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Is anyone forcing you to shoot deer?

S

singlecoyote

Proud member of the IBA
I have wondered all season as people complain about deer numbers, seeing less deer, the antlerless seasons and reducing county quotas - why don't you just stop shooting does on your hunting land? I realize that many of you probably have stopped and probably arn't the ones complaining.

It really comes down to this simple fact: We are the ones in control of the herd, we pull the trigger. If you are seeing a decline and don't like it, are you doing anything about it? Granted, the guy who hunts once a year during 1st season shotgun probably wants to just blast something, but there are many hunters who don't need to do that.

Lets say your typical 25 mile x 25 mile county (625 sq miles) had 2000 antlerless tags. They get purchased but not used. So 3.2 deer per sq mile gets a free ticket to next year. Obviously nobody wants to just throw away $36 but we are being hypothetical so bare with me. (Although I did eat way more than $36 in tags this year) What would the population look like after one year? Would it be noticable? Would it be an obvious increase? A population explosion?

I have seen a decrease where I hunt probably for about 4 years, but its not as if there are no deer but I have seen a steady decline. It's not to the point where I'm upset about it, but it does make me not want to shoot extra does.

Just some thoughts.
 
That is exactly what my wife and I did up here this season.

You could tell that the numbers were down a lot when we were out hunting this fall. We both had an antlerless tag for our rifle season, but we decided it would be best not to fill them since the numbers were down so far.

I have no problem eating a few tags if it will help the health of the herd.
 
agreed

couldn't agree with you more, but please don't put all shotgun hunters in the lets go blast something category, some of us out here do it the right way, unfortunately you're right, there are alot of people that do that. i didn't buy an extra tag this year and probably never will again.:)
 
I bought 3 doe tags and refused to fill them - just not seeing the numbers I wanted so I passed on all the does.

If you grind up your leftover tags and put them in the crockpot all day long with a can of cream of mushroom soup it isn't too bad. TAG SOUP!!!
 
I haven't filled a tag the past two seasons for a variety of reasons. Bad luck with the big guys, but never even thought about drawing on a doe.
 
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I have thought this same exact thing for the last couple of months. Listening to guys on here talking about the deer herd on the decline. Talk about the holiday doe season and late rifle season...everyone go out and buy the tag for late season and just don't use it. I know you aren't going to convince EVERYONE to do so but just a thought.
 
Here's the trouble.... I totally agree with you BUT... You are preaching to the choir for the most part on here. "WE" all care, we do and we know what you're saying and agree. We are MAYBE 5% of the hunting public though. You think it's more cause you spend your time talking to folks on HERE and buddies with like minds around your home- your hard core buddies. The problem is the other vast majority that doesn't understand this, doesn't care, isn't a "deer hunter" as a part of their self-identifcation - it's something they do every once in a while- maybe 5 days a year. It's the yahoo's that just wanna blast. All they care about is a good time and MAYBE some meat (I say maybe because I bet 60% of deer I see get shot go to HUSH). Having fun & blasting is all good (Not knocking it) but it's not good when it's hurting our herd and doesn't make biological sense. I am all for education and hunter restraint- as are most guys on here. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that NOTHING will change and it's going to get far far worse if the regs don't change and until folks have no legal ability to be blasting past Jan 10th or tags are sold out cause of smaller #'s. Until that changes- it's just gonna get worse and worse. Human nature will just keep going- think of the BUFFALO back in the day when folks kept shooting when there was maybe 10,000 left. Most folks are only thinking about themselves, their good time and don't care or understand the biology.
 
I did not buy any antlerless tags this year. You have to start talking to the guys that just go out during the gun seasons in large groups. Maybe get through to a couple of them. Talk to the guy that loves to bowhunt and buys a ton of doe tags, but doesn't really understand that he is hurting the herd. I ran into a guy a couple time on public by my house this late season. He had just moved to the area and during bow season he shot 6 does. He was out muzzleloader hunting and was trying to fill more doe tags. This public land is 1 mile south of where I live, no wonder I seen a huge drop in numbers in my neighborhood. He had donated all of them but 1 to HUSH. We talked for a while and I think a shed some light on him. Those are the kind of guys that we need to talk to.
 
Preaching to the choir is exactly right. "WE" on this site all get it. Or I hope we do. I know a lot of hunters from my town have never been on IW. I'm like REALLY? Some of them know that numbers are down but don't know why. Didn't know Gov. Brandstad even hunted. Anyway, I think another part of the problem is the hunters that hunt on public ground have a mentality that someone is gonna kill it so it might as well be me. Our public hunting is going downhill faster than the private land that is for sure. Around my neck of the woods there is no use even hunting public anymore. We do need to educate the hunters no doubt about it.
 
Some landowners do "force" you to shoot does if you want to hunt at all. If you refuse, you don't get access. I only know of a couple of these situations, but it does happen. Anyone else run into this?
 
My biggest pet peeve is people shooting deer and donating them to HUSH. If you arent going to eat what you kill, dont shoot it. If you need does removed, there are plenty of meat hunters around like myself who just want to shoot does!
 
