Politics in Alabama Deer & Deer Hunting??? And WHO or WHAT is a MAJOR factor in these politics?? HUNTERS!!! They whine, complain, manipulate, demand, coerce, that their elected officials do what they want, when they want, how they want.

Why did you say "they" instead of "us"?

Do you hunt? Do you whine? Do you complain? Do you manipulate? Do you demand? Do you coerce?

What is your point? Are you just whining, complaining ... etc. etc.?

Money

I believe we have been well educated to your love of all things government and force! Do you believe there is ANY way that the State could get the information that they are wanting through a voluntary basis? Have they tried and exhausted all options before using FORCE?

Not funny at all! The Constitution puts limits on what the government can do to people. It does not tell us what the government CAN do but what it CANNOT do, hence LIMITED government. Try and read it!



Also true - at the REQUEST of the sportsmen and organizations. In Alabama, groups like Alabama Wildlife Federation were HEAVILY involved in both regulation and restocking.

I think everyone who has posted in the thread should take a few minutes and read the reports:

http://www.outdooralabama.com/research-mgmt/publications/Compiled%202011-2012%20Mail%20Survey.pdf

A little copy and pasting for those who don't wanta click on the link:

>>>>Each year since 1963, the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries has conducted
a sample survey of licensed Alabama hunters to obtain information in the form of estimates for
the number of hunters, man-days of hunting, and harvest levels for each of the game species.
This year, survey forms were mailed to a stratified random sample of 8,930 drawn from the
249,686 Alabama hunting licensees. Of the 8,930 survey forms mailed, 720 were returned
undeliverable. A total of 3,097 completed survey forms were returned (34.7%) (37.7% of those
delivered). A sample is used because it is not practical to contact all hunters each year.
Because of this and other factors it is impossible to determine values that would be entirely free
of error. <<<

>>>Beginning with the survey for the 2002-2003
hunting season, the data has been analyzed by personnel with Auburn University’s School of
Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. The results of this and all past surveys are statistically valid and
of more value in defining trends over multiple hunting seasons rather than comparison of one
hunting season to another.<<<


A 1.2% sample is miles bigger than numbers used for things like presidential elections, and most folks seem to accept them. Their standard error for the statewide legal deer harvest by licensed hunters is 4.1%. When I was a graduate assistant at Auburn, the folks in charge of every study I worked on would have done cartwheels if they got 4.1%. I've always thought it was plenty good for estimating trends on statewide harvest, and the surveys say what all the hunters on here are saying - deer harvest is down.

If you don't believe the Hunter Survey can possibly be accurate with a 1.2% sample, then please don't even consider wasting your time on a soil test. Can you imagine how small your sample size is compared to the amount of soil in the entire field?

But for sure, the state's harvest estimation is not a "made up" number. Some form of random sampling is at the heart of almost every branch of science.