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changes for next years tags

As I've said before, I think either giving an antlerless tag with an any sex tag to the NR hunters who pay a premium price to hunt or at least offering an antlerless tag at a reasonable price, say an extra $10.00 would be a good thing. A HUGE number of NR hunters would be more than willing to shoot a doe if they had an antlerless tag to use. Unfortunatly, at the high price for an any sex tag it makes a NR hunter reluctant to use it on a doe.

This year Missouri started selling unlimited antlerless tags in overburdened units for $7 each for gun and $5 each for archery. This included NR hunters as well. Only a few units were excluded from the unlimted quotas.
 
150 Class,
Why raise the landowner tags to $26.00??? What does this accomplish. The $1.00 landowner tags are for people who own land(pay taxes!). I own 1400 acres, and in my opinion I shouldn't even have to pay $1.00 for my tags. I still shoot multiple does every year. I attempt to manage my herd, and if you raise the price for me to shoot the deer off my land, I might forget about the does. Why would I want to shoot does if the price for a tag is $26.00??????????? I would like to hear your explaination for increasing landowner tags.

On another note,
I am about sick of the current rules on a landowners tag. I have guys that attempt to hunt my land with a landowners tag. When is the DNR going to validate landowners. As the current law stands, anyone can get a landowner tag if they have the nerve to! They need to validate the ownership of land. I am a landowner and have never been asked where I own land or how much. This bothers me because there are a lot of people getting landowner tags w/out land or ownership of land. I believe the DNR needs to look in to this and start validating land ownership. I'm sick of people using landowner tags to hunt another season. My $0.02.

BT
 
The "earn a buck" program is fine, but without check stations who is going to verify that you or I actually shot a doe? That would be a very easily violated. What is the C.O. supposed to do after seeing a buck, go to everybodys house and see if there is a doe in the freezer? Would we drag it into Wal-Mart and show the clerk when requesting our any-sex tag? While I think check stations are needed, I would conceed that it is very unlikely to happen with the budget problems. Besides the problem of verifying the does, why make more restrictions on your hunting?

Free will is much easier to influence than force, and it is most influenced by money. Make it considerably cheaper to shoot a doe than a buck, and a whole lot of people would suddenly make a point to shoot does.

I just believe that there are a lot of shotgun hunters (where the majority of population control is done) that arent like the majority of us. They hunt "just for the heck" of it, not even really a hobby, just too cold to golf. Those people (I'll bet you know several) would save money and shoot does instead of shooting a buck and throwing the antlers in the garage attic.

Thats the problem with the current system of charging the same amount and forcing them to buy an either sex tag first, most of those guys only buy one tag a year anyway. If they have to pay the same, why wouldnt they shoot a buck given the chance?

Big Timber: I agree with you on landowner tags 100%. I've seen that one abused a million times. Usually though, its uncle Alberts landowner tag. Never mind that uncle Albert is 193 years old and in a nursing home and his farm is 40 miles away.
 
I agree with you 100% about lanowners not having to pay a dime to hunt their own land. My point is maybe the DNR should give a doe tag away with every any sex tag. Or how about if the DNR gives you a doe tag, you give that deer to the HUSH program. I even like the idea of charging $5 for a doe tag. I think if the problem is this major that we have to resort to changing policy or hiking up the prices of tags then we really need to stop and figure out just what is going wrong here. I just never thought that it would come down to "we have to MANY deer and now you have to pay more to shoot them!" Is it just me or is this crazy? 85 percent of the counties have sold out for extra doe tags. If it is that big of a deal then we need to reconsider the amount of tags given to each county. Let's just hope everything works out for the better!
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Big Timber

Although I don't own as much land as you do, I too own land and pay taxes on it and get the landowner tag ever year. The way I look at it, the any sex tag for my land unit is a bonus tag that most people do not get. It is an opportunity for me to bag another trophy buck. Why should I get this privilege at all? It is not an opportunity for me to manage my land. I can do that with the bonus antlerless tags that they allow me for my farm unit. I just think the $1.00 price tag is silly and promotes the illegal purchase of these tags. Most landowners that hunt also buy a tag or two and if they really want to get this bonus tag, like me, they will buy it too. It is a bargain to be able to hunt another season.
 
I think you guys are forgetting one thing when talking about raising the price of either sex tags to 50$.The people on this site are a small percentage of the hunters statewide.Not everyones a trophy hunter and raising the price of either sex tags isnt gonna do nothing to help get more does killed, its just gonna get less bucks killed.So how do you figure discouraging people from buying tags with a doubled price is gonna thin the deer herd out?Dont get me wrong, Im all for letting the little bucks walk and most years I dont kill a buck because I dont find the one I want.And I come to this site because a lotta guys in here share my views on this.But at the same time time i dont think people who are just out to shoot a buck should be discouraged from doing so by inflating the price in the name of killing more does, it dont even make sense.To most people its just gonna look like a buncha trophy hunters lobbying to keep people from killing little bucks.

