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Late rifle season,everybody loves it!

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earthscratcher

New Member
I remember when this season was first started they said we will just try it.Then they said we are just trying to get the population close to what it was in 94.i agree the rifle is the best weapon for population control,but is it in the hands of the masses.i talked to 2 different meat lockers in southern iowa they said this has become the new favorite season,when i asked how many shed bucks they are getting they just said lots.i know 2 different shotgun group who stopped getting shotgun tags because this season is so much fun,when i asked about shed bucks ,they just said they call them in has does,because they dont want to lose there beloved rifle season.i wonder what the dnr is going to do when they reach there 1994 quata?
 
I personally don't really think the weapon of choice is important as the timing. Hunting whitetails during the past of the year that is possibly the most difficult for them to endure seems silly.
 
I agree with sask guy, the timing is what sucks. The fact that we can gun hunt deer for 2 months seems foolish.
 
Saskguy,timing is huge,just think it doesnt end until jan 31,now that is silly.i have talked to legislatures,dnr,god,neighbors,anybody who would listen,try a early doe season, you tried every thing else.nobody wants to shoot a doe,when they might have that big buck behind them!a early doe season would be great then everybody could be all practiced up for later!shed buck counts were in the 6% to 7% percent range now they are 9% to 10% percent with the harder winters.now that doesnt sound like much does it.well that is the overall harvest from day one until the end of rifle.could someone tell me what it is from start of rifle until end of rifle,i have a feelin its not going to be good.
 
earthscratcher said:
Saskguy,timing is huge,just think it doesnt end until jan 31,now that is silly.i have talked to legislatures,dnr,god,neighbors,anybody who would listen,try a early doe season, you tried every thing else.nobody wants to shoot a doe,when they might have that big buck behind them!a early doe season would be great then everybody could be all practiced up for later!shed buck counts were in the 6% to 7% percent range now they are 9% to 10% percent with the harder winters.now that doesnt sound like much does it.well that is the overall harvest from day one until the end of rifle.could someone tell me what it is from start of rifle until end of rifle,i have a feelin its not going to be good.
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We have an early doe season. It is the Fri., Sat., and Sun. after Thanksgiving.
 
earthscratcher said:
Saskguy,timing is huge,just think it doesnt end until jan 31,now that is silly.i have talked to legislatures,dnr,god,neighbors,anybody who would listen,try a early doe season, you tried every thing else.nobody wants to shoot a doe,when they might have that big buck behind them!a early doe season would be great then everybody could be all practiced up for later!shed buck counts were in the 6% to 7% percent range now they are 9% to 10% percent with the harder winters.now that doesnt sound like much does it.well that is the overall harvest from day one until the end of rifle.could someone tell me what it is from start of rifle until end of rifle,i have a feelin its not going to be good.
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I truly believe that all this fuss over the possibility of shooting a shed buck during this late season is way out of proportion. I checked the DNR site and they show a total harvest of 126,927 deer but only 1221 were shed bucks. That is less than 1 percent, even if some criminals are reporting them incorrectly! I understand that that number will go up a little between now and the season end but it can't get to 10 percent unless absolutely everyone shoots nothing but shed bucks from here on out. That number would have to be like 13,000 shed bucks to make 10 percent. There won't be that many total deer killed for the remainder of this season. Another thing to consider is that over 800 of the 1221 shed bucks reported were killed through the end of the shotgun seasons, so you can't blame this all on the January season. Don't get me wrong I would like to see this season ended or at least shortened and the rifles eliminated, but not for this reason. Same story, you kill a shed buck this year and 3 years from now there is still one less buck in the population. Shoot a doe and 3 years later there are 14 less deer in the population with 5 to 7 being bucks that you will never see. Give it a little thought.:D
 
Bowmaker i no what you mean by the numbers i live just west of you across the highway.on your side of the highway the numbers seem very low on this side we seem to have plenty.its hard to keep everybody happy one guy will not kill one deer on a bigger chunk, then the next guy wants every deer killed on his chunk.my neighbor just received a call from the local farmer who has lots of depredation tags, he told him he had seen a few deer in his bottom and if he didnt get them all killed he will find someone who will.hard to keep every body happy!
 
Same story, you kill a shed buck this year and 3 years from now there is still one less buck in the population. Shoot a doe and 3 years later there are 14 less deer in the population with 5 to 7 being bucks that you will never see. Give it a little thought.
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EXACTLY! Thats what ive been trying to say all along.

You know, a handy category on the electronic reporting system might be including a "young doe" category. That way you could predict population trends better. Young doe only having 1 fawn verses older doe most likely having 2.
 
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Rutcon

I'm with you snatchscratcher... it needs to change, too many shed bucks will die in this season. In order to better manage this resource its time to change the gun season dates as well. How bout this scratchy... Dec. 1-10 shotgun any sex statewide. ( this will allow plenty oppertunitie for ya know all us guys that like to get together with family and friends and push bush kill some deer and knock back a few dozen cold ones afterwards:drink1:, ya know good old traditional type stuff) Then in those countys that have an excess of doe... Dec 11-20 antlerless only rifle ( this would be an excellent management tool for private landowners like yourself to balance the herd. And also most likely open the door for us regular guys to hunt some private land to help out you guys, and put some meat in the freezer.) Then a break Dec 21-25 for Christmas and things to calm down a bit. Then Bow/ Muzzy Dec 26-Jan 5. With those dates private landowners may be more willing to invite more people to shoot doe's because with the break at Christmas it will allow deer that may have been run off from all the doe killin to calm down and filter back. Problem solved... more access to private land, doe population controled, everyone gets to hunt with weapon of choice, many bucks survive to become trophys, DNR gets all their money. WIN WIN
Oh, and last but not least... Get rid of the STUPID late rifle doe season.:way:
 
I don't know why everyone gets so worked up about shed bucks being shot. Everyone cares about the 1200 shed bucks being shot but nobody seems to care about the 14000 plus button bucks that get shot every year. That is ridiculous to me. A 1/3 of the shed bucks will probably die anyways from old age, being gimped, run down etc. I vote that if you shoot a button buck next year you gotta put your anysex tag on it. I hunted a place like this once and you know what happened? There was a lot of button bucks left to rot.
 
