Deer Nut
PMA Member
The DNR makes that many tags available because the county is heavy on deer. BUT - it is only heavy in certain areas and these areas for the most part are large tracts of leased and or privately owned acres that are tightly controlled. I see it first hand. I have seen it for years. The populations on the farms I hunt in Van Buren are about normal in my opinion. If I drive down the road 2 miles to an out of state owned piece I might see 80 deer on a plot at dark. The state cannot micro manage these types of areas so their hands are tied. All they can do is issue tags. When they started issuing a bunch of tags the first few years people bought them up and shot the hell out of the deer, because they could. Then for 3-5 years after they had very low populations. Most people learned their lesson and do not buy as many tags now. People have to manage their own pieces. If you buy tags and harvest deer just because there are tags available it can lead to poor hunting for a few years. I did not shoot a doe for 5 years on one particular farm because the shotgun crews decimated the population in an entire section.
Truth&Honest
Member
VB- EHD takes plenty and doesn't buy a tag.....
Tim Hull
PMA Member
I was just curious as I own ground in Washington County and I haven't taken a doe in the 5 years I have owned the property except for my son who took one for his first deer in 2012. It can be like that though, one section has 200 deer and neighboring sections have normal populations.