soarkrebel

I seem to find myself in conversations about the changes that are believed to be coming in ark. deer rules. The AG&F has been having meetings to get input on poor deer seasons.
I have heard they are thinking of shortening the season ,reducing the bag limits to two deer statewide,no oct muzzle loader season.
Folks say they are not seeing any deer . say we have killed off our breeding stock by killing does.
I still say yes we have had some poor seasons. well poor deer kills for two years should increase our population . i think deer are moving nocturnal, food has been very plentiful so they do not have move in the daylight, rutting activity has been at night for the most part or in very thick areas. i think if they do this in three years at the most, our population will be way out of control.
But thats just my opinion , how about you other ark. hunters? heard any of these things?

SOUTH ARKANSAS REBEL

ARBowHntr

Yup I have heard the same thing. Have you noticed all the juicy acorns in the woods this year, and the lack of rainfall to sour them? Why would they come out if they have all the food that they want. They dont have to move to get food, just raise their head and the grub is right there. I personally dont know what the deer see in acorns, they taste like crap. But anyway, it will be interesting to see what they come up with. I hunt in Hempstead Co. about 3 miles north of Old Washington. We have a bad problem with coyotes. Time to get out the coyote gear, I think we are gonna thin them out sometime soon.

Why am I sittin here on this stupid PC when I could be huntin'

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soarkrebel

I was beginning to wonder if we had any arkansas folks here anymore. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Well froman is always lurking around.
I am thinking like arbowhntr lots of food keeps them off roads and out of fields. and i too don't like the taste of acorns.
I think they do need to look at areas. i saw 50 deer off one stand in one morning this year. all but two does and the others were scrub bucks. saw big rubs like i had never seen before but didnt see deer that would match the rub. except one 17&quot; 7 pt , good mass and he's dead.
i really think when we have another bad acorn crop year some big mouth folks that have been complaining about seeing no deer are gonna be over run. i hope the suckers eat all their shrubs in their yards!
They are there in those nice timber industry thickets.
But hudge i too see them reducing doe limits(mistake i think). i wish they would cut a week off the long season and give it to us in jan. modern gun. i think that would be nice . i like hunting late in the season. deer move when the novice deer hunters go home cause they are cold and &quot;burnt out&quot;. i love it! we'll see i guess. we are the mercy of the AG&F dummys.

SOUTH ARKANSAS REBEL

ARBowHntr

Well cant think of anything to say right now, but Im still here.

Why am I sittin here on this stupid PC when I could be huntin'

deerslayer444

I think seeing deer is kinda like fishing. Good days and bad. I was fortunate enough to fill my tags this year hunting in Drew Co. Arkansas. I live in N.E. Arkansas and vist a friend that lives close to the Missouri bootheel, and he sees does in herds there. I myself counted twelve does about a month ago crossing a pasture. Last year we counted thirty six deer in one soybean field and eleven of those were bucks. While hunting in S.E. Arkansas I found that the deer were moving heavily at night. Each day I would clear tracks in muddy spots around my stand and the next day it would look like a herd had been through during the night. When the hunting pressure is on, deer will move to the thickets and come out at night to roam around and feed. They seem to modify their habits to avoid being seen.

&quot;Fast is fine, but accurate is final&quot;. &quot;Wild Bill&quot; Hickok - 1869

mr4pt

ARbowHtr,

Dude, I envy you. I grew up hunting the same area you now hunt. My grandparents still live in Fulton and we hunted Old Washington Road near Turkey Creek and Bridge Creek. We hunted Mr Antleys bean fields also. Man that was some good hunting.

As for the rules, I don't know if I have an opinion on them yet. I tend to trust the decisions of the AG&F but their recent moves have left me scratching my head.

ARBowHntr

I agree with you mr4pt. It jsut seems too soon for them to be conjuring up this idea. I think they should do a lot more research on this. The season wasnt even over and they were saying that the deer population is down? I just think that they shoulddo a lot more research, I am sure they will before they do anything drastic. Hopefully they will not get the &quot;All knowing&quot; legislature involved.

Why am I sittin here on this stupid PC when I could be huntin'

bogobble

if they shorten anything, I think it should be gun season!
for Gods sake, the bowhunters are not the ones hurtin the
deer population. and I do beleive the population is down.
when I first heard the deer were stayin in a particular area
because of the abundance of acorns, it made since. but, if that's
the case, then why are hunters seein fewer deer durin the rut.
ya'll know that the deer are gonna move about durin the rut.

I beleive the reason for fewer deer, is the rediculos bag limit
on doe. 4 doe per season is just too many doe. it was ok for a few years, to even out the doe to buck ratio, but, now we are killin
to many doe. it takes a doe to make a buck, and bucks are what we
all want to see more of.

I don't mind givin up Feb bow season for deer, but I think they should keep bow season open through feb for turkey.

I think they should shorten gun by 2 weeks, and muzzel loadin season
by 1 week. we all know it's the guns that take the majority of
the deer each year. I'd rather see em make a 6 point or better rule
than cut our buck limit down to 1 buck.

who do we write to give our opinions? I mean, who from the commision?

I hope to God, they don't shorten bow season except maybe for Feb.
what do ya'll think?

Ward Burton-- Daytona 500 winner--
go Cat-22

soarkrebel

Bogobble how many gun hunters hunt the last two weeks really? i hunted every weekend dureing the season and heard very few shots the last two weeks. i saw huters but they were either hard core or just getting to go.
I don't believe the bag limits are the reason at least in my area. our camp has two thousand acres and even with the doe limit we only killed about five. and havent killed very many for years.
Now there are some that show up and hunt gov't land and do take a doe cause they just want a deer. but i don't think it is that many.
I think like deerslayer444 they have adjusted to move at night. deer are adaptable creatures and i think they have . in my grandfathers day they ran dogs and kept them stirred up. they killed lots of bucks. you know very few were chasing does just keeping away from the dogs.
but if the AG&F is going to cut gun and muzzleloader then by all means bows to.
lets have a year or two of limited season and see how the popualtion really is. i was told that la had the same issue years back. they did shorten there season and adjusted the bag limits. guy said they paid for that with a explosion in the deer population. season was then made longer than ever and bag limits increased.
I don't know what the answer is . i just know some of the ones that have complained around me couldnt find a deer if it pi**ed on them. and they are the ones complaining .my 12 y/o tagged out this year and took two bucks and two does. i guess he might have killed the last of the breeding stock!<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

SOUTH ARKANSAS REBEL