popeandyoungchaser

Big john i'm glad we are on the same page as far as the bag limits and seasons. Now your question of would you see a difference in the pop. 10 years from now if you stopped harvesting as many does or does all together i'm not sure which you are refering to.

TEmbry

I agree, most view it as a bad thing but since im used to it, i dont mind. Heck, i find it kind of weird that other states actually allow you multiple bucks. Our telecheck system is great as well, atleast for the honest hunters anyway.[&:]

Our buck quality would be way worse without a one buck limit, IMO.

BigJ71

You bet we are on the same page, I'm all about keeping this thing going for generations to enjoy, I'm just wondering (out loud) about why I (and others) feel the need to continue killing an extra amount of does even in states that have a pretty healthy herd population, and in my case has it done anything more than if I would have just let nature take it's course.

WV Hunter

John, I hear you. If everyone stopped taking extra does, it would obviously get worse population wise, butnot as much buck to doe ratio wise. Nature works there as well. Natures way is 50/50 when it comes to male/female born fawns. The bigger problem is overall population....and carrying capacity. I agree, some states are good, some suck. The other thing I think we are running into is LESS hunters overall, which means more of us have to do the same job. I hear ya though...I've pretty much only shot does for the last 10 yrs (except a handful of decent bucks) and it doesn't seem to change a whole lot where I am.

iamyourhuckleberry

In Colorado, hunting and hunting related activitiesgenerate 13 billion dollars per year. That's about 6 billion more than our ski industry produces. Talk about your economy driver!

Deer happen to be one of North America's more prolific renewable natural resources. Its presence is widespread.It only makes sense to maintain a healthy population. Bottom line, if there's nothing to hunt, each state's monetary resources dwindle. Jobs are lost, non-game animals suffer, people do not eat, land isn't purchased, ammo wouldn't be purchased, excise tax wouldn't be paid,so on and so forth.

_Dan

Eh Jeffy? The only part I beat you up on is getting too emotionally involved. They are what they are, just wild animals.....soulless creatures.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe thats what you were refering to.

BigJ71

I love to hunt and I usually don't mind getting out there and killing does. There are plenty of folks who can use the meat and appreciate it when I give them the deer.

I was just wondering if my killing of extra does needs to be done on top of the states implemented game programs?What would it hurt if I just let nature take it's course in an area that I know is probably over populated with deer?

Thisproperty I'm talking aboutis located right off of Forest Preserve property (no hunting allowed).....what happens when I (or anyone)can no longer hunt this area? If nobody is able to hunt it what will happen to the deer? Can I really believe it's been me all these years keeping things in check or has nature been doing the job all along?

popeandyoungchaser

John think of it this way you are part of the states plan in your area. So you decide that the state has a good enough plan that you don't need to harvest does. Well maybe you adjoining land owners think the same thing. THen what kind of problem is not the state in but your locality. As for your question of were will your herd be in 10 years of you stop taking does probably about the same if you just stop. But if the above situation happened you would see small bedraggled deer that no one likes to shoot. So wheather you hunt for horns or meat the quality of the hunt is deminished.

TJF

I haven't read any of the other's postbutNATURE"Sway of thinning the population is throughpredation. Without predation itusesdisease and starvation. Since we are the "MAIN " predatorsin most areas from an earlierhistory of wiping out the other bigpredators and changing the lay of the land... letting Nature go back to a natural cycle might not be so pretty.

Example... When I moved here 20 years ago, red fox were very abundant. Price for fur was very good and a lot of trapping was going on ( me included ). Prices droppedfrom 50 - 70 dollars to 5 dollars a fox. I loved trapping so I kept at it but most quit. The fox population exploded.The fox got mange and it basically wiped them out. It's been 15 years now and I am happy if I see 3-5 fox a year.After mange hit, itwas 5 or 6 years before I saw a total of 5 fox!!!

I wasn't a big trapper on account of my jobbut could catch40 to50 fox in a2 week period running 10 -15 sets. Before mange hit, I was seeing 3 -6 fox every day just driving to work which is 7 miles.

We haveseen eitherEHD,CWD, orTBin manystates now effecting the deer population. Do we really want to see Nature in charge of the doe population?? She knows no mercy.

Have you seen hundred's of dead deer in a very smallarea from winterkill when winter got tough and food ran out. Granted a northern thing but I have. While there may never be a massive wipe out of deer... Do your part if the area needs it and shot a doe or two.

Tim

atlasman

Targeting does is a mistake IMO and a major flaw in any hunting management strategy.