That could be true for some high populated areas, but seems a lot less kills on the roads I have traveled this year, which is kind of strange now that you mentioned it.

Unfortunately some do. I once had a conversation with a lady at work, and she was talking about her son. He went out deer hunting almost every day, said he killed about 15-20 deer a season. Didn't eat a single one. Made my blood boil.

C’mon man, I don’t know if I can go much longer without a good answer. I need to know whataloadofchit I was talking about.

Its probably best just to ignore his posts……He’s one of those that’s just here to act like a goober head for his own entertainment.

Much of it has too do with tradition, same as with our state.

Also has a basis in the long held misguided belief that rifles are too dangerous to allow hunters to use in wide open spaces.

Yeah, that sounds stupid but we are talking about Yankees.

But my response has more to do with your ability to control deer management than waiting on the state to make decisions for you. I've been hunting Alabama for 40 years, and they state ihas always been several years behind with herd management. There is no one size fits all solution for Alabama. It would take dividing this state into over a dozen different zones with specific regulations for each to begin to address the bitching on this forum. That's far too much for your DCNR to manage effectively at current funding levels, unless you want to at least double the license fees.

Yes there are fewer deer in southern counties than 30 or 40 years ago, and that's GOOD. Sitting on a 1 acre field and watching 20-40 slick heads mow every green sprout to a nub IS NOT good hunting. But the northern counties have far MORE deer than they did in that time.

When I first started hunting in the eighties, many old timers would not shoot does because that's how they were raised. They would blast any 90 lb buck with 2" spikes but not one of the 50 does eating everything they could stand in their hind legs to eat. The state was literally begging people to shoot does. Then finally, HUNTERS started doing what the STATE asked them to do, took it too far.

Herd management has ALWAYS lagged behing what's happening in the field. One reason is lack of information about current harvest and field surveys. Chucky check, which most here can't stop bitching about, is one way to address this. However, the biggest issue is HUNTERS. Pay attention to what's happening in your property and act accordingly. Conditions on your property may be completely different from your buddies place 10 miles away. If your seeing does enter the field in groups of 12-15 to join the other 20 already on the field, you probably need to squeeze the trigger more. If you haven't seen a deer since Thanksgiving, hold off when you finally see one.

Northern states do not have breeding dates stretched across 4 months as in Alabama and other southern states with long seasons. The rut is FAR more compact and intense. Hunting pressure exists in those states, but in a different way. Opening days of gun season see INTENSE pressure for a few days as orange clad armies swarm the woods. As a result, 80-90% of deer are killed on the first 2-3 days in those statess and deer quickly adjust to the pressure.

No doubt, Alabama has many issues with herd management. But ultimately it's up to hunters, NOT the state to improve our deer herd. The beauty of our long seasons is that it gives YOU the flexibility to manage how you hunt. I hunted a grand total of three afternoons in Alabama this season. If you have to wait on the state to tell you what you need to do, it's already too late.

Some just can’t understand common sense. Read the above post. He is 100% on point. Hunters are their worst enemies. No matter what happens some will find something to bitch about and want to control what others do on their own hunting property. Just go hunt and enjoy your God given right to do it.

Marsh, Louisiana has enough zones that the state looks like a jigsaw puzzle. (Arkansas, too.)

How do hunters like all the zones? In your view, do they work?

How does LDWF change things in the zones like bag limits-dates-does, and how often? Every few years? Never? Rarely?

Mr. Clem, it works great here. We have 10 units. All are set with the timing of the rut. We have areas that start the rut in early October and areas like the Basin that ruts in late January into February and everything in between. The LDWF will make changes as needed and most information comes from public input at the public meetings that are held across the state. I don’t have many good things to say about Louisiana government but LDWF does a great job with the wildlife.

Man oh man. Nobody can give a straight answer. And I wasn’t bitching about anything.

I don’t care about the politics, traditions, or religions of another state and to why they set a game law.

