Do you think physical tags will stop outlaws from being outlaws?

Do you think the State will hire more wardens to enforce it?

Do you think the current Game Wardens will stop giving people tickets for silly stuff long enough to take it seriously? Every time they stop and talk to someone now they have to write them a ticket for something. I have a buddy who caught a hunting at night charge last season for walking back to his truck after dark and using a flashlight. Another got a ticket for not having on hunter orange and he was in his vehicle when he was stopped.

I would vote no because the states I've hunted in that use physical tags, using them is a PITA. Illinois uses them and you have to secure one tag on the base of the antler or ear for a doe and the other on the leg. You have to remember to bring a zip tie and by the time you get around to doing it, your hands and the tag are a bloody mess and you're doing it by flashlight. In Illinois, you have to have the tag attached with a confirmation number before a processor will take the animal and hope that it didn't blow off on the ride to the processor. If you are in a remote area, you hope you can call the 800 number to go thru the process. You have to provide a whole bunch of information including the distance between the eyeball and nostril in millimeters. One side of the tag has a millimeter scale but it starts over at 50 even though a typical measurement is about 110. All my friends in Illinois are begging for a totally electronic check-in process with no paper tags.

Yes

With this logic why have game laws or laws generally. There are generally 3 approaches.

(1) Shorten seasons to reduce hunter success: reduces legal hunter success
(2) Reduce bag limits: directly reduces legal hunter bag limits, an OK option if #3 doesn't work
(3) Enforcement side solutions - more wardens (money), higher fines, and physical tags: mostly impacts illegal hunters, can cost money

Personally I like door #3 because it has the least impact on legal hunters other than inconvenience and potentially $$, though I'd look to increase fines to pay for it.

I think tags along with stiff enough penalties for not using them will make the majority of hunters voluntarily comply due to the risk involved in not doing so…….The key would be to make the penalty harsh enough that it isnt worth folks taking the risk of not complying. Does anyone go out west and dick around with not reporting or tagging? Nobody here cares right now because there’s no teeth behind the rule and its too easy to cheat the system. We might as well just get rid of the 3 buck limit because the only people its regulating are the really, really honest……Again, if you want the resource to be better managed then where are you going to make those changes if you don’t start with enforcing bag limits?

Iowa is $5-$10k for an untagged deer... saw where a couple of good ole boys in Iowa were fined $70k for not having deer tags. Also hit them with drug charges for which they were fined something like $5k.

Start hitting people with $5-$10k fines for untagged deer and see what happens to poaching.

We have physical tags here. They print out and in order as far as antlered, antlerless and either sex. If you accidentally separate more then one tag at a time the loose tag is now void. Craziest thing I’ve seen. They have 2 little holes in them to attach it to the animal before you move it. So now you have to keep string or cable ties in you pockets or hunting bag if you use one. Same for Texas.

I agree, heavy fines will change a lot of minds....the fines in many states are pretty stiff for the first violation....

But, c'mon Marsh ... keeping a pen and zipties and string or something is "just a minor inconvenience," right?

Just like buying an extra permit or two or three for your gun, bow, xbow or muzzleloader. And registering for an ID number. And buying at least one or two duck stamps. And filling out the HIP permit for migratory birds in every state you hunt. And paying for the "privilege" to put out some corn or bait. And paying for the "privilege" to hunt at night for coyotes and hogs, which the state hates but loves making money from. And making sure you have zipties or string or cable or something to affix the tag. And maybe a pen or two (because one might be clogged) to write the info down. And making sure The Man knows what you killed before taking it home. And making sure the processor, if you use one, has all of your info to report to The Man.

And ... and ... and ...


Hunting used to be fun and easy. You bought a license, got your chit and went hunting. If you killed something you cleaned it yourself or dropped it off at the processor. And now it's a cascade of continuous chit to have to buy or do or have or keep up with.

Don't forget your string.

First time I hunted in Iowa, almost 20 years ago, our hosts repeatedly and strongly emphasized that we tag the deer before moving them and damned sure not drive anywhere without being tagged. They didn't play around then and still don't.

We have to game check the deer and get a confirmation number before you move the animal now!! I don’t see where a physical tag is going to change anything. If you dont have the little slip you fill out or your confirmation number, you’re in violation. Pretty simple. Until the ones not following the law are rules start feeling the pain financially, nothing will change. I’ve met the GW in our area a few times because we needed help with road hunters and night hunters. The first time it took him 3 days to contact me. Other 2 times he was there within a couple hours. He has way to much area to cover and people to deal with for just one person. No way he could could stop and check every vehicle that’s looks like hunters may be driving and check for tagging compliance. It’s totally impossible!! You would have to have multi unit task forces throughout the whole state to deal with it the way it should be. I don’t see it happening.

No

Hunting without a license $100
Exceeding big game bag limit $100
Violating harvest record regulation $50
Hunting on state or federal refuge $250
Hunting without dogs when not permitted $200

These are so low as to be laughable.

Exactly... with a bright physical tag, he could often physically see that without pulling the car over. If the fine was $5k, now you're incentivizing people to actually tag their deer.

Start handing out $5k tickets to poachers and now they think twice about taking that extra buck or doe.

Exactly!!! At least now Louisiana combined the big game, bow, and “primitive licenses into one deer hunting license now. I used to have 3ft of folded printed out licenses in my wallet. If the GW asked if I had a license, I’d pull out my little water proof bag and hand it to him. Told him to find which one he needed. It was crazy.

FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR FINE FOR A HUNTING VIOLATION????? Hell no.

Yup... I've hunted in places where you can't forget your personal back tag either (it's like a license plate for YOU). I like to get lifetime licenses wherever I can so they send me this stuff every year sometimes.

I've had, on one strip

Back Tag
Bow/Muzz antlerless
Bow/Muzz either sex
Antlered regular season
Bear
Harvest summary
DMPs (extra does)

No

It's like a 2-foot-long receipt from Dollar General.

/notfunnydammit/


Our current fines are laughable, for sure. They're not even worth worrying about, even with court costs.

$5,000 for failing to check a deer or have a tag is IMO too much, though. They ain't made of f'kign gold.

I just wish it would be legal to hunt Rabbits at night......