Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
I’d say all the above !
Eliminating party hunting might be a tough sell because of the tradition. At least you cannot party hunt with the bow and Muzzy—like you can in Minnesota. Guys just keep hunting.
Eliminating party hunting might be a tough sell because of the tradition. At least you cannot party hunt with the bow and Muzzy—like you can in Minnesota. Guys just keep hunting.
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All of the above?
Reducing myck tags prolly #1 tho
Reducing myck tags prolly #1 tho
Party hunting just gets abused SOOOO much. If you are a NR and have ebough money you're shooting multiple bucks a year. I know a few.
Well I’ve said in other posts- there are groups that push late muzzy up here and hunt all season with the guys, and can carry guns in case they can see a coyote (muzzleloader of course) but how do you police that?!
theDoorman
Active Member
Shorten all seasons. Especially the late Muzzy.
End December 31st. No late deer seasons after that
Hawk32
PMA Member
My order of importance.
#1. Lower Antlerless Tags & quotas while giving solutions to high population areas
#2 Reducing to 1 buck. 2 for LO’s
#3. Eliminate party hunting (sharing of buck tags)
#4. Shorten season or seasons
#5. Fast acting quota changes in ehd areas & research funds to EHD disease issues
#6. Eliminate shed buck season where it’s open
#7. Change Nothing!! (not an option unless we want to continue see the downward trend in pop and quality)
whitetail_obsession
Active Member
I think the answer may vary slightly depending on what we're trying to benefit. If it's hunter retention/recruitment then it should be about increasing numbers and getting hunters seeing more deer. In this scenario I feel lowering anterless quotas is the easy low hanging fruit. In terms of increasing opportunities at big bucks then lowering antlerless quotas is still a priority as more deer will mean more bucks which should mean more bucks can make it through to maturity even in the presence of party hunting because there will be more bucks than tags. Reducing to 1 buck would make people who hunt multiple seasons more selective but I don't think it would make a difference for party hunters who have many tags to fill and don't care about the quality. Overall I think that change would still result in a net improvement in quality. Shed buck season obviously has to go as you can't have bucks making it through the whole season and then get taken out at one of their most vulnerable times and having an anterless tag used once they've shed. I don't think it's realistic to think there will be any change to party hunting regulations as the DNR uses this as a major tool to control deer harvest therefore I won't comment further as I think it will remain regardless. Another change that wasn't mentioned and I don't think can ever be changed but would have a major impact would be to repeal straight walled regulations and go back to shotgun only.
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Meyer30
Active Member
The one perk of being in north central Iowa is I don't have to deal with antlerless quotas or the shed buck season. I would say the top 3 for my area would be:
1) Re-evaluate number of depredation tags given out. In my opinion, farmers get WAY too many dep tags when coons do more crop damage than deer. I had 2 different farmers in my section bragging to me how their groups got over 20+ deer and we are not in that high of deer population.
2) Eliminate party hunting for bucks.
3) Going back to shotgun only for gun season. In prime ag country, guys can cover a lot of ground with a straight wall rifle and we don't have that much cover to start with. One of the farmers from #1 had lamented that he had accidently shot 3 button bucks in a row at over 200 yards.
1) Re-evaluate number of depredation tags given out. In my opinion, farmers get WAY too many dep tags when coons do more crop damage than deer. I had 2 different farmers in my section bragging to me how their groups got over 20+ deer and we are not in that high of deer population.
2) Eliminate party hunting for bucks.
3) Going back to shotgun only for gun season. In prime ag country, guys can cover a lot of ground with a straight wall rifle and we don't have that much cover to start with. One of the farmers from #1 had lamented that he had accidently shot 3 button bucks in a row at over 200 yards.
iowavf
Active Member
I see a lot of comments about using straight wall rifles during shotgun season. Is it because some have an AR type platform? These cartridges don't shoot any further than a good shotgun with a scope, I know, I have both. Both are 200 yard guns for the most part. Yes some will shoot further with each, but very few are that good to make kill shots with them at that range.
Let's pick on the bow hunters, which rarely happens on this site. What about recurve bows only during the month of November when bucks are going into the rut? I'm ok with a one buck limit and allowing lo's 2 bucks, you sorta land owners to have a deer population!
Yes, I'd like to see a little discretion when it comes to depresition tags because as stated before, coons and beaver do a lot of damage to corn that I think deer get blamed for because the farmers see a few deer eating during the day. Party hunting isn't going anywhere because if we didn't have it, you'd get a whole lot of different laws I don't think any of us would want, like gun season during the rut! Bad enough to be able to bow hunt during the rut when bucks, big bucks are stupid and are the most vulnerable IMO. These are just just my opinions and what I've seen over the years of hunting.
Let's pick on the bow hunters, which rarely happens on this site. What about recurve bows only during the month of November when bucks are going into the rut? I'm ok with a one buck limit and allowing lo's 2 bucks, you sorta land owners to have a deer population!
Yes, I'd like to see a little discretion when it comes to depresition tags because as stated before, coons and beaver do a lot of damage to corn that I think deer get blamed for because the farmers see a few deer eating during the day. Party hunting isn't going anywhere because if we didn't have it, you'd get a whole lot of different laws I don't think any of us would want, like gun season during the rut! Bad enough to be able to bow hunt during the rut when bucks, big bucks are stupid and are the most vulnerable IMO. These are just just my opinions and what I've seen over the years of hunting.
jkratz5
Well-Known Member
We have the 1 buck rule here in Indiana, it is the best law we have and I think responsible for pretty good herd management. We can buy buck tags for all seasons which I also like but once we shoot a buck we are done. Only downfall is the bullies hang out longer and you have to be open to killing them or letting others in to kill them.
Our DNR also listens pretty well and changes the antlerless quotas annually depending on surveys, harvest and EHD.
Our DNR also listens pretty well and changes the antlerless quotas annually depending on surveys, harvest and EHD.
iowavf
Active Member
Nothing wrong with either. You need them in Iowa or we'll become like other states and have gun seasons a lot longer than we do now. I'm not sure why hunters can't see this? Sure it gets abused by some, but look at other states around us, what will happen to Iowa if we have gun seasons like they do?
I suppose but It is hard for me to believe in my area. The deer get run hard in my area and if the pickup can’t drive up to the dead deer they are left to lay. Probably just a cultural thing in my particular area but I’d roll the dice on longer gun season if the drives and parties were gone.
2.5YR8
Well-Known Member
I'm with ya. I've never bought my landowner any sex tag only a couple anterless tags, and in 26 years of deer hunting I've killed 2 bucks in one year once. I've had several multi year periods between shooting bucks. It also kind of irritates me when people call an any sex tag a buck tag. Iowa doesn't have buck tags. I've killed more does using my "buck" tag than I have bucks.