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QDM regulations for IA hunters

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dvermeer

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I read today on the Iowa Game and Fish web site that the deer herd is so large that some insurance companies and legislators may consider forcing the DNR to have a large kill-off of the Iowa Deer herd. I also read on the Quality Deer Management Web site about how in 2002 Pennsylvania had some aggressive restrictions on the harvesting of bucks that encourgaged hunters to take more does (I think hunters could only take a buck with 4 points on a side). According to the article the Pennsylvania experiment with this seemed to work very well.

My thought is this: Should the Iowa DNR implement a more restrictive buck harvesting policy (like the one in Pennsylvania) and then make doe tags more accessible for all hunters?

It seems to me that if the DNR would do this we would have a sharp increase in the number of mature bucks and at the same time the number of does would go down. Which apparently is the recipie for a healthy deer herd. If the state implemented this, Iowa could become the greatest whitetail hunting destination in the US, and local hunters would be having the opportunity to take huge deer that they would never have had the opportunity to take in the past.

I'm curious about how other whitetail enthusiasts feel about this idea.
 
I am all for anything that will lower the harvest of antlered deer and increase the antlerless kill. I would note however that 80% of the bucks taken near me were 8 pts...so 4 pt restriction would do little. Most everyone I know has already taken a at least one or more does...so "earn a buck" would be a moot point.
The concern that hunters would go elsewhere if they had to take antlerless only on opening day of shotgun...just doesn't fly. The bulk of the hunters live here, are landowners etc. They have hunted here all thier lives...where else would they go??
Land access is already very limited so there is no way hunters would give up hunting ground to go to another area with even less access.
The only answer is to shorten the time when antlered deer can be taken, during the time periods when the masses are harvesting deer and most able to take large numbers of antlerless deer.
We already have seasons running from Sept to the end of Jan. and almost unlimited tags...where else can the DNR make a real change...except slowly shift hunters from antlered to antleress. Education has worked on the serious whitetail hunters...but the majority are still hunting based on tradition. Only changes in the laws will change them now.
 
I don't agree that the state should be imposing antler restrictions, PA is an extreme example with heavily over browsed forests and a deeply ingrained buck only mentality. (and a misunderstanding about just how big their bucks can get if allowed to)

I do hate seeing all the little bucks that get shot. I just don't understand why, if it's not even a trophy you're proud of, some one would do that when there are plenty of does for meat.

But, the state should stick to population control, IMHO.

All we need here is a little trigger finger control and we'll be seeing more bigger bucks, it's that simple. We have tons of food, which more and more of us are supplementing with food plots and mineral programs, and a balanced sex ratio is one of the primary goals of QDM, one the DNR is tackling with the county quota antlerless tags, age structure should be in the hunter's court. If a new deer hunter (of any age)shoots a buck under some arbitrary minimum but it's truely a trophy to him who are we to tell him it's not.

Let him go so he can grow

That's the missing component, but it's changing. I've seen a bunch of " if it's brown it's down" guys become more selective about the bucks they take.
Maybe not as selective as I am, but hey baby steps.
 
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Only changes in the laws will change them now

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I don't agree, there's only 1 QDMA chapter in the state, that's alot of room to grow. People's attitudes change, just slowly. The more properties start doing some kind of QDM whether formal or not, the more the neighbors and hunters will see improvements and start to rethink their harvest practices.

It took laws that created huge unrest in the hunting population to start the shift in PA where the vast majority of bucks harvested were 1 1/2 and guys just thought they didn't get much bigger. To be honest I don't see many 1 1/2 yr old bucks shot here, it's the 2 1/2 year old 8 pointers and there's just no way to protect they with laws.

Like I said, trigger control.
 
I do NOT agree. I think that the best thing to do is to imput an Earn-A-Buck (EAB) Program. Let hunters buy the tags they already can but then let them buy an additional buck tag for each 5 does he/she shoots in that season. This would be a great incentive to shoot more does.
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It would be easy too, for most of the time you can shoot 2-3 does a day. Just an idea???

HunterMan
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Those are good ideas but other laws are going to have to change inorder to keep a healthy deer heard. I would like to see the late doe only season and the rifle doe only season done away with. Alot of mature bucks have dropped antlers by then and are killed. The rifle season will be worse. Alot of dropped antlered bucks will be shot. If the DNR would allow early season doe only and Youth season could also be changed to doe only this would help decrease the doe pop. and keep the bucks around a little longer which in turn would produce bigger and more mature deer. This is not a answer all but it would do more than what is being done now. Just a thought!!
 
