Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Shotgunners - THINK FIRST

I have to agree this definetly is not a bowhunter vs shotgunner post. This is a message to everyone who gun hunts and bow hunts. I personally partake in both and as bowhunters we are the eyes and ears of the deer herd. We spend oct-early dec in a tree thosands of hours logged plus trailcam pics. Unless my eyes and trailcams are broke the numbers in general are way down. Its definitely time to pump the brakes change needs to happen. Its a message from bowhunters passed to the gunhunters you have the ball in your court for the next 3 weeks do what you want. In my opinion the hush train needs to derail as well. I'm guilty of getting an extra antlerless tag or 2 and donating. Good cause? Probably. But no longer needed same with late season antlerless with centerfire rifle that ship needed to sink years ago. My .02
 
Why not consider reducing seasons and/or tags. Multiple buck and doe tags for some take their toll. Early muzzy and a very long archery season followed by two gun seasons and late muzzy is a lot. In Iowa your muzzy seasons are single shot rifle seasons. In some states muzzy is done with traditional gear, not a in line firing system. As was stated on here in the past the January rifle season crushes your buck population as some are shed and gives yet another opportunity to kill more does. Your fight is with your legislature and DNR. Apply the passion I've seen here to limit NR landowners to change some of the seasons.
 
Last edited:
I have a question?we all know we can go about 30 pages deep in this thread talk about what we should do or shouldn't do can do. I know the seasons obviously too far your gone and the management practices lies in our hands just as it does every year but maybe somebody should post on who you contact exactly to make our voice heard for next season. is it the state DNR the legislature who's got the info? let's make it available and start burning the phone lines.
 
Jdubs said:
Why not consider reducing seasons and/or tags. Multiple buck and doe tags for some take their toll. Early muzzy and a very long archery season followed by two gun seasons and late muzzy is a lot. In Iowa your muzzy seasons are single shot rifle seasons. In some states muzzy is done with traditional gear, not a in line firing system. As was stated on here in the past the January rifle season crushes your buck population as some are shed and gives yet another opportunity to kill more does. Your fight is with your legislature and DNR. Apply the passion I've seen here to limit NR landowners to change some of the seasons.
Click to expand...

Yes, reducing the tags and the seasons is what the DNR has been trying to do but they are handcuffed by the governor's office. We had a meeting with the head DNR biologist a couple of years ago at our bowhunters & archery club, and the original post is exactly the same as what he said to do. Many counties, esp. Clayton, were at target herd levels the first or second year of extra doe tags but the DNR has not been allowed to lower the number of tags available. The insurance companies, as major contributors to Branstad's campaign have influenced our resource management more than what the DNR can do now, as all tag reductions must go through the governor's office first. Tag reductions have been proposed, but have been rejected by the governor's office. So now, the DNR can only propose to reduce tags in areas that will curtail the most damage to the deer herd if they are filled. If you want to help or maintain the deer numbers, you must manage it yourself, and not go by tags available to your county. Remember, no single buffalo hunter believed they were responsible for the near extinction of the buffalo, just as no single raindrop believes they are responsible for the flood.
 
shadowpeople said:
Yes, reducing the tags and the seasons is what the DNR has been trying to do but they are handcuffed by the governor's office. We had a meeting with the head DNR biologist a couple of years ago at our bowhunters & archery club, and the original post is exactly the same as what he said to do. Many counties, esp. Clayton, were at target herd levels the first or second year of extra doe tags but the DNR has not been allowed to lower the number of tags available. The insurance companies, as major contributors to Branstad's campaign have influenced our resource management more than what the DNR can do now, as all tag reductions must go through the governor's office first. Tag reductions have been proposed, but have been rejected by the governor's office. So now, the DNR can only propose to reduce tags in areas that will curtail the most damage to the deer herd if they are filled. If you want to help or maintain the deer numbers, you must manage it yourself, and not go by tags available to your county. Remember, no single buffalo hunter believed they were responsible for the near extinction of the buffalo, just as no single raindrop believes they are responsible for the flood.
Click to expand...

Well stated!
 
Clayton is way down, except for sanctuaries. I bowhunt the next ridge over from my land, but don't gunhunt there. I took a drive around up there to see if I should bowhunt after that first snow and saw three sets of tracks. This is 200 acres of prime deer country where a couple years ago that drive would have seen 10-20 DEER, not tracks. It was HEAVILY hunted the Thanksgiving seasons and it shows. After the first week of Nov., my food plots have had way more young bucks than mature does on it, like 3-4 to one. No doe kills on my ground this shotgun season. Need summer sausage and deer sticks? For the price of processing a deer, you can buy a lot at Edgewood Locker. Roadkills have been very few and far between in my area. Us old guys can remember when seeing some tracks in the snow got our blood pumping and filling those precious doe tags was far from a cinch.
 
