Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?

[SD51555]

You brought up this point in post #3 of the thread. Is it junk science or sound science that an older age class is bad for cwd? I still think if you're not in a cwd zone then either your dnr hasn't chosen to discover it there yet or has chosen to not address it yet. Seasons and permits will largely always become more liberal in the name of stopping the spread. That was another IL pin we used to get - "Take a Doe so the Herd Won't Grow"

I can't believe anyone is still taking the CWD seriously, or the agencies fighting it.

"No, we're still finding positives. We know you haven't seen any sick deer and none have died, and the population is going higher, but keep shooting... Yeah, all of them."

If CWD would have the potential to reduce the deer population, the game agencies would be out there injecting as many deer with it as they could get their hands on.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I can't believe anyone is still taking the CWD seriously, or the agencies fighting it.

"No, we're still finding positives. We know you haven't seen any sick deer and none have died, and the population is going higher, but keep shooting... Yeah, all of them."

If CWD would have the potential to reduce the deer population, the game agencies would be out there injecting as many deer with it as they could get their hands on.

On list of things I worry about with the deer herd…cwd ranks below blue jays poking deers eyes out. What worries me is the government response. Now if they want to ban baiting because of it I will gladly pretend we have it

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Allow me to add a little data and geographical perspective to help here. I'll try not to be offended that Wisconsin was ignored

Top B&C Whitetail States

View attachment 59608

Complete oveesite on my part! I was put on the spot. The Midwest landscape is like what the Supreme Court said about hardcore porn…you know it when you see it

 

[Brian662]

I am of the opinion that the tag happy legislation being pushed by these state game agencies to combat CWD is a net positive for hunting bigger deer.
IF you desire to hunt bigger class bucks, doe management is essential and likely necessary, IMO. Over population is not the way to manage a herd for trophies, IMO.

 

[Brian662]

Complete oveesite on my part! I was put on the spot. The Midwest landscape is like what the Supreme Court said about hardcore porn…you know it when you see it

 

[OakSeeds]

Allow me to add a little data and geographical perspective to help here. I'll try not to be offended that Wisconsin was ignored

Top B&C Whitetail States

View attachment 59608

What is the time period? Can you break it out for the past 10 yrs and 20 yrs? Thanks

 

[Brian662]

Forgive the quality, but this is from boone and Crockett website.

 

[Tree Spud]

Complete oveesite on my part! I was put on the spot. The Midwest landscape is like what the Supreme Court said about hardcore porn…you know it when you see it

No problem! I do know horn porn when I see it.

 

[Baker]

Based on the charts above you guys up north should be nothing short of ecstatic. Louisiana doesn't show up, and Mexico isn't even named on the map. I'm definitely hunting on the poor side of the tracks. Doesn't matter what kind of equipment I use, or if I bait. Only advantage is I don't have to have one of those...whats it called? ...thermal body suit?

 

[bwoods11]

I read this discussion of QDM and choosing which buck to kill. So many are lucky to have a choice. The choice is yours if it is legal.

I know many hunters in northern Minnesota who struggled to see a legal target buck this year. One guy hunted all season on private land and saw one fawn.

In a different zone, other hunters have more time, but deer numbers are very low. I suspect most just want some venison for the table.

Be glad you have a choice of legal bucks.

I hunted too many years in the north where we struggled to see a buck. Often we had no doe tags.

If it’s that bad why would the Minnesota DNR still allow hunting in that zone? Difficult choices must be made. Suspend the season until there are actually enough deer to hunt !

 

[BenAllgood]

Some states are getting better in terms of B&C bucks, while others are falling:

Top Trophy Whitetail States for 2023

In 2020, we published Records of North American Whitetail Deer, Sixth Edition. This 700-page whitetail encyclopedia featured 17,000 trophy listings. In addition, we ranked the top 53 states and provinces according to the number of whitetail records listed. Those stats compiled whitetail trophy...

www.boone-crockett.org

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Based on the charts above you guys up north should be nothing short of ecstatic. Louisiana doesn't show up, and Mexico isn't even named on the map. I'm definitely hunting on the poor side of the tracks.

Yeah, our game agencies bank on us being happy with them managing to a tiny sliver of where things could be because the habitat allows it to still be better than elsewhere.

