So what is the responsibility of the GFC? I made this argument decades ago as a member of the deer committee that recommended buck restictions. Why can't a deer manager/property owner/hunter manage his deer population to harvest only spikes or yearlings? What if he/she didn't care about older bucks? Is it the States responsibility to have a "mature" buck age structure in the population or only to allow people to manage "their" herd as they see fit. As long as they don't wipe them out, they should be able to manage for 1) maximum population 2) minimum population 3) trophy bucks 4) shooting any bucks. Should we rely on the State to tell us how many deer we need on our place and what the sex/age structure should be? Hmmm...............
I work on properties where I may kill as many does as I can to keep the population in check. Should I have a "personal limit"? I don't care about horns and haven't shot a buck in at least 15 years and that includes passing 130+" deer.
I love the fact AL residents have the ability to manage how they see fit given the current season structure. That’s a positive in my book. Everyone has different objectives and expectations. That’s where it gets complicated. Just like the small acreage owner who simply wants to put a couple in the freezer each year and don’t care what they are has the ability to do that under current seasons and regs, the guy beside him wants to only kill mature deer, and I find this becoming more difficult each season. I don’t know how it is in south AL, but there’s properties up here being very well managed that might only produce a single 4+ yr old buck every few years 😳. That’s not encouraging. Only options available currently are to sell and buy something by like-minded folks or put up a fence. 🤷🏼♂️ North AL is growing VERY fast and large parcels are getting smaller each day. The smaller parcels are getting more pressure, and it’s really getting difficult to manage deer with a 3.5 month long gun season.