In the long term, the accidental shooting of a button buck or a shed buck instead of a doe is the one situation that helps the deer population to increase.

Shoot a button or shed - population next year -1 but + 2 for the doe you didnt shoot
Shoot a bambi doe - population next year -2
Shoot a older doe - population next year -3 or -4
 
Liv, I brought that up last year and it seems people on here don't care because they don't have horns. If we really are concerned about long term herd management every buck should have a chance to mature. I get the impression most are concerned with next year not the next 5-10.
 
GregBickal said:
In the long term, the accidental shooting of a button buck or a shed buck instead of a doe is the one situation that helps the deer population to increase.

Shoot a button or shed - population next year -1 but + 2 for the doe you didnt shoot
Shoot a bambi doe - population next year -2
Shoot a older doe - population next year -3 or -4
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I completely agree with this. I thought the same exact thing this year when my friends were giving me crap for putting my antlerless tag on a button buck(which I mistaked for a young doe). Once I explained this to them they settled down a little.:)
 
Things are much different here in southern Iowa then central Iowa.With so much good habitat we will always need to manage our doe pop just to balance the herd. Here killing adult doe's has to be the main focus. Kill an adult doe, yes... you kill 3 deer, good thing here, maybe not there. All part of good management. On the other hand if a 4-6 yr old shed buck gets killed by mistake,:thrwrck: 4-6 years of good management to replace the animal. Some of us older hunters might not have that kind of time. Key is to manage a balanced herd at or slightly below the carrying capacity of the land.:way:
 
it will be interesting to see what the dnr does when the harvest report and the fly surveys are done,it seems like in some areas its working.the problem is once the goal is reached,you can not stop shooting does or we will end up with to many deer again.i would rather have an expanding herd then one at capacity its just healthier.if you talk to any deer bio guy he will tell the doe harvest should be early the problem is getting the masses to participate.i personally use all the seasons from aug rifle kill tags(which i like no shed or button bucks just the target animal the doe)to the late rifle season.i just think anything past mid january for the masses is crazy!
 
If you truly talk to any deer biologist they will tell you that we are so far below carrying capacity that we could easily carry five times the number of deer we currently have. The actual carrying capacity of the land is determined by food and mineral supply and disbursement area. We have plenty of both and the white tail deer is so adaptable that they can adjust to new types of habitat very easily, just look at most city parks to see this.

I do have a question for the QDM advocates and trophy hunters. If we continue to reduce the deer herd to the levels that are the DNR goal and we also go back to the license systems of that time period, mainly the mid 1980's to early 1990's, what happens to all those huge trophies once we go back to most of the state being bucks only for licenses? Then if most of the 350,000 deer hunters can only shoot a buck, big or small, 4 pointer or 24 pointer, what good has all that QDM and passing small bucks and worrying about shed bucks done us. I know many of you will say that we will never go back to bucks only, but remember how many said we would and should never hunt deer in Iowa with rifles either!

Also another thought, how many buck hunters would be willing to support the idea of selling strictly doe or buck licenses? If we need to continue to harvest does to try to arrive at the mythical balanced herd, how many would be willing to make doe licenses available at the current $27 but make a buck only license more like $100. That would still be a bargain for some of the huge trophies here when compared to other states. Again just some thing to think about.:rolleyes:
 
Went out TODAY for late antlerless. Yes, I'm on the side of getting rid of this season. I'm about as paranoid a person as they come on NOT shooting shed bucks or button bucks (never in my whole life so far) BUT we all know I'm in the far far far MINORITY with how paranoid I am. It was me and ONE buddy, not a group shooting at herds of deer running past.
1st 10 minutes walking out I found a shed! Right on a deer trail in snow, 4 year old buck, nice 8 point.
Had groups of deer come past through out the day, 3 shed bucks, probably 4-6 button bucks, 2 half rack bucks, about 6 full rack bucks and about 12-15 does. Shot 2 big does. It was a TASK to glass them and be certain any bit over 50 yards. I'm willing to do it, I'm paranoid and careful BUT the average GROUP?!?!? Wow, I can understand how so many shed bucks and button bucks get shot (I'd guess 8 deer were shed bucks or button bucks out of around maybe 25-ish deer). The season needs to dissappear!!!
 
The private land where I hunt is in the special management area, so I couldnt resist. I bought a late season doe tag. I went out Saturday night and sat in the edge of a hayfield waiting for the deer to come out of a choke point where the deer travel between two big ponds into patch of woods that empties out into the hay field and a patch of locust pod trees.

I was only 30 yards from the woods in a nicely concealled position. Around 4:30 a deer comes wandering out just were I expected it to be. I waited a little while and kept watching for others but nothing. I was worried it was a buck after it was by itself. It was a small bambi deer so I knew it wasn't a shed buck. I was worried maybe it was a button buck. I watched it for about 15 minutes before finally taking the shot and took it down.

It was a doe, a dumb one at that. That is the first time I have had that long to observe a deer in the field and take my time to make sure what it was. With all this talk about shed bucks going on, I wanted to make sure I didn't let you guys down.

:)
 
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