Down with Dogma!
It is no secret that Duane and I love the blog. We’ve written a lot of posts over the years. And while we find great joy in creating content, we sometimes fall into a rut.
Like bucks at the end of December, we are out of gas. It takes a considerable amount of brain power to conceive a post. Sometimes its birth is quick and painless. Sometimes we are in labor for 37 hours questioning our life choices.
One of the best things about the blog is engaging with our readers. In the past, your comments and questions have sparked ideas and spawned subsequent posts. We’ve shared data gathered from the Deer Forest Study and research findings from other projects to answer all your burning questions.
We’d like to take that to the next level. Deer are the most widespread big game species in North America. Pursued and observed by millions each year for hundreds of years. The rhetoric that surrounds deer is long and storied to say the least. Repeated enough times, many take it as fact. But is there any basis for this baggage that deer carry?
We aim to challenge traditions, question conventions, and break from institutions built on shaky foundations. Down with the deer dogma that has plagued research, management, and hunting!
Send us your questions – in the comments below or by email (deerforeststudy@gmail.com). Get us out of our rut and into a new way of looking at deer.
-Jeannine Fleegle
Wildlife Biologist
Deer and Elk Section, Game Commission
