thats better than forcing a private citizen to work as their agent if the info needs collecting work it into watever kind of licensing is required to run a processor

Make it easy on people and you'll have higher compliance. I bought a lifetime license back in the 90s. I bought lifetime licenses for my 2 boys when they were born in 98 and 2000. I've since moved from AL to NW FL. I call to get a GC # since they were not smart enough to let the lifetime license holders just use the originally issued license #s.

They cannot look me up in the system because the lifetime license in the state system is tied to your Drivers license not your lifetime license # so there is no way to look me up. Well, I have moved so I no longer have a valid AL D/L. My two boys never had one to start with when theirs were bought. I called the state and they were willing to work with me on it, I had to get my current D/L as well as both my boy's current D/Ls along with copies of their original lifetime licenses and scan and email it all to them so that they could get the state system updated. Once that was done, they called me back (which I thought was good) and told me that I could now actually go on-line logging in using our current D/L #s and for $5 each I was "allowed" to purchase 3 replacement licenses for the 3 perfectly valid licenses that I had already purchased 20 years ago and that the new lifetime licenses would now include the GC number on them.

Like I had 3 hrs to run all this crap down in the middle of the week in the middle of the business day. Still waiting for them to come in the mail. Screw game check and Chuck Sykes.

You want to regulate and track harvest? Use a tag system, with real game check stations and real enforcement, like real deer hunting states do. Then you have "REAL" harvest information to work off of instead of trying to guess what the participation % actually is, in your crappy app system, which only works half the time anyway, so that you can then extrapolate that into what little harvest data you actually collected, to "determine" the actual # of animals harvested.

Is it? Mandating a private citizen or a private business to do their work is equally bad.

Should any business that sells alcohol or ammunition be required to submit records to the state WITH the buyer's information - name, address, etc.? Because doing so could be "for the good of the public" as well.


What other states require their deer processors to record all transactions with hunter data and submit it to the state wildlife agency?

Just for info: Wisconsin did away with its decades-old check station requirement and has gone to a phone-app system. Older folks lament the lack of social interaction -- "telling stories!" -- but overall it's been received fairly well.

Kansas also has the same. I believe Illinois does, too. Tennessee got away from is check stations years ago. They're a pain in the ass for hunters to have to find one, especially late at night, and with today's progress in technology -- as long as a state agency has a good handle on the IT situation and the app -- then it can work just fine.

Those "real hunting states" are doing the same thing with the apps and telecheck systems.

Non compliance = fine

TtownBuckMaster, you must have missed MBrock's explanation about the fines above:

We don't get but a fraction of a fraction of fine money. The county gets it. It's hardly enough to even factor into the annual budget, so no that's not it.

It's been several years since I've been out there but they still have issued tags, correct? You used Wisconsin as an example. They still require that you affix a license issued tag to both the deer and turkey carcasses before it is moved in the field. You go to IL or Iowa and drive around with a deer in your truck that doesnt have the tag properly affixed to it and see what happens. Every deer taken into a processor in those states has the tag on it I can promise you. I dont have a problem with the app portion or the call in requirement.

It's the "self report" factor that makes Alabama's so ridiculous. With 48 hrs to report it, if you have it written down on the old paper log sheet, how many people take the deer to the processor or their camp and then just not report it if they don't get stopped or checked. When you have to physically deface and affix an actual tag to the animal it eliminates the opportunity to cheat. It keeps honest people honest and gets the state more correct harvest data, and that's the real reason for game check isnt it??????

And for the record, I'm all for the state having good data. I was one of the first DMAP program participants, I've recorded weights, taken beam measurements, pulled jawbones, lactation documentation, summer harvest for fetal and breeding info. I'm all for it and can and will participate but dont inconvenience me, if the overall plan is gonna be half assed with loopholes (voluntary check in/no license assigned tags to insure compliance) for the already high number of outlaws in this state to exploit.

So there are outlaws everywhere in every State. However..Of those States in question above I think that Hunters in general are more inclined to view their tag or phone/app system as a partnership between them and their DCNR. I feel like the hunters themselves want to see and manage their deer herd as well as they can and they see their license money at work. I have hunted in Tennessee my whole life and I can assure you that the TWRA has always been light years ahead of Alabama's Green Uniformed Clown Posse.

Their States are much better run than Alabama in just a general sense. They have more visible enforcement IMO meaning more Game Wardens out and about. People tend to view hunting as a privilege. They have much more strict seasons and bag limits and overall they have a much better sense of their wildlife populations and have better people there to manage all that.