The DNRs policy on shooting antlered only deer year after year for as long as I can remember has created a mindset in a lotta hunters that shooting does is wrong.I understand why they had that policy so dont get me wrong, Im not blaming them.But keep in mind that these doe tags are a relatively new deal.Now it seems their expecting us to kill half the does in the state and people to change overnight the way some of them have been hunting for 20 or 30 years.Maybe they should be a little more patient with us like we were with them as they were getting the deer herd to its current level and not allowing the harvest of does.Things aint gonna change all at once in the course of one season, Id think they would realize that.
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I was going to keep quiet, but Im having a hard time understanding 150 class as to the price of landowner tags. I think most of us are missing the boat on this issue. Without the landowners (farmers) we would not have the quality deer that we have. They are the ones that feed them and provide quality cover for the herds. My problem is that the state says the deer are the property of the government and then when a farmer loses part of their crop or a vehicle is damaged on the highway, where are the owners of the deer? If that was a cow that got loose, the farmer would be liable and he would be in court. To expect a farmer to pay again for taking a deer of his own land after he has already paid in crop revenue loss is ridiculous. Landowners should be allowed a set number of tags based on their local herd and the tags should be good for any season.

Big Timber you are right on with the DNR and how the issue the landowner tags. This is my first year being able to purchase a tag and I was never asked where I own land. Something needs to be changed, although most farmers will gladly let you shoot a deer with their landowner tag just to get rid of the problem.

Bottom line is we have an over abundance of deer and something needs to be done. The common sense answer is to thin the herd with more doe tags. It also makes more sense to lower the price of the tags to encourage more people to take advantage. I myself have used my either sex tag the last three seasons to shoot does, even when nice bucks presented a shot. I agree with Bowman raise the bucks tags and make them Buck only. Lower the price of doe tags to $5-10.

Im sure others have opinions on this issue and its one we will be talking about for quite some time.

mole
 
Horst

when i said to raise the any-sex tag price, i also meant to say that this tag does NOT have to be purchased in order to purchase doe tags (as the current rule). i think that if any-sex tags are raised, more people would buy and shoot does...for example, if doe tags are $10 each, a hunter could shoot 3 deer for $30, or 5 for $50. granted, the deer couldn't be bucks, but i think that would help 'weed out' those that shoot bucks that aren't mature. pay a premium to shoot a 'premium' deer.

my 2 cents...
 
Re: Horst

Mole,
Well stated, There is a problem and the DNR needs to address that problem.

150 Class,
I don't mind paying the $1, or even $26 to shoot a Buck. If you want me to harvest more does, raising the price of an antlerless tag will not help. Deer destroy my crops every year and get fat off the food I provide them. Raising the price for landowners wont happen. I believe they will change the restrictions on being a landowner, which is much needed.

BT
 
Re: Horst

My original point was the same as Big Ol' Buck's. Encourage the majority of hunters out there to take does by making the doe tags cheap and plentiful while raising to antlered/any sex tags to discourage harvesting of small bucks. Increasing the amount of does harvested is the only way you're going to decrease the overall population. Why not do something at the same time that will boost overall quality of the bucks.
If you just want to go out and shoot a deer (as a social event with the party hunt or for meat) then shoot does.

Threebeards
 
I think the DNR should give me a geverners tag free of charge for the rest of my life......now that would be a good change!!!!
Oh yeah and 10$ NR doe tags that you can fill anytime when you have drawn a buck tag.
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I also think the price of any sex tags should be increased and the price of doe tags should be decreased. ( I also think at least some of the doe tags should be offered as state wide tags)

At this years prices first any sex 26 first doe 26 each there after 11. Total cost for deer tags $63

Hypothetically lets say I hunted just for meat and thought 3 deer would be enough for a year and I could purchase doe tags at 6 dollars apiece. Total cost 18 dollars at that price I might just buy and extra tag or two.

Multiply that by the number of hunters in the state that feel the same way and we have a significant number. We also have (Fewer smaller bucks harvested).

If I paid $26 for any sex tag and I was just after meat and did not see the fascination some people have with antlers. I would probably adopt the philosophy if It’s brown its down.

If I was a farmer and I wanted to reduce the herd on my farm . I would buy 3 doe tags at $18 in a second. If I had to pay much over $50 I don’t think I would buy the tags.

