It's odd that a private practice lawyer is appointed to run conservation. Sounds more like a job for a biology or forestry person and having a lawyer on speed dial for environmental, monetary or legal issues. Most of us are lifetime hunters and fishers. If that's all it takes I need to fix my resume.

It's not odd. Running the department means running a business with massive budgets, HR demands and business requirements along with dealing with the public.

By your reasoning, the commissioner should also be a manager of lands, state parks, enforcement, saltwater marine resources and a biologist. Tall order for one person appointed to a "serve at the pleasure of the governor" position.

The last six commissioners have all been successful businessmen and not biologists.

Should the head of IBM be a computer programmer who writes code but doesn't know squat about dealing with money or management? Nope.

[quote=truedouble]Close the season during the first two weeks in December and extend one week in to Feb. Everyone would be happy and I could duck hunt more. Give the deer one less week of hunting as well. [/quot
I hope you're not wanting to do this ^^^^ in Jackson Co. North Al. season sould END Jan. 31 just like it has for years. Leave us out of it! Most of us don't care if South Al hunts till July. You could get a lot of help for your cause in NA, but not if you're gonna screw with us!

Can't do that because:

1. that would be fair, and

2. it wouldn't be the communist way

Does the head of IBM sign checks... NO.. The CFO does. The exact reason we need someone running this that can fix problems rather than complete legal issues for us. Every company and state has a finance dept, legal dept, accounting dept, IT dept, etc. who all report to the HEAD.

In that case, it sounds like you MUST be a lawyer to run any company or state program. Th exact reason we are discussing this now. Too many lawyers with their noses where they don't belong!

Yes a businessman can run a department but, the more you know about the business the better. The commissioner owns the budget. Staff appointed subject matter experts run their prospective areas based on monetary allotment of the budget. His decisions are based on information provided back to him by these experts or by an assigned commission. So he is not doing it himself from the get go. At the leisure of the governor to me means he took a pay cut and it gives him a chip in the game of political agenda, but that's how it goes. I do not like the fact that the commission can produce a report in which they are not identified so it leads to suspect in reporting. It may be non field or field experts. You gave me a piece of paper that has appendices with info that's great. When you tell me that small game hunters lose out until February on most of their hunting because private lands don't allow it until then that's because the majority of leases are for deer hunting. Blame that on the status quo. Maybe the commissioner can petition the companies that charge dollars per acre to create small game hunting tracts for the hunters. WMAs are really normally open season long for bow hunters and small game hunters. The issues presented were flawed.

Check out the Conception Dates (appendices in the report) from about Montgomery South.

Dec. 1st to Dec. 15th Bow/crossbow only. Feb 1st to Feb 15th late muzzleloader. Everything else the same.

i would vote for starting archery season on the last week of September, thru the last week of Oct, then one week break, then a two week muzzleloader season, then a one week youth hunt, then another two weeks muzzleloader, with a one week break, then rifle season until the 31st of Jan, BUT during the muzzleloader and rifle seasons you can use a Bow if you wish, and you can use a muzzleloader during rifle season if you wish. that would give us a little bit longer muzzleloader season instead of 4 days. what is up with the WMA's having opening days on Fridays, start them on Saturday and sunday, then if it has to be a three day hunt run it thru Monday.
just seems screwed up to me. But i used to hunt in tennessee so i am used to the state being divided into zones, with different requirments for each zone. just seems archery season here starts a little late.

I don't care about extending the season into Feb. cause our rut is over for the most part 2 weeks prior and the last thing we need are more young bucks killed in Jackson Co., but I would like to see a split season to give the deer a couple of weeks to rest while the hunting is slow any way. If it was up to me I'd go to a 2 buck limit (with a real tagging system) and close the season for at least 7-10 days during the first of December. I'm all about more restrictions but I know that's not too popular around here. :-)

I'm for opening all hunting seasons to any legal arms and contraptions used in killing any kind of game and "(7) To close the season of any species of game in any county or area when, upon a survey by the department, it is found necessary to the conservation and perpetuation of such species and to reopen such closed season when it is deemed advisable".

That's how our game and fish laws actually say it should be done.

If you want to "split the season to give the deer a rest", then have at it. If you can't do it without the government telling you too you are a liberal wuss.

If you want a delayed hunting season to implement Obama Care for Deer, then don't go hunting 'til you get ready. Make all the Obama Care for Deer rules you want to. If you think animals have health care rights, that's your business. Keep it your business.

If you don't want to hunt with a gun, then don't.

If you don't want to deer hunt, then hunt small game or just don't hunt at all. PETA will welcome you with open arms.

Man up and learn to utilize the freedom we're all suppose to have and quit whining for the government to tell everybody else what to do and how they should do it.

For the most part breeding is Dec. 28 - Jan. 5, with secondary during last week of season. I know a few preople that have shot bucks the last couple days of season and had an antler come off! I've gotten a couple of pics of bucks that have lost an antler during the first two weeks of Feb. From opening day of gun season till bout Dec. 20 is doe rollin' season on my property.

You have to make this idea of value to the state and its pocket book. If you split the state into regions and had different season dates for those regions the state could utilize that to make additional revenue. For instance if you opened the northern zone the last week of Sept. or even the 1st of Oct. many guys would let there leases go in Tennessee and start spending money in Alabama to take advantage of an early season. I can't tell you how many people from Cullman north lease land in TN to take advantage of the extra few weeks it provides early. Shut down those northern zones on Jan 15th. On the other hand they hold the Southern region off until say Nov 1 to open bow season and tack the extra 15 days onto the end. This also creates interest in guys from north Alabama spending money in south alabama to catch an extended season. So how does the state make money in this example? To start the local economies are stimulated. Second, if the state put in place an actual deer license for each zone and charge a nominal fee of $10 then they win in the deal. I don't buy the idea of people being to broke to pay $10 extra dollars for a deer license or $20 to purchase one for each zone. Deer hunters spend a ton of money on hunting crap and if its not deer hunting related its habit related items such as cigs and beer. Maybe its stripers for others. The state wins and the hunters get what they want.

Just looked at the report. Pretty interesting. I hope they continue the study and pick up some sample sites around Shelby County. At least they are trying to obtain some scientific information.

I say if you can't kill a deer from Oct 15 til Jan 31 then 15 days in February isn't gonna help you.

None of what you posted has any application for where I hunt and that is the problem with managing the state as a whole. Zoning would be much fairer.

Appendix two shows pretty much what I thought the earliest conception date in one Mobile county site was Jan 24 and the other one was Jan 28. I have always said we get at best a week of the rut and sometimes miss it all together here.

LOL..... never fails somebody is going to post this ^^^^^

I, for one, am finally glad to see the state is coming forth and publishing some conception data. Looking over the data has given me some ideas on some public lands to travel to and hunt that would possibly allow good opportunity to see some rut action

To me, the study shows exactly why regional zoning is pretty much impossible, unless I'm misreading it. An enforceable tagging system would help alleviate some of the concerns about over-harvesting of bucks. I like the idea of reducing the limit to 2 bucks per season. I also still like the idea of a weekend in February in which you can add this particular weekend to your license and pay an additional fee of say $10. (Put some money in the hopper for a real tagging system.) To me, after all of the studies, it is impossible for me to grasp how some people can't consider the whole state and not only their little section. The DNR has to look at the total picture.