This is not a one size fits all issue. The truth is there are some areas of the state that needs to decrease the doe population, as well as there are portions of the sate that could hold off from taking doe's for a year or two. In order to have a healthy deer heard you need adequate food, water, and cover and thanks to Iowa farmers we have an abundance of all. Also a healthy heard depends on a good ratio of buck to doe's. If you are seeing 20 does to every buck, that is not a healthy ratio. When you have to many doe's for you mature/dominate bucks to breed is when your inferior buck get more chances to pass along there genes. I would say the DNR needs to get more specific with its quotas. In other states I have lived there were programs that would specify certain quotas for individual tracks of land. Also if you do not want to see decrease in you mature/shooter bucks then there needs to be size limits for adult hunters for example, 13" spread or outside the ears. There are many things that would work, but we as hunters/conservationist need to work together to insure the quality of wildlife for our kids and generations to come.
 
Last edited:
Open Site said:
I hunt in Southern Cass and Northern Montgomery Counties. Looks like I need to pick up a couple more does tags for this weekend.
Click to expand...
Whereabouts in Cass and Mont? I hunt at my dads by Elliott during 1st season then around Atlantic during late ML.
 
I found an article in a magazine I had D&DH Bowhunting Whitetails I thought might help. It has harvest tables in the back of this issue for the last 10 yrs of all the whitetail states. Heres Iowa's stats for the last 5;
2008: 142,194 deer harvested. 23,449 with bow, 118,745 with firearm

2009: 136,504 deer harvested. 24,995 with bow, 114,809 with firearm

2010: 127,094 deer harvested. 22,560 with bow, 104,534 with firearm

2011: 121,407 deer harvested. 22,020 with bow, 99,387 with firearm

2012: 115,608 deer harvested. 21,022 with bow, 63,185 with a firearm.

Remember, these are deer that were legally tagged and reported also. This also proves that gun hunters may be buying less tags or taking less deer (at least some anyway)

Record year was 2005 at 211,451 harvests
And lowest harvest was 1954 at 2,423 incase anyone wanted to know
 
Again, a result of Iowa's plentiful seasons and liberal tag allotment. Technically Iowa has 5 firearms seasons. Two single shot rifle seasons, two shotgun seasons and one legitimate rifle season. I watched the same problem happen in my state. You can plead all you want with hunters in the various seasons not to shoot, look at the big picture, so on and so on, but if your legal authorities allocate the licenses they will shoot and kill the deer. The answer is addressing the deciding officials regarding reducing tag allotment.
 
Lwadzie said:
I found an article in a magazine I had D&DH Bowhunting Whitetails I thought might help. It has harvest tables in the back of this issue for the last 10 yrs of all the whitetail states. Heres Iowa's stats for the last 5;
2008: 142,194 deer harvested. 23,449 with bow, 118,745 with firearm

2009: 136,504 deer harvested. 24,995 with bow, 114,809 with firearm

2010: 127,094 deer harvested. 22,560 with bow, 104,534 with firearm

2011: 121,407 deer harvested. 22,020 with bow, 99,387 with firearm

2012: 115,608 deer harvested. 21,022 with bow, 63,185 with a firearm.

Remember, these are deer that were legally tagged and reported also. This also proves that gun hunters may be buying less tags or taking less deer (at least some anyway)

Record year was 2005 at 211,451 harvests
And lowest harvest was 1954 at 2,423 incase anyone wanted to know
Click to expand...



Did you read or write the wrong data? 2009 & 2012 numbers dont add up. Do you like that magazine compared to others?
 
4 Buck said:
Did you read or write the wrong data? 2009 & 2012 numbers dont add up. Do you like that magazine compared to others?
Click to expand...

Your right, I looked back and no I didnt copy the info wrong, i did take the time however to add up and see what was off 2007 is off by 45, 2009 is off by 3,300 and 2012 is off by 31,401!?? There was a star next to 2012 and at the bottom of the table theres a star that says "31,401 of the harvest cannot be tracked by firearm or archery" not sure about the other 3,345.. at least i got to sharpen my math skills! Thanks for bringing that to my attenion 4 Buck
 
4 Buck said:
Do you like that magazine compared to others?
Click to expand...

Also to awnser your question I do like D&DH magazines but i think they spend to much time worried about promoting the new gear ads then anything. They do have some good articles though. Im also a fan of North American Whitetail magazines. Them I would say are my favorite of the two
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom