Antler Restrictions, Airbow in Archery and more

Florida is considering adding minimum antler point restrictions for almost all of its deer management units, either 2 or 3 on a side. They're asking for input from hunters before making the decision.

Tennessee is considering expanding the use of "primitive" weapons into its muzzleloader season, like what Louisiana and Mississippi allow. This would be things like a straight-wall cartridge rifle caliber.

Tennessee also is considering allowing the "airbow" to be used during archery season.



Florida FWC sent a survey via email.

Tennessee Wildlife Federation (not TWRA) sent a survey via email.


Both were simple, easy to read and understand, Florida's included ALL proposed seasons-zones-maps for the 2018-19 hunting seasons, and it took about as much time as it does to reportedly fill out the GameCheck app.


How about that? Easy communication via today's technology with hunters to get their opinions.

Florida? Won't matter what you say to FWC. Good luck with that. Most of the deer are small rack anyhow. Already put a length restriction that is hard enough to comply with. FWC is horrible. The guy that runs their deer program Morea needs to be run out of town and shove his QDMA awards where the sun don't shine. They're incompetent. FL needs more freedom to kill does beyond archery and limited doe days. Also need bear hunts back. Everyone I talk to can't stand FWC. You are foolish if you think folks like Cory Morea are going to do what the hunters want.

Figures ... I finally spend the money on a decent muzzleloader for hunting in TN.

In Florida, they ask your opinion. If they don't get the answer they want, they wait a couple years, then reword the questions to get you to answer how they wnt you to. It would cost the taxpayers a lot less if they just publicly stated that they are going to do what they want. Like it or not.

So did Florida deer hunters not want the DMUs in the zones and not want antler point restrictions?

I don't know or care. Just curious.

Best I recall the DMU's weren't popular with the public at the beginning. They work well though.

Funny you mention this. I had a friend buy some land in Volusia County, and we had 11 cameras stolen the first week he had the place(ended up getting them back). I tried to get in touch with my local GW. Called the regional office because I was unable to find a list or contact info on wardens in Florida. The lady that answered wouldn't tell me who the local officer was or give me contact info. She told me she would take down my contact info and email it to the "lieutenant" and he would review it and call me back. This was Monday and I haven't heard back yet. Like I said I got the cameras back but at the time i called them we thought we had lost $1,500 worth of cameras.

They asked hunters direct questions about antler restrictions 5 years earlier. Questions like,"do you want antler restrictions?". 45% were for them and 55% were against them. They said they weren't going to implement them at this time, but encouraged local biologists to try them with select WMAs that had limited access. So most of the smaller limited entry areas went to 3 on one side.

Then 5 years later, they sent out a survey. These questions were like "Do you want to see bigger bucks while hunting?" and "Would you like to see more bucks while hunting?". Who's going to answer no to questions like that? All of the sudden they had an overwhelming majority wanting antler restrictions. All they really did was dupe about half of those 55% opposing ARs into answering the survey like they wanted them to. If they took an honest survey and the majority of hunters wanted them, I wouldn't have much of a problem with them. It just chaps my ass that they tricked people into voting for them.

As for the zones, I don't really care. Though I am within 10 miles of 3 different zones, all with different ARs and season dates. Makes it almost as confusing as saltwater fishing

How do you figure that they were tricked or duped into voting for it? Best way to see bigger and more bucks when hunting is to protect the young bucks and let them grow. Something that most people have a distinct problem in doing. Having watched this debate for the past 20 yrs, I'm convinced that most hunters aren't smart enough to realize that if you shoot every single spike and 4 pt you see, you're not going to have many mature big racked bucks running around on your property. They want bigger and more bucks but unless regulated, won't let the young ones survive long enough to get big. And I'm not saying that hunting mature bucks only is the way everyone has to go. To each his own and I think that people should be able to hunt and harvest what they want within reason. The overall majority of people evidently said/voted that they wanted to have more and bigger bucks, so the state put in restrictions they felt would help make that happen. It's an obvious fact that hunters are either too greedy or not smart enough, as an overall general group (some are, so I'm not saying everyone), to effectively manage, and conserve wildlife, so that the population is not decimated to the point where future generations have nothing left to hunt. Bama's open season on all does for 120 days straight is a prime example of people not being able to control their urge to kill something/trigger finger. They keep killing the heck out of does year after year and now that the effects of that are being seen, those same people are now the ones complaining about lack of sightings and wondering why they dont see the numbers of deer they used to.

And by the way, you're 100% correct on the saltwater stuff. They are liable to close a season on a fish while you're on the water that very same day and write you a ticket for it. But understand that the majority of that is being done at the federal level and not the state. Open today, emergency closure tomorrow. You cant drop a bait because the snapper are so thick but yet we need to limit it to a 4 or17 day season depending on how stupid the NMF is in a particular year.

I just think they should have been straight forward with the questions. I wasn't for the ARs, so I had to check "NO" I don't want to see more or bigger bucks. I talked to several people who would have never voted the way they did, had they thought out what their answers meant.

I have hunted in Florida for many years and prefer what they do to what Alabama does. Florida makes an effort to communicate and let hunters be a part of the process, Alabama holds 3 meetings a year and gives you 3 minutes to change their already made up mind.

Why did they restrict ars to north of i10 ? Was it because of these surveys or another reason?

Maybe in AL but not FL. When it comes to doe harvest, antlers, etc FWC won't listen. FWC is dead set on a few specific doe days limited throughout the season. I wrote about doe harvest trying to get limited tags or a small limit of 1 or 2 throughout the season instead of limited specified days and FWC commission politely told me to pound sand. My position is that it is not fair and enough opportunity for folks to harvest a doe when restricted to archery season and a limited number of specified days. If you don't bowhunt, you only have 4 or 5 chances during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to legally harvest does. If you are unable to hunt on those days because of family obligations or work, FWC says tough luck. FWC says there are not enough does. My response was to explain how I see them all over and have pictures in my food plots of at least 9-12 does at a time. They could care less and use their biologists to make political gains on regulations. I call bull on there not being enough does. Especially in the Panhandle on private land and farm fields. Deer hammer farm fields in the Panhandle. There are plenty of does. If FWC could get away with it, they would outlaw deer hunting just like they won't allow bear hunts despite attacks and population increase. FWC is on the side of the antis and bunny huggers. FWC and their biologists are the devil!

We need to legalize the air bow.
I'm fixing to get me one.

It's already legal here, Outback. Get you one!

Oh. Good.

But not legal during bow season right?

They are supposed to protect majority of 1.5 y/o bucks. The biologists determined that would need to be 3 on one side above I-10 and a fork horn rule south of it. I'm not really sure that makes since, but whatever.