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

[roymunson]

Boys...Just throwing out a thought that might rekindle the joy of just hunting. Pick up a trad bow and hunt from the inside 15 yd game. You'll see just about every deer as a trophy whether you shoot or not just to get them so close. I"ve been at full draw twice so far this year on 2 bucks but 1st never offered shot I needed and 2nd busted me just as I was settling in on anchor. It's a blast.

My oldest son and oldest grandson took 2 nice bucks this week. One with rifle and other with compound. But we've yet to kill a 5 yr old deer off my farm since starting this journey in 2011.

everyone says archery is more up close and personal, but the older I get, the more I want to reach out and hammer one when i pull the trigger. No tracking, just devestating terminal velocity.

 

[Triple C]

My neighbor to my east is 1400 acre high fence. Has been since I bought my place. Says he fenced to keep em from stacking up on his property line to shoot the first 2.5 or 3.5 yr old that crossed over. I've been on his place several times. Just think about 1400 acres behind a fence and you trying to locate a specific deer or two wandering over that much land. They are as wild as an deer on my place.

One of the reasons I thought we could grow em to an old age was high fence to my east, cattle farmer to my west with little hunting, and big swamp on my south. All I did was spend money feeding deer to have them walk across the dirt road to neighbors on my north. Good ol' boys that were quick to tell me they just hunted with no regard to age or rack size.

3 month long firearms season and 2 buck limit and a bunch of guys following the state regs. All I could do was congratulate em. No desire on their part to manage for age and really none of my biz to tell em how they should manage.

We've since lowered our standards and enjoying hunting more.

 

[roymunson]

We've since lowered our standards and enjoy more.

That was the case for my first and 3rd wife...



HEY OHHHHHH!!!!

 

[Tree Spud]

I think a bunch of posts are missing the point. I don’t think numbers will decline. Maybe the contrary. I all but guarantee less than 10% of the shots I heard this weekend were does. I also would be willing to be an overwhelming majority were 2.5/3.5 year old bucks. This is what I’m referring to as a decline in quality. We have become so efficient at killing, and frankly so many hunters seem content on the first 120” deer (I’m using that as a midwest metric, inches in your neck of the woods may vary!) that walks by that the end result of a weekend in the woods is rarely in question…an immature buck will die.

Yes there are outliers and anomalies and exceptions to every rule and every behavior. There are guys who are trying to manage and balance a herd and get the bucks to maturity. Unfortunately “it takes a village”! Unless you are that .01% that owns enough land, eventually I believe, your deer quality will fall.

And for everyone that says it’s all great where I’m at, awesome. But these things operate on a lag. All this cheap tech at our disposal and certain ridiculous laws are just making their way into the herd dynamics. It could be several years before we have the clarity of hindsight to say remember when….

I agree with you; however, this is not a new trend. This type of hunting has gone on in Wisconsin for decades. Shooting the 1st young buck they see is very common for many hunters. Unfortunately this can have a negative impact on herd health and viability over time. Bucks that get to 4-5 yo or older, have found away to avoid all the threats (predators, hunters, fighting, disease, hard winters, etc.). These alpha type animals in any animal group are the key backbone to survival of the herd. They pass on the strong genetic traits that helps to insure higher survival rates and a healthier herd. If you eliminate a large portion of the young bucks, 3 yo and younger, you reduce the effectiveness of natural selection and it's ability to allow the best genetics suited to heard health to advance.

 

[roymunson]

So dumb, possibly uber dumb question, but is there any validity to pursuing a sort of "slot limit?"

I'd be tempted to challenge a neighbor to, for 1 year, pass on all bucks unless you know it's 5 years old, or if you have to kill a buck, shoot a first year buck.
None of them would. But If I could find a way for a 3 year old to slip thru to 4, maybe he outsmarts everyone for a year, and you've got a stud to hunt after that...

Just a thought. Kill either a dink if you must, or wait on a giant. Otherwise, fill the freezer and have a blast doing it.

 

[bwoods11]

This comes down to more seasons, longer seasons, more weapons, timing of the seasons, too many tags, and zero interest in letting some bucks get beyond 2 of 3 years old !

Each state should look at how they have made it easier for the hunter and more difficult for deer to survive !

In Minnesota for example my area has 29 gun season days ! Way too many hunters and it’s during the PEAK of the rut ! Absolutely terrible management!

Ironically Minnesota had been trying to find ways for sunfish to get older and bigger, but not one initiative to allow a buck to get older and have more than a yearling rack !

 

[Bill Loser]

Gotcha so this dudes actions, while perfectly legal, are having a negative effect on your enjoyment. So kinda like guys shooting 90% of 2 and 3 years around me having a negative impact on

Incidentally, Ohio's was the first hunter education course I took, when I was maybe 12, and then Norway, and most recently Ontario. I have never taken a "hunter safety" class.