I enjoy hunting for trophy deer, something I can hang on the wall and look at year round. I enjoy the challenge and the learning curve. Some guys will pay $50 or more for a two-hour sporting event. I would have no problem spending $50 to pursue those monster bucks that this state has to offer (The number of hour of enjoyment, well lets just say more than 2 hours). If fifty dollars decreased the number of bucks killed each year by even 10% I think the outcome would be phenomenal. Larger buck for every one to look at and harvest. Maybe 150-200 class deer would become commonplace?
 
lxhunter-

Check Stations in WI are at local coops, gas stations sporting goods stores and taverns. These buisnesses provide the employees to register these deer. These buisnesses fight over the right to be a check station as everyone in the area has to come there to register there deer and in turn spend money on soda, beer food, gas etc. The DNR gives the buisnesses $.10 per deer registered so it is not a total loss. When thier is earn a buck you bring your deer in and they give a different colored vaildation tag that states you can shoot a buck pecause you shot a doe.

WI Shedhead
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deer check stations were run by volunteers and college kids in illinois. i know cuz i was a college kid doing it for a few years. it was great, seeing all the big bucks and meeting all the people. of course, the jerks that would purposefully throw 15 deer in the back of a pickup to watch us try and horse around really peeved me off. almost got in a fist fight with some jerks when i tore a buttun buck up from the bottom of the pile and the 200 + pound buck on top hit his horns on the side...i probably should've kept my mouth shut...but those of you who know me know better.

anyway, back to the subject, i really think that the state could do check stations if they wanted to. hell, i know we didn't get paid much and many people volunteered.
 
Guys, we dont all live in parts of the state where we can let 130 class bucks walk all year.We dont all have our ground to hunt and rely on public ground for most of our hunting.So if they raised the price of either sex tags to say 50$ how many of you in favor of this are gonna let me come down and hunt your ground to get a 50$ buck??I quit duck and goose hunting cause the prices got so high, while Ill probably buy a deer tag no matter what the cost a lotta guys wont.And a lotta these same guys have no interest in killing does, so if your trying to discourage people from hunting this is the route to go, if your trying to get more deer killed it probably isnt.

Drop the price of doe tags, that would make sense.Raising either sex tags doesnt.I think some of you are just looking for a way to get others to quit shooting immature bucks and see this doe killing thing as a way to get it done.Keep in mind, just cause someone shoots a buck you wouldnt doesnt make him inferior, a lotta guys dont have the time, work schedule, ground, or urge to sit and wait for a wallhanger, but they paid for thier tags same as you, and have the right to kill whatever legal deer makes them happy.

What keeps giving me this idea is after every post on raising fees theres something like (fewer little bucks harvested} behind it.
 
On topic; if the DNR wants us to harvest more does next year, sell more antlerless tags. It's as simple as that. So far this year, about 90% of the antlerless tags offered have been sold and about 75% of the counties have sold their quota with a few more to sell out soon. Many counties sold out very early on. All counties around me are sold out. I would not be against lowering the price in the counties that do not sell out. Maybe wait until January 1st and allow all remaining tags to sell for $1 each, first come first served. Perhaps a few folks will cross the county line to save a few dollars and help the neighbor manage his herd. I would be against lowering the price for the other already sold out county's tags and I am also against the earn a buck tag ideas.

Off topic; as for the land owner tag, what I should have said is sell the landowner any deer tag for $26. I have no problem with a landowner getting a very good deal on antlerless tags to thin the deer on his farm unit. Sell those tags to the landowner for a very low price. The landowner can already buy those extra tags but they are not a very good deal right now. The landowner any deer tag is just another tag to trophy hunt with and I would have no problem spending $26 for that opportunity and would call it a luxury or perk that non-landowners to not get. Again, if the landowner wants to thin the herd, they can do it with landowner anlterless only tags. I am sure you don't need to worry about that price changing. The DNR loves the landowner and and only charges us a buck to pay part of the handling charges. Just looking at it from a different angle.
 
horst, you nailed my thinking on this as well. Seems like some people want to raise the price of any-sex tags to aid in eliminating competition.

I think that lowering the price of doe tags, and if reasonable, making them valid during multiple seasons, i.e. issue a doe tag good from Oct 1 through Jan 10 and let hunters use whatever weapons are 'in season'
 
We wouldn't need to sell any more tags if more folks shot does instead of bucks. The bucks may have a hand in the increasing deer population but like humans, the does are the limiting factor.
 
Amazingly, after posting two days ago about never having recieved a survey card from the DNR in 18 years.....I got one in the mail today!!! How is that for timing??
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