Dont forget - DNR still has a harvest goal to meet. Usually, increasing buck age structure requires reducing harvest - not something most agencies agee with - especially in the days of cwd. And older bucks are the worst in the eyes of cwd managers
It is easy to come up with a plan that promotes buck age. It is much more difficult to come up with a plan that does that and allows statewide harvest to remain static. Remember, states like Iowa have already reduced the deer population by 1/3 - and the resulting harvest followed suit. Typically, requested changes are not looked at in favor by dnr if those changes result in a corresponding increase in deer population. It is difficult to regulate an
increase in average buck age without increasing deer population or skewing buck doe ratios.
I went through this twelve years ago with our dnr - unsuccessfully I might add. That is when the light finally went off in my head - time to stop blaming gun hunters, crossbow hunters, baiting - everything I could think of - I wanted everyone else to change to suit me. I finally figured out “me”’was the problem. Since then, I have strived to make my place the best I can, reduce our harvest so the neighbors can take what they need - and stop whining. No, we dont kill booners every year. Never have got a pic of one - but we do better than most.
I carried a deer into the local taxidermist a couple years ago - I think a 148”. There were a couple other folks in there dropping off deer heads. The taxidermist told those other folks - before she ever saw the deer I brought - she said “come here and look at this deer - free range - and this man brings them in as consistent as anyone around”. Made me feel good. It isnt about bringing in the biggest deer in the world - it is about consistently producing deer bigger than the rest of the neighborhood - in spite of the adversity. I do what I can do and dont worry about what others are doing.
It is easy to come up with a plan that promotes buck age. It is much more difficult to come up with a plan that does that and allows statewide harvest to remain static. Remember, states like Iowa have already reduced the deer population by 1/3 - and the resulting harvest followed suit. Typically, requested changes are not looked at in favor by dnr if those changes result in a corresponding increase in deer population. It is difficult to regulate an
increase in average buck age without increasing deer population or skewing buck doe ratios.
I went through this twelve years ago with our dnr - unsuccessfully I might add. That is when the light finally went off in my head - time to stop blaming gun hunters, crossbow hunters, baiting - everything I could think of - I wanted everyone else to change to suit me. I finally figured out “me”’was the problem. Since then, I have strived to make my place the best I can, reduce our harvest so the neighbors can take what they need - and stop whining. No, we dont kill booners every year. Never have got a pic of one - but we do better than most.
I carried a deer into the local taxidermist a couple years ago - I think a 148”. There were a couple other folks in there dropping off deer heads. The taxidermist told those other folks - before she ever saw the deer I brought - she said “come here and look at this deer - free range - and this man brings them in as consistent as anyone around”. Made me feel good. It isnt about bringing in the biggest deer in the world - it is about consistently producing deer bigger than the rest of the neighborhood - in spite of the adversity. I do what I can do and dont worry about what others are doing.
