Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Where have the deer gone ?

Since this thread has gone here I’ll say, it’s asinine for someone to be able to kill the same # of deer off of 2 acres that I can on 200. In that same vein, the 200 acre guy shouldn’t be able to kill as many as the 5000 acre club. It needs to be acreage based and tags.

But… deer don’t know what a property line is. So he’s not killing those deer off of 2 acres.

So the rich people can enjoy hunting more than a poor guy because he owns more. Yeah I’m not for that at all. If i own land. I’ll kill what i want within the regulations. If my big land owner neighbor don’t like it. Well that sucks for him. If I got a place the deer want to be then I’m going to kill them there

That’s kinda how the Robin Hood with Kevin Costner started. The kid killing the kings deer

What about guests? What about people that hunt multiple properties/counties? I personally have access to over a million acres. How many tags do I get?

If the state wanted to truly manage the deer everybody would get physical tags and if you got caught with an untagged deer then the penalty should be very severe. Problem solved

A million acres??? And I thought I spent too much on hunting 😂

The bulk of that land is surprisingly affordable.

Do people really report all deer they shot. Easy keep quiet, close the tail gate,keep the blood off the tail gate which a lot of folks leave on there, clean the deer hunt again tomorrow. Three I know of in freezers. I’ll bet good money this ole boy didn’t telling no one. Tags may help but still abused. As far as size of property,feed the right junk deer will run you over. Sugar cubes rice bran sweet potatoes flavored corn apples pears sweet feed

High fence ur property and manage as u see fit. Otherwise no one will ever solve this. U will never stop the 2 acre guy from killing the 5000 acre deer. It’s everyone’s right within the law to do what they want. I’m sure cnc sees what happens in different places but u can’t control it. Talk about it all u want but tags or anything will not change that. Go hunt and have self control and hope for the best that’s all u can do.

That’s not it at all. They just have different objectives, and usually the tiny parcels aren’t as interested in managing. I’m certainly not saying either is right or wrong. It’s just different mindsets. What I’ve noticed from those who can afford larger properties are three solutions to the problem. To begin with they buy a place large enough they think they can manage. When they find out they can’t they…
1. Either sell it and move on
2. Decide if they can’t manage it they’ll just join the neighbors and kill everything
3. Put a fence up and exclude everyone else

NONE of those options are a win for wildlife. Absolutely none. When they sell that’s acres that were being actively managed for improved wildlife habitat, that likely won’t be later. If they decide to kill whatever they want, not only are they giving in to neighbors, but their neighbors also lose because now they won’t have as many deer at their feeder to hunt, but continue the killing. If they high fence the neighbors lose the ability to hunt altogether if they own small acreages without connecting habitat. It’s not a game of killing the kings deer. It’s a game of balance and understanding as takers of the resource there needs to be a lot of giving. The landowners with acreage give a lot for the takers to benefit. That’s just truth. It’s not being ugly. Wealthy landowners do a lot for wildlife and they often times are the reason small guys have the opportunity they do. If the wealthy quit giving a dang about deer management the little guy is screwed too.

As well articulated as I’ve ever heard.

Very good response Matt. Please give us your opinion on what needs to happen about the enforcement of the present game laws for deer and what can be done to make the situation better. I know it’s got something to do with the judges just giving a pat on the neck to habitually outlaw but would love to hear your thoughts

Double the license fees to pay for more Green Jeans....

Or triple them and quadruple the out of state hunters like the other states do to us when we go there to kill 1 deer or hunt waterfowl

Game laws in the south aren’t taken seriously by a fairly substantial percentage of hunters. I used to think that wasn’t the case, and that most ppl obeyed most game laws. After having my eyes opened, I feel like there’s way more hunters that will break the law than I previously thought. I think it comes from a history of AL having VERY high populations of wild critters and seemingly endless resources and opportunities. Plus we have very liberal bags and season structure. I think that helps justify unlawful behavior in the minds of those willing to participate in it. No amount of enforcement is going to fix that. It’s going to take education. People need to understand the value of healthy and thriving game populations and what that means for our future. Habitat management, land stewardship, reconnection with nature, landowner workshops, complete buy in by the public. That’s what will change it. I don’t know exactly how to accomplish that because there’s a lot of distrust in government at the moment, especially G&F agencies. I was so adamantly opposed to the February extension in north AL that it almost got me in trouble when I was employed by WFF. I was looking longterm, and saw the potential consequences from it. I also still wholeheartedly believe our current season structure with cell cams and bait is not sustainable for management. Can we retain a huntable population of deer? Yes. No doubt. Can we manage deer herds with those three allowed the entire season? No we can not.

well said. I am often amazed at friends I know that don't mind bending or breaking game laws. I am not above calling the warden on pretty much anyone I know. I know it sucks, and I hate rules as much as anyone but there are rules for everyone. Personally I think it is worse for turkey hunters. I have been chastised ON HERE for calling the warden on neighbors when I found corn in a turkey I killed. "snitches get stitches" kinda thing.....yea, you give me a stitch Ill give you a hole I have seen facebook post making fun of jumping fences and crossing property lines to kill a gobbling turkey by Michael Waddell among others. Disgusts me!

Great answer and thanks for sharing your educated response. I hate the extended season in north Alabama and I hate the overall lack of enforcement and the overall thinking of everyone killing every thing they can. I don’t post a lot but I’ve always been impressed by your replies to questions on here. I know cnc has some criticism on here but a lot of what he’s seeing on the big property he tracks on makes sense. If everyone had the discipline to kill a couple of deer a year and one or two bucks I think we could have many more big trophy bucks killed every year. Unfortunately in society today it’s become an all about me thought process.