They have controlled it very well, well enough to accomplish their objectives. Less deer. When are we going to wake up and realize that a lot of the states DNR don't have hunters and hunting as their primarily concern.
I only hunted Illinois for 3-4 years, but I can tell you that the insane coyote population that followed the record number of deer was amazing. In those years, I bet I didn't see more than 3 fawns total. Fawn recruitment, like in Northern WI, is abysmal. EHD and a few other natural factors and the deer herd can crash hard and fast. Then throw in the drive to shoot every deer that moves by a lot of hunters and you have a serious problem.
A dink. But, at 70 years old, he doesn't care and I was happier than hell to find it with him this morning.
Believe me, I agree 100% that hunters need to take responsibility too. But, lets be real here, most hunters out there aren't the brightest people in the world and know almost nothing about real conservation. Along with self absorbed, I'd throw in ignorant too.
That's awesome he is still at it at 70 man. So this is not directed at him At all. Now to make a point n how many others are like owwww it's jus a ol dink but who cares ol Ricky jean over the hill will kill him if I don't. Horses *** that's where the problem is big people Can't lettem walk so how are they gonna grow and how are they gonna populate? People get hard ons killin 24 does and 6 dinks and. 100" 8pt. What they prove. Nothin other than how to dispose of deer herds. The government plays hunters like a sea tru throw out allllll the bait(tags) and see what fish eat. ( killin all they can). Ya want more deer stopp shootin. It's not the govt at fault
What the hell did you just say? We have had a lot of issues with our own Fish and Game. The biggest issues I generally see is hunters *****ing on forums like this and not doing anything about it. Think about people who don't vote then ***** about the president.... Does the DNR ever hold public comment meetings? That's the place to air out your concerns.
This isn't about QDM or whether a buck has bred or not. This is about the mismanagement of a population. FWIW, I can understand about 17.2% of what your actually typing.
I was wondering the same thing. The first time I read it it said Don, but now it says Dan. So, I have no idea who its directed at.
Mismanagement of the population boils down to government issues tags but don't make you shoot them its simple as that. Population management is in hunters hands.
You actually just contradicted yourself in your own statement. It is a 50/50 deal, as Dan stated, that is shared between the F&G commission and hunters. To clear this up for you.... Properly managing the population boils down to setting kill quotas that are proportionate to the success ratio of the hunters. In this, the government/DNR can effectively use the hunters to maintain/reduce the population based on statistics. Is this 100% correct all of the time? Absolutely not. Does it generally work? Absolutely. However, it boils down to like minded officials, LEO's, and hunters cooperating for an end all goal. This often gets over shadowed, though, by money driven officials and selfish hunters and outfitters.
What would happen if hunters "just" killed one doe and one buck next year? What would that do to the deer population?
I can't say I really disagree with anything anyone has said here. When I first read this awhile back I didn't take it as Don b****ing, but more so bringing light to the situation. There are plenty of hunters who do not think the herd has suffered, or want to put complete blame on EHD. I can only speak for the 2 farms that I hunted this year, but it was simply a terrible year. I believe only 2 does were found from EHD, and our coyote population seems to be decreasing each year. I can say without a doubt over harvest is a problem in my area. Most of the hunters are also farmers, who will buy nuisance tags as well during the summer. Every piece of property now has a group of hunters on it, and very few have conservation in mind. I actually have hung up the bow for this year, marking the first time since 2000 that I did not take an archery deer. I have 2 does coming into the same corn field each afternoon right now, but it doesn't sit right with me to go and take one given what I have seen this year. I tried to explain to my cousin why I wouldn't participate in a deer drive recently. By his reaction you would have thought I was speaking a foreign language.....if they have a tag they have to fill it. To expect all hunters to be responsible enough to monitor the herd is simply an unrealistic dream. Like has already been said, this is where IDNR needs to step in, and that is not something I will hold my breath on.
When it comes to game management, no. Lets be real here, the majority of hunters are more worried about what flavor beer they're bringing to the cabin or what bar they go to after crawling out of a tree. They're not thinking about, or educated about, sex ratios, age structure, land carrying capacities, habitat improvement, etc. That's what I meant by ignorant.
Until everybody learns to stop being greedy nothing will change. It's the same way here in Missouri. Just because you have 3 buck tags it doesn't mean that you have to fill them, even though most people will try like hell. The majority of hunters don't feel that they need to take any sort of responsibility for their actions. Most will ***** and moan that they don't see any nice deer, then shoot the first 4 pt that walks by. If anything is going to change, the state agencies will have to limit tags, because the vast majority of people will not limit themselves.
IN only allows one buck per year. The goal is to grow larger bucks. Not sure if it's working or not, but that's the goal. They're now toying with the idea of an "earn a buck" program, allowing hunters to take a second buck only if they take a doe. However, this has not yet been implemented.
