A week ago I pointed out that more people have died because of motorcyclists hitting deer in Iowa this year than Iowa National Guard members killed in Iraq. (an updated list of soldiers killed is located here)
Even if you add the death of Army Sgt. Kevin Gilbertson on August 29th in Ramadi, motorcyclists have managed to jump back into first place after a Wisconsin man, Rodney Alderman, hit a deer near Postville last night and died. He's the tenth to die in a deer-motorcycle accident in Iowa in 2007, already an enormous record. Up until a couple years ago, it was rare to have more than one or two deaths a year because of deer-motorcycle accidents.
Deer-motorcyclist deaths in Iowa in 2007:
10. September 7, 2007: Rodney Alderman, riding near Postville
9. August 27, 2007: Thomas Wilber, riding near Garber
8. August 26, 2007: Marlene Wilber, riding near Garber
7. August 16, 2007: Ted Alitz, riding in Lucas County
6. August 16, 2007: Danielle Kent, riding in Lucas County
5. July 8, 2007: Jeremy Henderson, riding near Toddville
4. June 22, 2007: Michael Tabbert, riding near Schaller
3. ?
2. ?
1. ?
Don't forget that infamous quote by former Iowa DNR head Jeff Vonk, who has moved on to a similar job in South Dakota:
"When you shoot them, they are our deer, but when you hit them with your car, they are your deer," Vonk said with a nervous chuckle at a meeting.Back in 1950, when there were an estimated 10,000 deer in Iowa, there were already reports of damage to agricultural crops. In 2006, following the harvesting of over 150,000 deer, the population was estimated at 340,000.
It is time to stop this bloodbath on Iowa's highways. The DNR needs to allow year-round hunting of deer to decrease numbers below 1980 estimates of 50,000 deer. In other words, 90% or more of the current deer population in Iowa needs to be killed. It is likely that this major culling will save more human lives in future years.
Support the motorcyclists! Kill the deer!
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