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There's a little guy that pops up on my shoulder whenever a doe comes into range. He's got a mustache and he whispers shoot! shoot! When I say no he says "if you don't the next guy will" When I say I'm only out looking for a buck "he says fat chance of that, shoot shoot" When I say I'm not going through the work of butchering a deer tonight unless it's a buck he says " Heck, just drop it off at the locker on your way home". I have learned to ignore him.
 
the hush program is supose to be a good program. also keeps some of the deer from just being shot and lef for the coyotes.
 
It doesnt really matter if you buy the tag and not fill it or don't buy a tag and not shoot does...either way you are accomplishing the same thing. I've argued for a while now that the hunters need to take control and do what's best. If the .gov won't listen, it's now up to the hunters (even though it always was).
 
I don't think the hush program is hurting much. If I recall correctly less than 8000 deer were donated last year which would be about 6.6% of total deer shot. Out of that 8000 I bet most were bucks.

I think we all fall into a trap and feel the need to shoot a few deer a year simply to justify our expenses and time. Not saying going overboard and shooting a ton of deer but going after our two bucks then taking 2 to 3 does on the side.

When you spend a couple thousand dollars a year towards hunting and spend countless hours on stand it is tough not to shoot something. Not saying go out of control but at least shoot a few deer.

The world revolves around little ole me so to speak. Each hunters say oh, I only shot 1 buck and 2 does, I am not hurting anything. The neighbor to the north says oh, I just shot 2 bucks and 2 does I am not hurting anything. The neighbor to the east says Oh, I just 4 does, I am not hurting anything. The neighbor to the south says I only shot 1 buck and 3 does, I am not hurting anything. The net result is nobody is hurting anything in their opinion.

The only way it is going to reverse is if you simply can't get doe tags. People are going to shoot deer regardless because little ole me isn't hurting anything. I bet if we were to put up a post on here that simply said, post what you killed and nothing more. I shot 1 buck and 2 does this year. Not an unreasonable number by most standards and I bet most people are within reasonable numbers but they add up and we are all still part of the problem.

I bet the amount of does shot by the little ole me isn't hurting nothing compared to the amount of does the guys that are actually going over board and only hunt a weekend or two a year are probably about 50/50.

Who knows, I was never good at making a point LOL. We can preach all day long about having a little self control but I guarantee you 90% of the guys on here did shoot a doe or two this year therefore the population will be reduced in there area next year. I am guilty, I shot two does myself. If I would of passed there would be 4-6 deer around next year that won't be there now.
 
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Liv4Rut said:
I don't think the hush program is hurting much. If I recall correctly less than 8000 deer were donated last year which would be about 6.6% of total deer shot. Out of that 8000 I bet most were bucks.

I think we all fall into a trap and feel the need to shoot a few deer a year simply to justify our expenses and time. Not saying going overboard and shooting a ton of deer but going after our two bucks then taking 2 to 3 does on the side.

When you spend a couple thousand dollars a year towards hunting and spend countless hours on stand it is tough not to shoot something. Not saying go out of control but at least shoot a few deer.

The world revolves around little ole me so to speak. Each hunters say oh, I only shot 1 buck and 2 does, I am not hurting anything. The neighbor to the north says oh, I just shot 2 bucks and 2 does I am not hurting anything. The neighbor to the east says Oh, I just 4 does, I am not hurting anything. The neighbor to the south says I only shot 1 buck and 3 does, I am not hurting anything. The net result is nobody is hurting anything in their opinion.

The only way it is going to reverse is if you simply can't get doe tags. People are going to shoot deer regardless because little ole me isn't hurting anything. I bet if we were to put up a post on here that simply said, post what you killed and nothing more. I shot 1 buck and 2 does this year. Not an unreasonable number by most standards and I bet most people are within reasonable numbers but they add up and we are all still part of the problem.

I bet the amount of does shot by the little ole me isn't hurting nothing compared to the amount of does the guys that are actually going over board and only hunt a weekend or two a year are probably about 50/50.

Who knows, I was never good at making a point LOL. We can preach all day long about having a little self control but I guarantee you 90% of the guys on here did shoot a doe or two this year therefore the population will be reduced in there area next year. I am guilty, I shot two does myself. If I would of passed there would be 4-6 deer around next year that won't be there now.
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You make some good points but I disagree in that a harvest of "a doe or two" garaunteeing a net population reduction in a given area. There can be a light harvest and still see a population increase. Its not as if the only way for the population to grow is to not kill ANY deer.
 
I hate the HUSH program and I think it allow's people to just go out and kill. Shoot what you want to eat and leave the rest of the does alone.
 
I would agree if it was back in the 2000-2006 time frame. The damage has been done in many areas that don't need any additional does harvested at all.

The point I was trying to make is 1 or 2 does isn't that much per person but when the next guy hunting the same area shoots 1 or 2 does, then the next guy in the same area shoots 1 or 2 does is when it starts to add up especially when a dozen guys are hunting 500 acres with maybe 150 timber. That will have a net reduction in deer numbers in this time frame since the numbers are low to begin with.
 
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