Huge changes for Mississippi deer regs

They are proposing 3 deer/person for the whole season on private lands and NO does on public lands with a rifle. Seems like a pretty drastic difference from Alabama now. (Mississippi was at a 5 doe limit last season). Alabama is still at an 100+ doe limit (doe a day).

Not sure who's right or wrong, but somebody is.

3 deer? Buck and doe per year?

This?^^^^ If only 3 deer allowed per season, I'd say to hell with that chit and go fishing more smdh

Guess some of them had crappy deer seasons last year, too.

Alabama hunting land just got more valuable.

I doubt it. I bet 3 bucks & 3 doe or something close

https://www.mdwfp.com/mdwfp-news/press-r...bag-limits.aspx

Yeah I think it's a total of 6 deer

....a lot of people would disagree and say Mississippi land just got more valuable. Fewer does killed = more deer seen. Not sure if I agree with that, but a lot of people would.

Yea I disagree Mississippi has better hunting and is managed better.

Shooting every doe you see does not give you bigger bucks. The only reason we are seeing some bigger deer in Alabama is some people in some areas are exercising trigger control. In other areas/places they are not. Just depends on you and your neighbors.

Yes trigger control is key. We practice it at our place in Bama. It's what I favor in place of more laws, always.

But in terms of deer numbers, I think Alabama and Mississippi are very similar, from what I've seen, and there are very different ideas of what the population is. Mississipi apparently thinks they don't have enough deer and Bama clearly thinks they either have too many deer (deer a day), or favors landowners making their own decisions. I like having more deer, but also the ability to make my own decisions on my own land.

Good move on Mississippi's part. It's been needed for several years in most zones.

Wish that would happen here in the yella hammer state.

You can still legally kill 100+ in Bama. The differences are quite remarkable and I don't know who's right. Should be a good case-study. Outside of the delta in Mississippi, the 2 states are nearly identical.

After a man tags out he's going to look for another place to hunt and he'll pay to do it.

How many folks do you know that kill more than 6 deer a year? I know a few. But not many.

Besides, for folks that have 500+ acres, they can still get on DMAP and have a doe slaughter.

270 - my hangup is this (the naysayers are going to claim I sound like a broken record here)...

What you have or don't have depends on your neighbors under our current regulations. If you have surrounding land with trigger control you are good to go to manage how you see fit. You're going to say the current regs are great and I'm having good deer seasons. I can self manage and shoot as many does as I want, etc. We are seeing bigger deer, blah, blah, blah.

On the flip side... if you have the brown is down "I shoot deer" crowd around... well you may as well get use to it and focus on golf instead of deer habitat during the spring/summer.

I have both depending on location. I would agree nobody needs to kill more than 6 deer a season but my neighbors at one tract would kill 20-25 anyway. That's the way they have been hunting for years and now because we have had a free-for-all for so long... it is how they have been brought up to hunt. They shoot "deer". Period.

Beautiful piece of property and I have been trying but nothing I can do for the deer except pray they stay out the border land and fields even if they are still on my side of the fence.

I think the no does during rifle season on public land is where you will see the most impact of this being effective.




^^^A lot of truth in that statement.

Oh, I agree. I'm not a fan of the government telling me what I "need". I just don't think most folks from MS are killing more than 6 now, so they won't be flooding Bama looking for more deer.

I didn't say kill I said hunt. Every hunter I know wants to have the opportunity to shoot when they hunt it's just the nature of the game. When I started hunting in Bama it was illegal to kill a doe even with a bow. Trust me it wasn't a lot of fun.

I'm not taking sides here, Stripe. I think I actually prefer the Alabama laws, which allow a Doe-pocalypse. It's just an interesting contrast because the 2 state's deer numbers are similar and they have very different approaches to likely the same reality. They either have different wildlife goals, or someone is wrong.

Looks like Miss is trying to correct the over-harvest of deer while they still have a viable population. The point of Alabama's liberal doe season was never to hammer the deer population to extinction. The only people who need to take a deer a day are those who are selling them. The intent was to both help keep younger hunters interested in hunting, let them shoot some does outside the old doe season right around Christmas, and to allow folks interested in managing the herd in their area better by having more choice as to which does they shoot. Unfortunately, too many have taken the ability to legally take a doe any day of the season as a personal challenge to shoot every doe they see. Between overharvest and coyotes there is no wonder that some have worsening seasons each year.

Love seeing all the "no one needs ..." comments.

....Especially on the same message board that will flame your azz for questioning why a man making $50,000 a year "needs" a $50,000 truck.

How bout I combine those two thoughts for you guys...

Sell the $50k truck so you'll have more grocery money and then you won't need to hunt all day so you can "feed your family" with the 25 deer you are killing. Start out by either getting a job, a better paying job with more responsibility and/or generally working harder so you can afford that truck AND some groceries.

Alabama is apparently light on productive taxpaying members of society so maybe having a limit on does could be billed as some kind of economic stimulus with a catchy phrase initiative like "get your lazy a$$ back to work Alabama".

So instead of "Go Build Alabama" everyone out there will understand that doesn't mean more shooting houses.

^^^ True ... Nobody needs more shooting houses.

We kill a grand total of zero does on our personal property, with zero government intervention. That's a novel concept.

Same on our property. Hunted there 10+ years. Numbers were low so we didn't shoot does. None. Didn't have to have anyone mandate it, tell us we were evil sumbitches, hold our hands, have rules or regs or policies to be encumbered by. Was just common sense and our decision.

