The goal is to keep the deer population under control.

By TJ GREANEY

Southeast Missourian

ANNA, Ill. -- The Union County Farm Bureau hopes hunters will pass the bucks this year.

The bureau is sponsoring its second annual "Doe Contest." Every hunter who shoots and registers a tagged doe at the Union County Fairgrounds in Anna during the first season -- Friday to Nov. 19 -- will be entered into a drawing for a Honda ATV. A separate contest for hunters 16 and under offers a $200 prize.

The goal of the contest is to encourage hunters who usually pursue trophy bucks to do something to diminish the number of breeding deer and keep the population under control.

"We're not doing this because we want all the deer killed, but over the last four to six years the population has exploded," said Union County Farm Bureau president Jim Meller. "We're seeing a lot of crop damage, especially soybeans and even corn. They used to knock it over a bit, but now they're feeding on it. I'm a deer hunter myself and surely we don't want the resource gone, but if we don't take control the trophies start to go downhill."

Aside from crop worries, deer abundance is also a safety hazard to drivers. Country Insurance Co. reported 7,610 claims concerning deer collisions in 2005 statewide in Illinois.

These claims forced the company to pay out $16.4 million for vehicle repairs, medical bills, collision and missed work.

In Union County alone, there were 67 claims totaling over $124,000. Dan Rushing, an agent for the insurance company, could not readily access previous years' totals but was confident the numbers have been steadily increasing.

Meller sees this from his front porch. He says it's not unusual for him to look out into a field of row crops and make a quick count of 30 or more deer.

"I worry about disease. I know in a few counties in Illinois, they've had outbreaks of wasting disease, and as you get more deer living in smaller areas you have more of a chance of that decimating the herd," Meller said. "I'm like most farmers -- we kind of love to see them on our land, but when it starts affecting the pocketbook, that's when it becomes a problem."

And Meller's pocketbook is affected by deer numbers. He owns approximately 700 acres three miles south of Anna and charges bow hunters $250 per day to hunt on his land. Southern Illinois has historically been one of the premier areas for hunting trophy bucks, but Meller worries about the future.

"We're not seeing the big bucks like we used to," he said.

Last year, the farm bureau checked in 208 does for the contest. Meller hopes to improve on that number this year.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245