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Deer hunting big business
Deer hunting is big business in Alabama and Clarke County. How big? The biggest. Hunters in Alabama bagged 535,000 deer last year, according to state estimates. Wisconsin placed second with a harvest of 517,169, according to various sources. The other top five states include Georgia, Michigan and Texas. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says hunting generates an $800 million a year economic impact on Alabama. And the most popular hunting by far is for whitetail deer. Alabama’s long season and liberal bag limits help put the state in the number one spot but so does our abundant deer population. Alabama has an estimated 1.7 million head of deer. Deer have not always been so plentiful in Alabama. Up until about 60 years ago, there were few deer in the state and only a few counties had hunting season. Clarke County played a big role in restocking the state in the 1950s and 1960s. The late conservationist Fred T. Stimpson and other concerned outdoorsmen can be credited for the deer—and ultimately the economic boom that hunting has brought the state. The Fred T. Stimpson Game Sanctuary in south Clarke is named in honor of his contributions. The restocking was almost too successful. In some areas, deer are overpopulated, taxing the land and causing problems for people (how many drivers have had “run-ins” with deer on our highways? ) Hunting is a way to control the population. The deer population isn’t hurt and is probably even helped by hunting. And it is certainly good for the state’s economy.
See a story detailing hunting lease prices throughout the state in the forestry edition in today’s paper.
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