven't noticed any real increase or decrease in the deer population that was significant enough to effect the park in terms of the environment. You have seasonal fluctuations like if you have a harder winter you are going to have more fawn fatalities. From a hunter's perspective there is always variation in what you see and epecially how many deer you harvest. Some years you are lucky, if nothing else, and some years you aren't as fortunate but it really all depends on what the weather is like. Being in the environment a lot you definitely learn there paths and usually during the winter it is easier to tell how many deer there really are in the park. In the past few years I haven't seen any dramatic increases or decreases and that is really what matters.
Pro Gun CBG Reporter- So where do the deer go to feed? Do they stay in the park?
Mr. Allen- I am fortunate to be able to watch deer and hunt deer in many different areas of the state, but they are so many of them in the park or you see more of them in the park, so that you can really get an idea of things like that. Some deer, I can tell you having land directly bordering the park, come to our land and we have sort of pasture land so they like to graze there and they will usually not stay in one place to feed because they need to eat what is available at the time. The deer, especially in neighborhoods bordering the park such as Woodland Pond, will come out of the park and eat the flowers out of gardens and eat grass in yards so they usually eat where they can find food. In the summer they kind of stay here and in the winter they travel around but it definitely varies from herd to herd. They might have a very small home range, and another group might be larger, and have to move around more to find food. There are no fences so they can roam to areas around the park as well as in the park.
Green Piece CBG Reporter- In your opinion, are there too many deer in the park?
Mr. Allen- Well answering this from an ecological point of view, I believe that people would like to see more deer in the park, but the resources that are in the park such as food, shelter, and living space are all preventing the deer from reaching the carrying capacity of the park. There are a lot of accidents and it gets to the point when deer are walking around the parking lot looking for food and then you realize that there are too many deer in the park. The park is trying to find the limit of deer, and keep it there. Take this into perspective: you live adjacent to the park, and there are only ten deer in the park, but if the ten deer, all lived in your backyard, you would think there are too many. The cultural capacity of deer we think has been reached, and it is getting to the point where residents won't be able to stand the amount of deer in the park.
Green Piece CBG Reporter- Do you think that the deer population has been increasing or decreasing?
Mr. Allen- I would say that since the managed hunt program specifically, I haven't noticed any real increase or decrease in the deer population that was significant enough to effect the park in terms of the environment. You have seasonal fluctuations like if you have a harder winter you are going to have more fawn fatalities. From a hunter's perspective there is always variation in what you see and epecially how many deer you harvest. Some years you are lucky, if nothing else, and some years you aren't as fortunate but it really all depends on what the weather is like. Being in the environment a lot you definitely learn there paths and usually during the winter it is easier to tell how many deer there really are in the park. In the past few years I haven't seen any dramatic increases or decreases and that is really what matters.
Pro Gun CBG Reporter- So where do the deer go to feed? Do they stay in the park?
Mr. Allen- I am fortunate to be able to watch deer and hunt deer in many different areas of the state, but they are so many of them in the park or you see more of them in the park, so that you can really get an idea of things like that. Some deer, I can tell you having land directly bordering the park, come to our land and we have sort of pasture land so they like to graze there and they will usually not stay in one place to feed because they need to eat what is available at the time. The deer, especially in neighborhoods bordering the park such as Woodland Pond, will come out of the park and eat the flowers out of gardens and eat grass in yards so they usually eat where they can find food. In the summer they kind of stay here and in the winter they travel around but it definitely varies from herd to herd. They might have a very small home range, and another group might be larger, and have to move around more to find food. There are no fences so they can roam to areas around the park as well as in the park.
Green Piece CBG Reporter- In your opinion, are there too many deer in the park?
Mr. Allen- Well answering this from an ecological point of view, I believe that people would like to see more deer in the park, but the resources that are in the park such as food, shelter, and living space are all preventing the deer from reaching the carrying capacity of the park. There are a lot of accidents and it gets to the point when deer are walking around the parking lot looking for food and then you realize that there are too many deer in the park. The park is trying to find the limit of deer, and keep it there. Take this into perspective: you live adjacent to the park, and there are only ten deer in the park, but if the ten deer, all lived in your backyard, you would think there are too many. The cultural capacity of deer we think has been reached, and it is getting to the point where residents won't be able to stand the amount of deer in the park.