Well I apologize, back in the day when I took it it was called Hunter safety. 10 or 15 years ago when I took my nephew through the class it was called Hunter safety, 6 years ago when I took my son through it it was called Hunter safety.
And yes, it was a class on how to be safe hunters. I don't remember any instructor telling the students to beware of which buck they shoot for fear of offending the neighbor. Nor should they. They didn't even talk about how to age a deer,can you believe it. Only focused on how not to fall out of a tree stand, and to properly carry a firearm, you know dumb stuff like that

 

[Telemark]

I don't remember any instructor telling the students to beware of which buck they shoot for fear of offending the neighbor. Nor should they.

So far, no one but you has even suggested that.

 

[Bill Loser]

So far, no one but you has even suggested that.

On the contrary, it's been said on here a couple of times that QDM should be taught in the Hunter's education.

 

[Telemark]

On the contrary, it's been said on here a couple of times that QDM should be taught in the Hunter's education.

QDM does not mean "beware of which buck they shoot for fear of offending the neighbor". I don't know where you got the idea that it does.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

So far, no one but you has even suggested that.

You must not have run that through the Bill Loser translator.

Normal person hears: Educating new hunters about herd health, age progression, and sex ratios
After running through the translator: all your neighbors will tell you you suck if you shoot a young buck

 

[Bill Loser]

QDM does not mean "beware of which buck they shoot for fear of offending the neighbor". I don't know where you got the idea that it does

Read this whole thread.

 

[Turkish]

Gotcha so this dudes actions, while perfectly legal, are having a negative effect on your enjoyment. So kinda like guys shooting 90% of 2 and 3 years around me having a negative impact on my enjoyment. Your hypocrisy is impressive

If we’re being fair, I find it pretty ironic you’d start a rant like this after making post #46 on your land tour thread, too.

I really hope this doesn’t come across as offensive. I’d tell my best friend the same things: you own 7 figures worth of land and have the time to travel from hours away frequently to manage and hunt it. You got to watch a deer across multiple seasons and kill it. In terms of “haves and have-nots” of the deer hunting world, you're way better than a 1-percenter in the 1-percenters.The whitetail world is your oyster. If you can’t have fun deer hunting how you’re doing it, your expectations are ??. Not to make this about the $$ but you have the stroke to fix your problem.

Eta: fat fingered the post #.

 

[Bill Loser]

You must not have run that through the Bill Loser translator.

Normal person hears: Educating new hunters about herd health, age progression, and sex ratios
After running through the translator: all your neighbors will tell you you suck if you shoot a young buck

Kind of funny yet. Sad how offended you get just because someone happens to disagree with you.

 

[Telemark]

Read this whole thread.

I've read the whole thing. Literally no one is suggesting what you are claiming. Quite the contrary. I suggested quality deer management should be taught along with other aspects of habitat management, which are already being taught, in hunter education classes. This gives new hunters more information which could better inform their choices. I certainly wish I had been taught such things when I was 12, as I would have started managing habitat for deer 30 years ago instead of less than 10 years ago.

How you twist that into telling other people what to shoot is beyond me.

 

[hillrunner]

I thought this post was about technology in hunting? Lol

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I thought this post was about technology in hunting? Lol

It has devolved! Haha

 

[Wind Gypsy]

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[Angus 1895]

I feel empathy towards people whose quality of entertainment is dependent on the behavior of others.

Sad really.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

If we’re being fair, I find it pretty ironic you’d start a rant like this after making post #45 on your land tour thread, too.

I really hope this doesn’t come across as offensive. I’d tell my best friend the same things: you own 7 figures worth of land and have the time to travel from hours away frequently to manage and hunt it. You got to watch a deer across multiple seasons and kill it. In terms of “haves and have-nots” of the deer hunting world, you're way better than a 1-percenter in the 1-percenters.The whitetail world is your oyster. If you can’t have fun deer hunting how you’re doing it, your expectations are ??. Not to make this about the $$ but you have the stroke to fix your problem.

Post 45 is windy gypsy joking about buying 20 acres?

But I get your point. I’m beyond fortunate but truthfully we all are. We get to hunt and most of us on our own slice of heaven. I also need to qualify, everything I have I worked for and I sacrificed. I wasn’t given anything. I made a lot of decisions personally and professionally that put me in my position. As we all have here im almost certain. So do I feel a bit cheated when I have so much invested and a neighbor rolls up Friday before the season and shoots a 2.5 year old Saturday am of gun season, yep I do. But all I can do is poke my lip out and hopefully make my property better so they don’t wander, which is a fools errand but I keep trying. My investments don’t entitle me to crap! In my perfect world I wish I could just get through to at least my neighbors that everyone’s experience would be exponentially better if we worked toward a balanced herd and a higher age class if buck.

This thread went in another direction from the intent, and that’s all good. Personally I’m a bit concerned where all this headed.