Are archery seasons necessary?

I saw the threads about "the kill" and "is hunting cruel" and some of the comments got me thinking a little bit. I hear bow hunters talk about "population control" quite a bit, but do you actually believe it's about population control, or a convenient way to defend the sport of bowhunting? Let's be real, if hunting was 100% about population control, there would only be firearms seasons.

So, do you honestly believe archery season are for population control?

 

On my land it is

 

Only thinking here is less Bucks to mate in the fall, if they are shot in the late spring?

I really don't believe that any hunter is strictly going out for population control.

 

Thanks for the thought provoking, in depth conversation.

 

Simple answer...no frickin way .... for the reasons you stated above

 

So why do bow hunters always use the "population control" argument? Can they not admit that archery seasons truly are for sport?

 

maybe not strictly, but I know of a few farmers back home who do it or allow it on their land almost exclusively for that reason. They donate nearly 100% of what they kill, so they're not doing it for the meat. Not saying they're not above hanging a 160"er on the wall, but it's not why they go out there.

Of course, I also knew some farmers' kids back in the day who drove with a rifle in the cab of their combine all day long (not legal in Indiana) and took care of business the old school way. Pretty sure they left them on the ground to rot and were only doing it to "keep them deer outta my corn." These were usually the same jerk offs who wouldn't let anyone legitimately hunt their land.

 

Honestly, no. We can bowhunt during firearm seasons as well so from early September to late February we can bowhunt. And we only harvested 28,572 deer. During firearms season from December to February we harvested 22,424. So if it was truly about population control firearm seasons would last all hunting season


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Bowhunting is about providing hunting opportunities to hunters. I don't think the general population would be in favor of 4 months of rifle hunting because of safety concerns. So with only a short gun season and a long bow season, I would guess a lot of hunters feel they are doing their part in population control given the current regulations. Just my thought. Personally, I don't feel like I need to do a lot of population control on my small piece of land. I pass deer on most hunts, only taking what I want when I want it.

 

I agree it is totally for sport...and the thrill of the kill

 

Exclusively for population control? No...who even makes that claim?

I also just as strongly disagree that it's 100% about sport.

To me, it's a mix. I'm management driven but also enjoy it as a sport to a lessor extent. Hunting seasons made by conservation departments are about as much about generating revenue as anything but are based on management strategy. They just try to appeal to hunters sportsmanship as a means to an end of management. Seasons are timed to have as little negative impacts as possible. Holding open season during fawning would be cruel and poor strategy for herd health, animals are in far better condition physically during fall hunting seasons for meat purposes.

 

How about urban hunts where no firearm hunting is allowed?

 

I've never heard anyone say that they are going bowhunting to control the population. Most everyone says that they bowhunt for enjoyment or to provide venison to their family or other families.

 

Its the argument used when talking to anti hunters and non hunters. If you had a discussion with an anti, would you tell them the truth and say "because I love the kill."

 

I have, I've seen videos where guys were allowed to hunt specific farms with high populations and were only allowed to shoot does. It's actually pretty common for archery and firearm.

 

Thats a safety issue.

 

Absolutely. I wouldn't care what they think.

 

In my case that would not be "the truth" though. It's your POV and opinion (though poorly formed and wrong because it doesn't apply in every case).

 

Deer management is (supposed to be) primarily about deer numbers. If x number of deer can or should be taken by hunters it doesn't really matter what weapon is used. (with the exception of urban areas or parks where firearms are not allowed/wanted)

Archery/muzzleloader/pistol season allow more people to participate in the sport and more hours in the field for every animal taken.

To argue that hunting (whatever the weapon) is absolutely only about population control is silly.

To argue that it has nothing to do with population control is silly as well.

 

Yes people will do doe management on individual pieces of land but we were talking about bow hunting as an effective mean of overall population control.