Tell yah what QDMER I got 5 Monroe county doe tags for second season, and I see about 25-40 does on your place every night, mind if I take a few out?
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Actually Mike, if my map is correct, we would need Wapello county doe tags. Thats assuming we werent shooting from the road, then Im not sure where the law would stand.
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I think the center line is the border Fred, Im not sure what the law is on a passing lane though
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I disagree with doing away with the late antlerless season. My friends and I shoot a few does each year with bow or muzzleloader, but we always enjoy going the late season. None of us group hunt any more outside this season and none of us typically take a doe during prime time. We will take them early bow season or after we fill our buck tag and thats about it until late season. Its probably not the correct mentality these days but that is how almost everybody I know does it.

After going solo all year we enjoy getting a group together and going after more does. We have shot a bunch over the years also, and not a single one has been a shed buck. Not even one! For that matter we have never even seen a shed buck during that season.

We have 9 tags (so far) for this years late season and I guarantee all of them will get filled as it is the "last dance" of the year. We dont do it for the meat as we already have that by then, we usually give most of them away to families we know. We go strictly for the fun of it so if the season were eliminated those does would just go unscathed. I doubt we would make up for it in the other seasons.

The idea of hunting does on a large scale in the early season (Sept.) is a joke. It's 70-90 degrees (gotta process 'em that day) all the crops are in, bugs everywhere, and you can't see 10 feet in the timber. I'm sure a few guys would take advantage of that time but I probably would not be one of them.

As for the shed bucks, I really believe the number of shed bucks taken is so low as to be stastically insignifigant. Frankly, I'd rather those mature bucks be shed and run the risk of being shot accidentally. I think its a much lower chance than carring those nice big racks past tempted hunters during Thanksgiving weekend's doe season. The accidental take of button bucks (regardless of season) is a much bigger threat to the buck population than the accidental take of shed bucks IMHO.

I dont think antler restrictions would help much because most hunters I know, even big groups, dont shoot many dinks anymore anyway. Attitudes are slowly changing for the better there on their own. Antler restrictions wouldnt bother me a bit, I just dont think they would have much effect either way.

As for the rifle season I agree 100%, pitch it. That is a trend I hate to see started and I hope it gets squashed.
 
I expect you are correct in that less bucks would end up being taken in the late season then illegal bucks after TG. I also suspect that no matter how any of us feel about those seasons...they are here to stay.
I have never spent so much time talking to people about how they hunt and what they think of possible changes as I have this year. One thing I notice is that most farmer/landowners are from the old sod. The type of hunters who read and post on this site are at least more current and up to date with QDM ideas and possibles, while the majority of hunters have no idea and most are taking more bucks then does (size doesn't matter). They hunt opening weekend...kill everything they can and the majority don't hunt again.
All of them are talking about how many deer that are still out there. Which is why the IDNR is already proposing changes. I think we are all guilty of assuming that most hunters are "forward thinking" even if we don't all agree, we understand the basics of taking more does, etc. In southern Iowa I find that the lions share are still hunting based on tradition.
IMO I think the DNR and legislature will propose even more changes that will make it harder to kill bucks and more likely to take does. Like the changes in 2005, we will complain, I suspect and it simply won't matter...they will just do it and we'll be stuck with whatever we come up with.
Tell me I'm wrong...please!
 
Iam for the sept. early doe season rather than the late jan. My reasoning is because last year during the late season my family went to my father in laws for a day to hunt with shotguns for does. We shot 4 deer, 2 were 2.5 yr old bucks and the others were young does. The late season for me was totally a waste of time for me because we were killing bucks instead of taking care of the doe problems.
If you think with rifles that this same thing won't happen you are way wrong. More mature deer and not just 2.5 will be killed because they can reach out and touch that large bodied deer they think is a doe at 300yds. If I were in southern IA I wouldn't let people on my farm since I practice QDM because they will kill so many bucks that I try not to kill.
To me I would rather see a sept. season for does. This would ensure that only does get shot. This would also put presure on the deer herd early and keep less stress on them in the late season when the winter is hard.
 
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