I don't really want any more restrictions, no tags, just buy a license and go hunting, I was not crazy about the 3 buck limit, but most years I do good to see one I want to shoot anyway. I came up hunting when a spike was a good kill; I have killed my share of them in the last 30 years. I wonder sometimes if the trophy hunting crowd has hurt the young hunter. I hunted several years before I killed something that would score 100, I could see how a young feller would grow tired of something with a very low payback. I came up bow hunting and killed about every deer that I could with a bow, and had a blast. I lease my own place with two other fellers and we can shoot whatever we want. We are selective though, none of us has killed many deer and we encourage kids to kill any deer seen. We don't restrict any kids to any type of progressive scale like I see all the time where a kid can shoot one spike, then 6 pt, then 8 pt or better. We let them have at it. I do not even have a kid now that hunts, but the other 2 guys both have kids that hunt some, but so far only one small doe killed by a kid on the place this year, kids don't want to hunt, rather stay home and play video games I recon...

Book, this post kinda nullifies your line of reasoning in the rest of your post and the philosophies of your group:



I think that the whole Outdoor Experience that is commonplace in today's World is too 'slow' for today's Youth.
There is no small-game hunting for fear of 'spooking' the deer.
There are no exciting dog-drives that leave the youth exhilirated.
The 'sit and wait' and seeing NO deer approach is just not conducive to keeping the attention of youth.
Not to mention, be still, be quiet, take a 'scent'free' shower, gotta get there early, gotta sit here late, gotta sit here all day......etc. does NOT sit well with most of taday's youth.
PLUS: I have not heard anybody say they wanted to restrict kids to shooting 100"+ deer. Matter of fact, I haven't seen evidence of wanting to restrict ANYBODY like that.
It IS a problem. But, I think that your blame may be a little misplaced.

Effective doing what??

What is the goal you wish to accomplish??

As I posted earlier, we only killed 16% percent of our deer last year. A basic premise of qdm is that at least 35% should be killed to maintain the current level.

The number of hunters is down as well.

What, exactly, is the goal that would be accomplished more effectively if I hang your little tag on my deer?

I absolutely do NOT believe that!

And I bet that you don't either.....but since it is the basis of your arguement; you'll swear that you do.LOL

Hawg, I have been in several clubs that allow a kid to kill basiclly 2 small bucks in there lifetime, then its 115-120+ bucks like adult members. I was in a club in Coosa Co that claimed to be kid friendly with this rule, now I don't have a dawg in this fight. I have one daughter that has killed a few deer, but she will only go about one day a year now that shes in college. No real problem with the rule, just don't claim to be kid friendly

I used the same source the proponents of qdm limits used in the beginning.

Are we going to change horses in the middle of the stream now??

What is your goal in advocating tags Hogwild? Exactly what goal would be accomplished by using them?

I agree, Book.
That is not kid-friendly at all!!!

To help identify illegally killed bucks and to help curb the excessive harvest of young bucks.
Pretty simple and straight-forward.

I do not need to search the internet for articles, or opinions, to back up my common-sense philosophy.

We should not have ANY laws because only honest people comply, and the dishonest people who break the laws don't get caught very often.

How many young bucks were killed last year?

You don't know the answer to that.

How many bucks were killed illegally??

You don't know the answer to that.

The only goal you have is to force someone else to do something you want them to do to make you feel better.

There are no well defined goals in this mess. No process of evaluating the results is in place.

We don't know where we started, and we don't know where we need to go. It's all a wild shot in the dark and you know it.

Site-specific management is the only truely scientific method to manage deer.

I do know of a BUNCH of illegally taken bucks.
THAT is where you are wrong!!!

You are also quite naive in your own perception of what goes on in these woods down here. And before you get on your high-horse about turning these people in.......The local GW knows it just as well as I do and is trying to catch these people. It ain't that simple, though.

I do know that the numbers that you quoted and that are used in the DCNR's management of our resources are pulled out of thin air and used to manipulate the system and twisted to promote whatever special-interst is being promoted. I didn't really figure that YOU would admit it, though!

Why exactly are you AGAINST tags? Not any special number....but tags themselves?

We're not discussing specific areas here. The qdm restrictions are STATEWIDE. So that is where you are wrong. You don't know how many bucks were killed illegally STATEWIDE, and you don't know how many would not have been killed illegally if I was required to hang a tag on the deer I kill.


That's why I don't advocate that my preferences be made into rules down there. You don't know what goes on up here. You are naive about what happens on my lease, but you still want to be involved in the management decisions there.



I am against tags because people who own or lease land should have the freedom to make their own site-specific wildlife management decisions. The role of the DCNR is to protect the species.

They protect the species by setting seasons and bag limits. That is their job.

So, you don't think that your area of the State has a problem with poaching, road-hunting, night-hunting and overharvest of bucks?

Lucky you to live in THAT World! LOL

[quote=Hogwild]I do know of a BUNCH of illegally taken bucks.
THAT is where you are wrong!!!

You are also quite naive in your own perception of what goes on in these woods down here. And before you get on your high-horse about turning these people in.......The local GW knows it just as well as I do and is trying to catch these people. It ain't that simple, though.



So how does a tag system make catching illegal harvest easier?
Is the illegal harvesting occuring on the land that you manage?
I believe you and 49er are speaking the same language when ya'll are saying that neither one of you knows what is happening in each others neck of the woods and that is EXACTLY why site specific management is the answer and not a Statewide tag mandate that nothing to stop illegal harvest or make catching the perpertrators any easier. A tag system would just put more required useless stuff in the way of having fun going hunting, right?

Oh, but you leave off the defined purpose of those seasons and bag limits... to administer the functions and duties of the Department. Nowhere will you find the purpose of wildlife management mentioned in the laws that define the functions and duties of the DCNR... nowhere. Wildlife management is an option the commissioner is given on wildlife management areas.



I didn't say that, so why are you laughing out loud? Those are your words.

D**n as smart as you are you should work for the DNR or at least be a warden. Then when you straighten out our wildlife you should run for president. You would fit right in.

Fun-4-all,

IF there was a tag system that called for permanently attaching the tag to the antlers of the buck (like many States already do) it would allow a GW to ticket an individual for possessing a fresh rack without a tag.

IF there was ANY fear of getting caught DURING or AFTER the illegal act, it would reduce the chance of people doing it. Right now, the GW's have a hard time....they cannot be everywhere all the time. They literally have to catch them in the act! Tags would help alleviate that problem.

Never said it was a cure-all.

How do you know I don't?
How do you know that I don't know who you are, where you hunt and how?

If you think there is ANY rule that the CAB can concoct that would be more effective in guarding against violations of the rules that club members place on themselves, which are usually more restrictive, btw, then you are the one that is naive. Try killing a buck illegally where I hunt, and the game warden won't have a chance to get to you first. Your pockets will already be a bit emptier before he gets involved, and you may not hunt there for awhile, if ever again.

49'er

It ain't the legal-hunting, law-abiding, lease-holding people that I am worried about!

And that ol' 'tough-guy' BS is just what turns most poachers on. They LIKE to poach on property where the people think like that. LOL

To catch a poacher, you better learn to think like one!