The Illinois Whitetail Disaster - Don Higgins

Yea but he's not from Illinois ha ha.

 

Thats great! So maybe instead of *****ing himself and pointing fingers, he can provide some insight.

 

I don't think he is pointing fingers more than he is pointing out that others are pointing fingers.....it is like one big pointing finger circular thing of finger pointing.

 

Did you read the whole thread? I gave my observations of what I saw when I hunted there. BTW, show me where I pointed any fingers. All I did was state that the article was in poor taste, because its the same thing I've been hearing for years in WI.

 

This statement is ridiculous. Care to share your thoughts on how it should be handled?

 

The funny thing is with all the deer issues around different parts of the country, as it's not just IL that's dealing with it - it's NOT rocket science.... Eliminate the second buck tags for a few years, limit the amount of doe tags, maybe tweak the season's a little bit for a few years - I mean, taking at least some steps shouldn't be that hard to figure out for these States (many parts of SD have HUGE issues right now too - DNR just acts to slow to issues)... Problem is you have a system where people/DNR/Biologists/whomever either aren't smart enough to make appropriate changes, to lazy to do so, or don't have the power/ability to make the needed decisions... Add in the fact that much of DNR's budgets come from tags\lics - kinda like slapping your own hand trying to grab a cookie... Maybe we're at a point where the DNR's have to much to gain/loose with tag numbers tied to revenue and stuff - maybe tag and season 'settings' should be suggested by individual\outside evaluations andor based more on local field data...

 

There is only one solution to the crisis that is THE ILLINOIS HUNTING DEBACLE. Bring in this guy to run things and Illinois will be greased up and ready to rock and roll on the deer hunting front for years to come....

 

Tell me what is ridiculous about it? & I already have shared my thoughts.

 

It seems like South Dakota has been very proactive when you consider what other states are going through. What issues do you have?

Much of the southeast had major tag cuts. Hutchinson county went from 650 rifle tags to 50. There are some anomalies, like Gregory county which saw a tag increase after back-to-back EHD years.

 

Don, I see you replied to a response that was after my responses, but avoided mine. Can you show me where I slammed you in multiple posts? I really want to see it.

You get all bent out of shape because I disagreed with your delivery in your article and then try to attack my character in many ways. Questioning Graf's sanity in having me as a moderator, my ability to make friends, calling me ignorant, calling my posts childish rants, etc. Again, I disagreed with the delivery of your article and you went bat **** crazy on me. I already apologized, in case you took my comment "The Great Don Higgins" in a negative way. I can see where that could be.

Normally I won't waste time with posts like this, but when someone attacks my character because they blew my comments out of proportion, I feel the need to defend myself.

 

Pretty sure he would also introduce elk, sheep, honeybadgers and white rhino's too.

The one and only "Great Don". :D

 

Your only offering was to reduce tags sold, and even that was a question.

Obviously I have no idea in hell what IL is like but the idea of just dropping tags will not work. There needs to be a serious consideration from both the DNR and Hunters. It's easy to blame both sides as both share the blame equally. Maybe instead of one man (Don) taking on and sitting with the DNR others should get involved. Illinois Sportsmans Alliance?

It doesn't takes 20 years experience to realize that belittling your opposition will not get problems solved. A group of educated, well spoken, and well behaved sportsman who can produce information in a professional, accommodating, and straight edge way can get a hell of a lot more work accomplished.

This is a simple problem of give and take. Problem is, nobody wants to give. The DNR is obviously scratching for a solution and are getting desperate. Now is the time to influence.

 

Glad we can at least agree its a 50/50 to blame.

But If the goal is to bring back the deer herd then I believe there should be a quota established county by county. Like Calhoun's idea of micro-managing. I also stated I would like check stations to come back.

I did not mention this earlier, but in my opinion altering the length of the season or specific dates would be beneficial as well.

 

I assume you mean check stations in an effort to monitor success? Does IL do year end phone calls? Is there not different regulations per county/hunting district? Sorry, I am completely in the dark on IL.

 

Yes, the one and only "Great Don" would introduce a wide variety of animals to hunt. He would also only allow hunters to use tree saddles to hunt at a minimum of 30 feet.