We have a good ole boy network running ours and the rules that are handed out for the State are the rules they want to go by on their own leases or land they own. Game Check and maybe putting a leash on some dog hunting are the first steps they have EVER taken towards management in a State Wide sense.

Not sure who you are talking about, but I am certainly not whining. I have been doing the Avid Hunter system for several years, so I was already reporting every hunt and kill. I don't mind doing GC and I do wish that everyone would participate.

My main concern about it from the beginning is that I don't think I will live long enough to see it provide better harvest numbers than the old hunter survey. A properly done random survey can give you much better numbers than trying to count every event on almost anything that involves people. And I didn't like the way the director bashed the old system, apparently to gain support for the new one. But what's done is done, so I will just encourage everyone to report their kills now.

I had hoped that this second year of mandatory GC would see higher participation, but based on the numbers in this thread it appears that either participation is about the same, or the harvest is way down. Problem is there is no way of knowing which it is.

Interesting post, Goatkiller, with a lot of truth in it, and I think it also shows a lot about your perspective. I agree that many hunters in other states like for the state to be heavily involved in management. It amazes me at how much hassle it is to just kill a turkey in WI, but many of those guys actually prefer all those regulations, drawing for tags, and everything that goes with that level of state management. If that's what they want, then it's fine with me, but I have avoided the heavily regulated states myself.

I disagree with your idea that high regulation states have better people in charge than we do in AL. Some of the finest people I know work for the AL dcnr. Historically, AL has used a system that allowed most management decisions to be made by the landowner instead of the state. I prefer the old system myself, but there is no doubt that the world is moving towards more state regulation of everything, not just hunting. So I think AL will eventually have the kind of government management of the resource that you want.

Whether that results in better hunting is yet to be determined.

Hunted in GA earlier this season and Processor required and logged a deer harvest record number that was generates by state when you logged your kill through their website. Also sex of deer had to be present until processed. It made sense to a degree, but you could still bypass if you self processed I and provided you didn’t get checked by a GW while in possession of the deer. Don’t guess it’s a perfect system, but had some good aspects to it in the sense that it turned processors into adherence monitoring stations. I am guessing the processor risk fines if they possessed non-registered game or a duplicated or invalid number. Not sure if they had to submit records or just be subject to random audits.

AW, HELL NAW!!! Chuck Sykes made it very clear to me that landowners, senior citizens, active military, and handicapped are just a leech on the DCNR and worded in a way that he made sure we are not welcomed in the sport regardless how much time and money we spend on all wildlife.

But that has nothing to do with the numbers comparison so carry on.

You said you like the mailed out survey, I'm not pushing 1 way or the other. But do the majority of people still open all the mail the get? I know I don't. Especially with all the junk mail that comes now. Kinda like land line phones. Lot's of people don't even have them. We still have ours but haven't answered it in probably 5 years. I wonder how many have been thrown away just because it looked like more junk mail?

Not saying you were whining, there are a lot of folks that do! But again, they would find something else to gripe about!

Well since you went down that path, Chucky told me face to face," there will be no February season in Jackson County". We all know how that turned out.

Carry on.

I do not have enough memory on my phone to store the app. I think it is an unreasonable burden that I have to go purchase extra memory to run app. Or I have to carry a damn ink pen in pocket and sit on it to comply for filling out harvest record. It SUCKS. You should only be required to fill out form prior to moving deer. GAME CHECK SUCKS AND IS SOLELY FOR VALUE of COMMERCIAL DATABASE FOR FUTURE COMMERCIAL SALES. NOTHING MORE OR LESS.

All these perspectives sound good and all but how many deer you think the meth head living in the trailer off the corner of your property confirms ? I know I am good for deer numbers because I harvest mature deer only . Which means if I don't kill a deer in a season I am ok with it . As long as I got one to chase that will get me up in the am . If I am successful I damn sure confirming him because ain't having anyone take from me what I busted my ass to acquire . GC is like a lock in the sense it only keeps honest people honest unfortunately .

If I move a deer without filling out a form first then fine give me a ticket. But danggit I have 3 pockets on my hunting gear and I swear trying to find room for an annoying ink pen is a pain in the arse. I know it sounds silly but when you are limited in physical ability it sucks to have to pack an extra pack just to have room for an ink pen...

Do what they do in Georgia. Processors require a confirmation # to they process your deer. GW just goes by processor and checks # with system . If number is good no problem if not, they know where to find you.

Don't see that happening in Alabama. Most processors I know would tell Chuck and Company to stick it.