EHD? - Allamakee County

[Hardwood11]

Thread is about deer numbers not whos cat is killing turkeys. Also I dont think people realize how much snow we had in northeast Iowa the deer were starving entering March and snow was 3 ft deep with a hard icy crust. Combine this winter with some ehd and major over harvesting of does, thanks to our Great dnr and farm bureau we have numbers worse than we have seen in 20 years. Who cares about turkeys living? Id rather shoot a mature buck anyday

It's Bob's cat that is killing the turkeys. He makes his way all over the state.

 

[maher2215]

DNR do a lot of great things, but coming up with all of these doe seasons the last few years was for who's interest? The states and the Insurance companies so they all can make MONEY. The Iowa Sportsman's magazine came out with numbers from 2006 almost every county has declined every year after year. The beast hunting and biggest most mature bucks was between the years 2003 and 2011. Now we find less than half the sheds we used to. Shoot less than half the mature bucks, and see less than half the numbers. No EHD in our county, No predators. Just loss of habitat and overharvesting of does and young bucks.
I think the DNR or state could come up with regulations on antler size like some neighboring states. Also eliminate doe tags. Maybe try to put some better restrictions on wetlands and forested areas so they can not be plowed under and farmed.
Doing nothing at all and doing something wrong coincide with each other

 

[Daver]

DNR do a lot of great things, but coming up with all of these doe seasons the last few years was for who's interest? The states and the Insurance companies so they all can make MONEY. The Iowa Sportsman's magazine came out with numbers from 2006 almost every county has declined every year after year. The beast hunting and biggest most mature bucks was between the years 2003 and 2011. Now we find less than half the sheds we used to. Shoot less than half the mature bucks, and see less than half the numbers. No EHD in our county, No predators. Just loss of habitat and overharvesting of does and young bucks.
I think the DNR or state could come up with regulations on antler size like some neighboring states. Also eliminate doe tags. Maybe try to put some better restrictions on wetlands and forested areas so they can not be plowed under and farmed.
Doing nothing at all and doing something wrong coincide with each other

My reason for asking that question is that I have heard, or read, many people making complaints about the IDNR and their role in the deer population crash here in Iowa. There are many reasons for the population decline, including some that are beyond the control of any of us(ie. EHD), but I really believe that the IDNR is the least of our worries as deer hunters.

Whether we like it or not, political pressure has been applied to the wildlife regulation process in Des Moines and there are several key examples where the IDNR proposals were either not accepted or ignored, etc. Based upon what I know about the IDNR and the surrounding factors that they encounter, we as hunters are misplacing any blame that we assign to them for lower deer numbers. We should be focusing on public education, the insurance lobby, the Farm Bureau, the governor, etc, but not the state employee(s) that is getting trumped by some of the factors listed above.

I feel like if you are going to solve a problem, you have to first understand it and I do admit to feeling a little defensive on behalf of the IDNR when they are, in my mind anyway, unfairly criticized by well meaning people that do not understand the situation that they are in. The IDNR is not the final authority and I think we should keep that in mind. I am very, very confident that if the IDNR was setting the seasons and bag limits, etc, that we would see significant changes to our current structure.

 

[ShedderKG]

My reason for asking that question is that I have heard, or read, many people making complaints about the IDNR and their role in the deer population crash here in Iowa. There are many reasons for the population decline, including some that are beyond the control of any of us(ie. EHD), but I really believe that the IDNR is the least of our worries as deer hunters.

Whether we like it or not, political pressure has been applied to the wildlife regulation process in Des Moines and there are several key examples where the IDNR proposals were either not accepted or ignored, etc. Based upon what I know about the IDNR and the surrounding factors that they encounter, we as hunters are misplacing any blame that we assign to them for lower deer numbers. We should be focusing on public education, the insurance lobby, the Farm Bureau, the governor, etc, but not the state employee(s) that is getting trumped by some of the factors listed above.

I feel like if you are going to solve a problem, you have to first understand it and I do admit to feeling a little defensive on behalf of the IDNR when they are, in my mind anyway, unfairly criticized by well meaning people that do not understand the situation that they are in. The IDNR is not the final authority and I think we should keep that in mind. I am very, very confident that if the IDNR was setting the seasons and bag limits, etc, that we would see significant changes to our current structure.

Well put, Daver.