Doesn't matter what kind of equipment I use, or if I bait. Only advantage is I don't have to have one of those...whats it called? ...thermal body suit?

Yes, wildlife management agency decisions matter very little if one is able to buy their way out of sharing the public's wildlife with the rest of the public.

 

[SD51555]

If it’s that bad why would the Minnesota DNR still allow hunting in that zone? Difficult choices must be made. Suspend the season until there are actually enough deer to hunt !

Because they have the deer herd right where they want it. Gone.

This situation is a wet dream for foresters and the state. No deer, no quality fishing, no property value, only place left to sell land is right to the state, and then it's gone forever. Remember, the state needs to acquire 3400 acres of private land every month for the next 12 years to hit their goal of there being no private rec land in MN.

There won't be any deer-positive moves coming from the DNR to save the herd in zone 1. It's going to take lots of hunters quitting or shoving themselves into zone 2 and 3 before anything will rebound. Sounds like we're already well on the way to that. What's really fun is what happens after there are no deer for the wolves and bears to eat.

 

[FarmerDan]

Bone & Crockett is a club designed specifically for midwest whitetail hunters who (I want to use a word here I probably shouldn't) for some reason feel the need to show their boners. I guess a big one is rare? Down here in the south a big one isn't all that uncommon. So, we think nothing of it and use the money it costs to play B&C to buy rounds for our friends!

 

[Baker]

Yes, wildlife management agency decisions matter very little if one is able to buy their way out of sharing the public's wildlife with the rest of the public.

Guess I'll go buy a thermal heated body suit and start bitching about the sorry state of hunting these days. Hard to imagine the insanity of someone investing for the health and well being of the deer vs. the hunter all with the full support and cooperation of the wildlife agencies. Ridiculous really .

 

[omicron1792]

I was gonna say Illinois. It’s a great hunting spot

 

[omicron1792]

Bone & Crockett is a club designed specifically for midwest whitetail hunters who (I want to use a word here I probably shouldn't) for some reason feel the need to show their boners. I guess a big one is rare? Down here in the south a big one isn't all that uncommon. So, we think nothing of it and use the money it costs to play B&C to buy rounds for our friends!

I guess it depends on where in the south. In Alabama over 150” is a rare occurrence. I know a guy that has taken 28 bucks in his life and never over 150”. I have seen one in five years I have owned my property.

In this thread I think I’m in the middle. I think anyone should be able to take any deer they want in a legal manner. I don’t judge anyone for doing that.

AND

My state needs to do more to encourage larger deer (body, age, and rack). We have a 3 buck a year limit and only one has to have 4 points on one side.

Of course there needs to be exceptions for youth and first buck.

We have unlimited doe a year, one a day. That is a good thing here. They keep the ratio way out of whack, and too many smaller/immature bucks get their offspring passed on. So different things are needed in different areas.

 

[FarmerDan]

I guess it depends on where in the south. In Alabama over 150” is a rare occurrence. I know a guy that has taken 28 bucks in his life and never over 150”. I have seen one in five years I have owned my property.

In this thread I think I’m in the middle. I think anyone should be able to take any deer they want in a legal manner. I don’t judge anyone for doing that.

AND

My state needs to do more to encourage larger deer (body, age, and rack). We have a 3 buck a year limit and only one has to have 4 points on one side.

Of course there needs to be exceptions for youth and first buck.

We have unlimited doe a year, one a day. That is a good thing here. They keep the ratio way out of whack, and too many smaller/immature bucks get their offspring passed on. So different things are needed in different areas.

Oh come on! Don't get all factual on me. This thread has progressed way beyond useful, has turned comical, and will surely be featured on Fox News sometime soon! If that offends, then just sit down and have a good laugh.

 

[Bill]

Bone & Crockett is a club designed specifically for midwest whitetail hunters who (I want to use a word here I probably shouldn't) for some reason feel the need to show their boners. I guess a big one is rare? Down here in the south a big one isn't all that uncommon. So, we think nothing of it and use the money it costs to play B&C to buy rounds for our friends!

I'm with Dan. To the point I actually think the stats those guys put out are not a true representation. The guys I know who shoot a booner ain't reporting them anywhere.

 

[Angus 1895]

I read an article about consistency Boone and Crocket or Pand Y hunters in I believe Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The thing they had in common was how little they hunted.

Only late season, and only if the conditions were perfect.