Lessons in Wildlife Management

Initially, wildlife management in Missouri was skewed toward protection. In the early 1900s, for example, very few white-tailed deer were left in Missouri. The management of the white-tailed deer called first for protecting what we had left. This allowed the deer population to increase; and through live trapping and moving, the population began to grow. This growth led to surpluses. wildlife management: Science and practice of maintaining wildlife populations and their habitats In 1944, the first deer season was held in 20 southern Missouri counties—7,537 hunters harvested 583 deer during a two-day bucks-only season. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Missouri had short, any-deer seasons. As hunting pressure increased, this type of management became outdated because harvest of does could not be controlled.

Causes of Threatened and Endangered Species

Quota management is now in place; and today, the firearms deer hunting season is composed of different portions that help ensure that Missouri's deer herd remains healthy and strong.

No North American animal has become extinct because of sport hunting.

While Missouri was learning the best way to manage its deer population, other states in the U.S. also were learning how to maintain healthy wildlife populations. At the turn of the 20th century, wildlife managers attempted to preserve a mule deer herd in the remote Kaibab Plateau of Arizona.

• Hunting was banned, and predators were destroyed. The result was severe overpopulation, habitat destruction, and mass starvation.
• The Kaibab Plateau was opened to hunting in 1929, which brought the population into balance with the habitat. Today, a large, healthy herd of mule deer inhabits the area.

From these hard lessons, wildlife managers learned that there is more to conservation than just protecting wildlife. They discovered that nature overproduces its game resources and that good wildlife management yields a surplus that can be harvested by hunters.