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Post by subzero350 on Sept 23, 2016 15:12:40 GMT -5
Didn't this whole discussion come up right before last year's season kicked off with some people saying the herd was decimated and harvest numbers were going to be way down? And what were the state-wide harvest results? The overall 2015 deer harvest ranked as the 10th highest in Indiana history.
Every year just before season starts we hear the same thing. People complaining because they aren't seeing deer. People complaining because they think the law allows hunters to take too many antlerless deer in their area (even though the vast majority of hunters don't take more than 2).
If the high quotas were having a negative impact on the herd, why aren't we seeing that reflected by severely declining harvest numbers?
For those of you who say you aren't seeing deer and you think the quotas are too high - then perhaps you should do your part to help the situation by staying home and not hunting this season.
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Post by bill9068 on Sept 23, 2016 15:35:56 GMT -5
Well thats a little harsh, you will eventually see a reduction in deer maybe not this year or even 5 years from now but you will. I can see your a little younger so you have never experienced a time when the herd numbers were down, dont worry you will. As far as staying home, nope, not me. But I will be selective on how many does I take, usually 1 a year so I can take usual two bucks. Happy hunting.
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Post by subzero350 on Sept 26, 2016 17:31:18 GMT -5
Well thats a little harsh, you will eventually see a reduction in deer maybe not this year or even 5 years from now but you will. I can see your a little younger so you have never experienced a time when the herd numbers were down, dont worry you will. As far as staying home, nope, not me. But I will be selective on how many does I take, usually 1 a year so I can take usual two bucks. Happy hunting. Forgive my harshness... It comes from dealing with the proverbial "rack hunters" who always like to lecture everyone else on how and what to hunt year after year. These are the same people who profess to be experts on what equipment should be used for taking deer and what length and time each part of deer season should run, not to mention how many deer can be taken from such and such areas. I get the feeling that if these people had their way, the laws would be rewritten to say THEY are the only ones allowed to hunt deer period! At least, that's the impression I get when talking to them - they want to hog it all for themselves. If the goal is to keep the sport alive and ensure it will be around for future generations to enjoy, then part of that has to be making it appeal to every new generation of hunters. And you aren't going to make the sport appeal to any new hunters if all the 'rack hunters' in the sport continue doing everything they can to discourage everyone else to stay out of the woods so they can hog all the deer for themselves. I understand the need for maintaining a healthy deer herd if we want to ensure the sport can remain viable for the foreseeable future. But don't you think things like herd management would be best left to trained biologists rather than weekend warriors? If anyone thinks they know better than the DNR or the State of Indiana what's best for the herd, they are free to do their own scientific research and post the results on the web or in a public forum (such as this one) to show their findings. So far, I haven't seen any such research done or posted that says what the IN-DNR is doing now, with regard to quotas, is decimating the herd. But I am seeing a lot of "hand wringing". Strangely enough, we saw the same kind of hand-wringing going on when crossbows were first legalized for archery seasons. And the sky hasn't fallen from that yet, either.
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Post by bill9068 on Sept 26, 2016 17:54:14 GMT -5
No problem, I did not mean to sound like I was making light of your statement. And you are right there is no evidence of deer numbers down with the state biologists, all I know is what I myself see in the woods and on cameras. I agree with you a lot more than disagree, but I will say in my hunting world (friends, fellow hunters and landowners) for the last few years 4-5 the common theme is were seeing less deer. Used to be we would see 6-7 deer at a time, now its a single or just 2 for the most part. All I'm saying is something is happening gradually to decrease the herd, I hope I'm wrong and I'm just a lousy hunter but only time will tell. A little sidenote, about 35 years ago my father purchased 60 acres in perry county. We were muzzleloader hunting shortly after that and this is no exaggeration, I saw at least 50 deer in one hunt. There were bucks of all sizes with does, they were herding up for late season. I shot a doe since I had already used my buck tag and when I shot it looked like every tree and bush ran. I have never seen that again and think I was just lucky enough to see the deer yard up. Take care my friend and good luck this year.
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Post by subzero350 on Sept 26, 2016 18:21:04 GMT -5
Good luck to you as well, Bill. As for my AO (area of operation), I'm seeing about the same amount of deer I've always seen since I started paying attention to such things. Some years I see a little less, some I see a little more. But I'm still seeing them, so I know they are there. That being said, we didn't have any sign (scrapes) from bucks in our woods up north last year, but the neighboring property shot 2 bucks during gun season (father / daughter). If I went by what our woods told us, I would have thought no bucks were in the area. But one of the bucks that was shot ran past my dad's blind and expired in our swamp right in front of him - so we know that buck was in the area.
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Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Sept 26, 2016 23:31:37 GMT -5
I see many more deer, especially bucks, but I have a food plot now, and they like it!
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