Guys you should push for a general hunting license. The states in the South I hunt have it like this. I know you could care less how we do it, but here it is. The bow season comes in first. Then you have a muzzleloader season, and then comes rifle season. After rifle season comes in you can hunt with any weapon, you just have to wear orange. You buy a hunting license and you can hunt the whole state every season. I think a person should be able to hunt anywhere in their home state as long as they have permission. We hunt from September thru till January. The state sets the limit of say 2 bucks and 6 or 8 does per license. There is no extra cost for doe tags they are included in your license fee. The tags so to speak are for the buyer of the hunting license not landowners or uncles or cousins etc.. That cuts down on the chance for abuse. You can shoot does before the rut then lay off during the rut if you like. Then after the rut you can hammer the does again. You can shoot the does when it is a good time for you to get it processed or whatever. If you allow people to hunt every season you don't have the mad rush to hunt one season or the other. The pressure seems to be more spread out. We hunt populated areas with rifles and have very few safety incidents, I feel because everyone is not trying to hunt at the same time. I myself feel alot more confident with my rifle in my hands then a shotgun. I feel one well placed shot is better than multiple less accurate ones. I'm sure some of you have tack driving shotguns, but most are not that accurate. Heck it may help get some people out of the woods by allowing them to get a deer or two early and then hang it up for the season. That is if the season was set up a little different. I know change is hard, and nobody likes it when it was done in a seemingly sneaky fashion. Maybe this will mobilize you to lobby for season changes that are good for the serious hunters that frequent this board, not the weekend warriors. I wish ya'll luck and maybe this will turn into a positive before it's over.