But then you've got two other camps of folks: 1. one camp that doesn't see many does and shoots them when they do, but doesn't want you to shoot any and a much smaller camp #2 that sees dozens and dozens of deer per sit and thinks the whole state is like this and doesn't think there's a problem. At least camp #2 doesn't want to legislate me to death.

No does on public land with a rifle is TOO much regulation in my opinion. I would venture a guess that public land doe harvest makes up a very small percentage ofi the overall harvest in the state. I like the overall deer limit though.

Clem you do realize that common sense ain't real common right?

Too bad my land isn't next to yours I wouldn't think I needed to change anything either. We could both sit at your place with our tinfoil hats on talking about how the gubberment is trying to run our lives.

If you need a tinfoil hat for that idea, common sense might not even be common at your house

Good way to get it corrected in a hurry. I would think that the third year will see a huge increase in deer sightings and hunter enjoyment.

This is also a good way for them to stop the "coast trash" from shooting up every Delta WMA, as has been the squeaky wheel all along. I've personally not seen it, but that's what I read on the interwebs so it has to be true.

EDIT: I don't think all you guys south of HWY84 are coast trash...that's just what the super elite, North of I-20, Mississippi bunch calls y'all.

I only chew on it occasionally but don't wear it.

And to think,, I shoot spikes...

Speak for yourself..... it was a lot of fun to some of us back then

Same on my property, but my neighbors still shoot any and every deer they see which has translated in me also not killing but one buck in 12 years since very few live past 2.5 years

Bigt is movin to Mississippi

I'll stick to worrying about the truck in my driveway and not those of others. Maybe when the central planning committee stops fleecing the hardest working or higher wage earners for succeeding we can stop paying the lazy a$$es for not working. Nothing like a little necessity to stimulate some invention or gumption. Might even work up some frugality in the gub'ment.

Nobody will ever solve anything your all wrong. People shoot what they want when they want, that's all there is to it. The law abiding hunters are the MINORITY by far.

3 buck 3 doe limit I would be for that in Alabama at least in the parts I live and hunt.

this is how we have been hunting our property for a long time

I can't control what my neighbors do. So it doesn't bother me. I don't get bent out of shape or want the government to impose restrictions on everyone. I just deal with it. Part of life, but not that important. It's just hunting. It ain't brain surgery.

Which is why it cracks me up when folks say "we already shoot less by choice".

Good for you. I personally say 6 deer per season is enough for 99.8% of the hunters in Alabama.

I say good for Mississippi for trying to protect this resource.

Who are you to judge what others need, simply because that's what you want or need?

I like hunting. It's one of my favorite hobbies.


....it's a hobby......

I'd be for it. I'd also be a millionaire and able to retire today if I had a $1.00 for every time someone complained about all the FL and LA hunters coming over to AL and killing deer by the truckload and raising lease prices. You guys ever think that just maybe if AL didnt allow such a "free for all", kill fest of a deer harvest, our herd numbers would probably be in better shape and maybe some of those guys that y'all complain about every year from out of state would just find other places to hunt or do something else with their money.

Clem society is made up of rules. That's how it works and people are able to live together. Don't be such an anarchist.

The area that I hunt in Butler County, it is not the out of state folks that are the problem, it is the locals that shoot everything that moves! Then brag about killing fifteen deer a year. It only takes a few to ruin it for the Rest!

Yep, anarchy. That's what I'm about. Dogs and cats living together, anarchy, breakdown of society. Damn, you pegged me 100 percent right on. You're so smart.



I guess you're good with others telling you what you need and don't need. You and the other "No one needs ..." folks just fall into lockstep. Bully for you.

Have you contacted the game wardens about it, if they're going over any legal limits (for bucks)?

I think 50 years from now Mississippi will have a lot of hunting resources available. I think AL will still be chugging along too but they will be embarrassing us on numbers and size

Nope.....but my primary hunting definitely not focused in this State anymore. It is definitely worth the eight drive too

I understand what your saying and to certain extent I agree as I have moved on to greener pastures but unlike some I understand some people don't have that ability. It is a shame that people only care about what is happening on their property. What I am concerned with is the future of hunting for the future generations and those that do not have the ability to move on to greener pastures. With the present management practices of this State the small landowners and lower income hunters are hurt the worst. People are not giving up hunting due to regulations they are giving up hunting due to access to a quality hunting experience. I am just glad I have the ability to go elsewhere but I know plenty of people that have quit hunting in the last few years and it had nothing to do with regulations. I know that hurts or goes against the "regulations are running people off bs " but it is truth around here.

I am going out on a limb but I doubt he is talking about killing too many bucks.....

It's going to be a very unpopular stance but agree and am in your camp. People that kill deer just because they can drive me nuts

These folks just shoot any deer they cross paths with. Small spikes, buttons, yearlings Does! My point is do they have to kill so many Deer? No they dont! That's why the deer herd is in decline because of the over harvest of does. Nature takes its toll but to kill them because you can makes no sense in the long run. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Be careful...All this copy and paste is gonna get ya'll banned! LOL

Where did you see this at?

Link

Mucho grassy azz

I have hunted the southeast zone in Mississippi for over 20 years, and the population is down noticeably. People who want to kill more will still do it, nothing you can do to stop it. That being said, I agree with the change as a short term option . Would be nice to give the does a break for a couple years.