And if you want proof that I don’t like regulations, check out my stuff in the turkey forum.

Let me say it again - certain states restrict gun seasons because there is a need to restrict how easy it is to kill those deer with a gun. End of discussion. That’s the answer. If you could ask any wildlife representative in those states - in an honest moment - they will say it out loud - I’ve heard them say it.

Take Kansas (state referenced in another discussion). What do you think would happen / what do you think would be the end result - of letting residents and non residents use a rifle from Sept 12 - December 31? What would the deer look like in a couple years? How many older bucks would be running around? How long will they continue to allow non resident hunters at that point? How could you allow hunting at all in the long run? Would it still be a destination trip for a bunch of hunters?

Y’all know the answer.

And comparing AL to KS is like comparing a wagon to a spaceship. Heck, I didn’t even say anything about AL.

Thanks, Marsh. Sounds similar to Florida with its post-season surveys, other surveys, Zones and DMUs and such. Wisconsin and Ohio do similar things you mentioned with meetings and changes.

The latter two have been doing it for decades, though. Changing 80+ years of hunting tradition and such here is one of the biggest challenges. The hardest thing for any state or fed agency is to manage the range of people, not the wildlife.

Ohio DNR has proposed its upcoming season info-dates-bag-other to its state wildlife council. That's like our CAB here.

They send out the information to the public so they'll know what the council will be discussing. Interesting to see the transparency and availability of info presented to the public before the council meetings to discuss it.

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-le...easons-proposed-to-ohio-wildlife-council

No way regs that complicated get passed in Alabama.

1. Our state government is too incompetent.
2. Alabamians are the most unruly people in the country, even compared to other southerners. Complicated regs will lead to widespread non-compliance.

I think the main thing we can do is set doe limits, and maybe lower the buck limit to two. Adjusting season dates according to the rut in the area would be ideal, but #1 makes that impractical. I think keeping the season dates the same and having antlered bucks only the first and last month is the best compromise. It's simple, and will prevent bucks that have shed and/or does with spotted fawns being killed.

#2 is what I love about Alabama most. I do want the deer herd to be protected from over hunting, but there is no way in hell I'm dealing with all the bullchit that yankees are willing to put up with. The day I'm told I have to buy a tag to kill a deer on MY land is the day I become a poacher.

Why in the blue fruck are we carrying on about what Ohio does with its deer season? You can't compare a state that has about half of our deer population to us. We would be in the same situation we were in the 80s and 90s with our heard, All doe no bucks I'd see 30 deer a day and maybe one or two bucks that isn't a healthy heard at all. Grow up stop dreaming and if you want to hunt other states have at it but don't continue to bring your shat here it's getting to yhe point where alot of us are getting sick of it if it's not this state does it better its somebody pulling numbers and crazy ideas out of their ass and making multiple threads about it

I dont see anything wrong with learning from what other states have done........Just because you study it doesnt mean you have to implement it.

I’m guessing that I drive from one end of this state to the other more than any other member here. I do it weekly all year and have been for fifteen years and I can say without a doubt that I’ve seen more roadkill than any other year. I know that this isn’t the way that you can base hunting season limits on, but it’s just my observation. I’ve also seen more deer feeding in fields and the side of the road more this year.

I certainly don’t travel near as much as you but I will concur on the roadkill deer. More than I’ve seen since about 2005 in south Alabama

I agree. And what has every college football team in America that puts winning national championships as it’s number one priority? That’s right. Let’s do what the Crimson Tide does and start the process of being consistent with winning championships.

Bamashooter, Clem is a well known outdoor journalist and has done his research. I value his thoughts and opinions on the subject.

I “think” the general consensus is that a late born button or small spike will take 3yrs to catch up to where it should be for its age in terms of antler growth. Throw in mortality rates and that makes for a prettt slim chance regardless.

When was the last year we had a cold snap like we had this year that killed off most of the greenery???

You aren't learning shat from a state that has half your deer population its fracking nonsense