Haven't we already done this?? '70's?

Frankie,
I wasnt calling you dumb. Thats was directed more at Nighthunter's post about the contradictions of the general public.

You are right. There are plenty of people that report that gives them data.
But the larger the sample size & more accurate, the less the error.

Im not sure why some people are so scared of it. I think is our responsibility as a sportsman to help out. They're our animals and I feel like we should all try our best to take care of them. I dont feel like the state biologists are out to hoodwink us in a demented game of gotcha.

lol ,,,, hey whats wrong with seeing 25 does to 1 buck . . i set in macon county one day and saw about 75 cows come through a little later i saw 32 does come through the same trail all in a line like the cows . when we used to run dogs we had to run some places twice to get all the trash run off to get the bucks up . i remember the first few does days , damn what a slaughter it was .

Actually, I understand what they where doing: Building numbers from a decimated resource. But the lag time in correction seemed too long. But of course it always seems too long because I am an impatient person. While they are collecting data and analyzing it I want something done NOW!!

i asked myself , how would mandatory check in help the health of the herd ? my reply was , it won't . counting dead deer will give you data but does squat for helping herd management .

being scared had nothing to do with being against it . the bad in it out weight the good in it over all . imo

the state will always lag . the hunters know what changes are needed and they should make them and not wait on the state to figure out what they (the hunter) already know .

hell , changing minds is the hardest part . people get set in their ways after awhile . over all i think people are better now with changes than back then and they adjust faster.
before they put in the buck limit i was already seeing a lot of hunters getting picky about what they killed .

Frankie- I agree to an extent. We have some great management practices that will never see the light of day due the same lack of support you saw with Game Check. And I don't just mean with hunters... You'll just have to read between the lines on that one.

Yes, changing minds is very difficult. Maybe with more info gathered would assist them in that. One thing for sure, recording buck harvest info and then throwing it away is absolutely stupid. What purpose does that serve??

Now as far as the hunters knowing faster, I agree...for your area. BUT they are looking at the WHOLE state and trying to give a blanket management approach allowing the hunters some leeway. I see a huge difference from one side of a county to the next, let alone the whole state. I'm no whitetail guru but I'm further along than the average Alabama hunter who hasn't even thought about deer season yet. One of the reasons you saw more picky hunters was education. Another reason was the false allusion that what they saw on TV happens everywhere.

nature of the beast . the government is either a day late and a dollar short or tripping over it's own self . it's meant to be that way .

i think over all the state is doing ok .

Yes it does work that way. It should not need to be explained. When you kill a doe you also kill the bucks that would have come from her. When I hear people say we need to kill more does, I want to ask if they know where babies come from. But since that may be considered derogatory, I wont do that here.

I agree that there is a lag in the laws. We waited to long to allow does to be killed, but now the pendulum has swung to far.
There was a very marked change in the hunting when they opened up does for the whole season. I went from seeing 10-20 deer every weekend to 10-20 a year. The deer where I hunt were never overpopulated. The deer are not bigger now. There are just less of them, a lot less. I am not saying to not kill any does like in the 70's, but it should be limited. We had it as close to right as you can get in the 90's with the doe days. With doe days there is no need for tags. It is legal or it ain't depending on the day. with limited does killed there will also be no need to tag bucks, because there will be more of them. So for those who say we don't want more government intrusion into hunting than is necessary, well this would do it.

The three buck rule is ridiculous. Me for example, I have three properties that I hunt in three different counties. what I kill in one county will have no impact on the other places I hunt. I am not alone. For example if someone wants to hunt public property during bow season and kills three bucks. They would not be able to hunt their own property no matter where in the state it is.

I do appreciate the idea of liberal seasons, which in theory allows each landowner to make their own decisions. But what happens is the neighbors manage for you. I cannot manage a deer population that is no longer there.

Damn right, one of my favorite posts. And I really wish someone would enforce it. Madison county needs much better game wardens.

I have told this before on this site, but I will tell again.
I have one property in that is surrounded by doe killing machines. when I talk to them they only think that we need to kill more. As stated above I may see 10 -20 deer a year there. across the river I have another property. We will kill a few does a year. our neighbors might kill a couple. and we will see deer every time we go. and yes big bucks, wall hanger bucks. these two places are only about a 15 minute drive apart. The only real difference in management is the number of does killed. Unless you are truly overpopulated (very rare), the only thing killing does does is make less deer.

I feel its also up to each club to help enforce buck limits. If a member is killing more than the limits its damaging their club herd. While they may not be able to arrest they can call a gamewarden or kick the member out of the club.

Bingo!

47 has a couple of great wardens. Only problem, there are only two. Those guys go all out. If you need them just make the call. Hat's off to them. They have never failed to come when I call. Most times they beat me to the offenders.
The state is gonna have to 'pony up' for it to get any better, and they ain't. Not in the near future I'm sad to say.

I will relate it to the Red Snapper in the Gulf, started limiting size and season and the fish have gotten bigger as a result

Yeah, because the two we have here are just so horrible, never do anything, sit around eatin' donuts all the time and let the bad guys have the run of the county.