But for real, if he ran the Illinois DNR and teamed up with Alyssa Milano to be his public relations person, it would be an unstoppable force the likes of Illinois has never seen! I bet the whitetail herd skyrockets to over 3 million!

 

Check stations to record harvests. IL does have a telecheck system to report a harvest by phone or online, but I personally know the information that is get across is often skewed. Regulations are statewide, except for certain counties surrounding Chicago (no firearms season).

 

I doubt that a One Buck Rule will ever happen, the state would lose too much money from the non-residents. I don't think that's the issue, we always did just fine with 2 bucks per hunter.
The problem is with the antlerless slaughter. Adding so many seasons and offering unlimited doe tags is going to catch up eventually. Throw in EHD and a coyote population that's out of control, and we now have a problem.

 

Who this tread just got a lot better! More pics please! LOL

 

I think this is well written and spot on. Some have commented it doesn't offer solutions, but I beg to differ.

The obvious doesn't need to be stated, just for the reason it's obvious as one reads this article. Illinois needs to hire Whitetail specialists; "Forest Loomis and Jack Calhoun micro-managed Illinois growing deer herd county by county utilizing county check stations manned by college students and started a new management approach that other states would soon adopt; either-sex hunting. Up to this point, states that allowed deer hunting managed their seasons by larger zones or even state-wide and only allowed bucks to be harvested. Loomis and Calhoun put Illinois on the fast-track to whitetail stardom with their hands-on approach to managing Illinois most precious natural resource". This is the obvious solution. Why do we have a duck specialist managing our whitetail herd? Does it not make sense to anyone we need whitetail specialists?

And then we have the Politics of it all. The IDNR should have no political affiliation what-so-ever, it should be hands off. Hire the right people for the right job and then let them do it without interference. I wouldn't care if we just completely skipped a year of deer hunting if that's what it took to replenish the herd, or possibly an entire year of antlered deer only, that is antlered with a 4 point restriction on one side.

I agree with the article, if something isn't done soon, we may be facing a state with no deer.

 

1)As most residents know, each portion of IL is very different from the rest. Management should be done on county-by-county basis and I think the physical check stations need to be brought back. You would think phoning harvest in would work, but the data is so skewed, plus I know many that "never got around to calling it in." Sure that lazy hunter could also skip a check station also, but "macho hunter" mentality loved bringing one in to be checked. Plus those check stations could verify useful data, besides the crazy eye-nose measurement they ask for on phone (that I know most guys just use the same figure for every deer).

2)as you can pick out from many responses, the IDNR deer plan is actually working - insurance & crop companies want deer numbers reduced, that is what is happening...so it's going to be hard to get anyone at IDNR to listen when the overall plan is working. If they see a hit from tag sales or the economic dollars from visiting hunters, then maybe they'll listen again

3)Personally in my area of West Central IL, I feel our problem the last couple years is the opposite of what everyone else is saying. We do not have too many hunters taking too many deer. We have too few deer being taken, and not enough access. My properties are surrounded by the biggest outfitters in the state, their hunters pay $4800 for 6 day hunt, they wait for a big buck - they shoot very few does - and they have large acreage that used to be covered with families, now only have 1-2 guys on them. Our doe population has skyrocketed...and I think Mother Nature has finally stepped in. The reports of EHD finds the last two season are staggering...they say EHD peaks in dry years and has nothing to do with population so I'm not sure...but Mother Nature will always find a way. The same as the current herd can double this spring with a good fawn drop.

4)Numbers are down noticeably this year - but hard to say it's all doom and gloom - I drove down I-72 in Pike Co Sunday night at sunset...every picked corn field had 10, 20, 30 deer in it. I wonder what those fields on the backroads looked like. I think a lot of this whining is because guys are not seeing as many "shooters" on their farms the last two seasons...but not hard to figure out if you (or outfitters) shoot mature bucks year after year after year...at some point the age structure of the herd gets messed up. So...do we have a herd problem or age problem. I'm still seeing plenty of deer...although top end mature buck sighting are down considerably from 10 years ago.

5)We will continue to lose prime deer habitat as we build more prisons for our ex-governors and politicians