Why those particular deer? There are upwards of 80,000 deer in the Region. And why just deer when there are upwards of 500 elk wallowing through killing snows on Spotted Bear winter ranges? The editorial writer wants to save 400 deer with taxpayer money, but I'd rather FW&P spent my taxes on 500 elk. Probably folks up Sunday Creek would rather save their moose. And maybe people from Sanders County care more for their bighorn sheep than they do for my elk, Sunday Creek moose, or anybody else's whitetail deer.

The editorial writer quoted one biologist as saying it would cost $30,000 to $40,000 dollars to save his 400 deer and the journalist says, "I cast my vote for the deer," which is okay. But I'm guessing the other 79,600 deer in the Region have their constituencies, too. So $30,000 to $40,000 suddenly becomes three to four million, without saving a single elk, bighorn sheep, moose, mule deer, or mountain goat.

Also, I hate to introduce complications into the equation, but is there a chance folks in other Fish & Game Regions in Montana might kick about spending their taxpayer dollars without some rubbing onto their own wildlife?

Or how about this other little problem: supplemental feed during killer winters is usually very expensive. Grass hay at the time of the editorial in question ran upwards of $150 dollars per ton -- if you could find it. And if you didn't care about competing with the Treasure State's struggling farmers and ranchers for the little livestock feed that was already in such short supply.

The irony of advocating feeding whitetail deer is that whitetails are the one species needing help the least. Whitetails inhabit valley floors where roads are plowed and farm haystacks most plentiful. They're the ones devastating ornamental shrubbery and attracting young mountain lions to territory infested with toddlers, toy poodles, and domestic livestock. Do we really want to carry an artificially high population of deer above that decreed by their Maker?

Maybe. Then we can raise hob with Fish, Wildlife & Parks when a cougar cat snares our tabby cat. We can also replant our shrubs and, because we're frightened of the idea of big neighborhood predators, walk our kids to the schoolbus stop every day.

Another point worth remembering might be that many hungry whitetails are already being supplementally fed by sympathetic homeowners acting individually by scattering cracked corn or handfuls of hay.

And incidentally, while we're talking about expensive Fish Wildlife and Parks feeding programs for whitetail deer, maybe we'd ought to consider those are the least likely game animals to be hunted, dwelling as they sometimes do amid homes and schools and playgrounds.

So instead of talking about spending hunters' dollars where hunters aren't likely to benefit, maybe we should tap into coal severence taxes and institute a statewide sales tax in order to feed that editorialist's deer and this editorialist's elk.

 

Next week? Another walk on the wild side.