Yotetrapper, a couple things jump out at me that you said. 1st, the number of exempt hunters. I'm assuming when they put their license # on there that you just pull their info. But there are many exempt hunters (and will grow as people get older) that have lifetime license. I'm 48 with a lifetime license and I'm exempt. Seems the info ya'll get from that is not going to affect me good or bad, more for ya'lls benefit, therefor I won't have heartburn over it.

The 2nd one I will have a problem with BUT I DON'T PRETEND TO HAVE THE ANSWER! As I said earlier, you take 1 county and have great variance from one side to the other. So you take the average for a limit which will be too low for one side and too high for the other. Lets face it, we all are more concerned with the deer we hunt. Sure, I may care about the herd in North Alabama but I am WAY more concerned about where I hunt. The county I'm in is like that. I kill 1 doe a year for and older man and I always go to where the pop. is higher and rarely kill ANY deer where the pop. has dropped. I also have been trapping coyotes in the low pop. area. Like ya'll, I'm trying to do my part even if I may be doing wrong But I keep on trying.

I am license exempt. I only hunt land owned by myself. My point was the license exempt or licensed hunters I see as doing nothing for the herd, only the Dept...which is fine. Maybe it will help. I was referring to the number of exempts (people reaching age 65) as growing. They may call in and say exempt instead of using their lifetime license number. But as I said, no big deal.

Centralala you kind of hit on something not to change the subject but we have more predators now ( coyotes ) and the coons and fox really do a number on the turkeys then you think of habitat and the fact that all or a great deal of oaks dont exist anymore ( pine plantations ) thick and dense not desired by wildlife and those few things i believe have made a huge difference in our wildlife .

I think I have a grasp of what you are saying. If the person has a lifetime license and also gets a H.E.L.P. Number the Gamecheck program should put the 2 together.
Along that line... Director Sykes also talked of a unique Conservation ID number that would be assigned to each hunter. This will likely not come about until next year, but it will be much like a drivers license number, but for hunters. It would be a unique 6 digit number for each hunter that would follow that person for their lifetime. This number would make GameCheck easier and make finding the number of hunters in the state easier.

So we'd have a Hunter Education number, HELP number, a Conservation ID number ... or just one?

(After being given new Lifetime licenses with an updated number, to replace the previous number.)

One universal number would be best, of course.

I appreciate your patients with my dumb@$$. The problem is I have gotten trucks or equipment stuck, and I ain't talking a little bit stuck, for 5 consecutive days now. So, my wife banned me from all that for today and I have too much time on my hands. So, put it in dumb@$$ terms that I can understand: What's the ultimate goal? How was this goal decided on?

Another explanation: I have some medical stuff coming up for me and a family member an won't be able to attend a meeting between the 2 of us be laid up.

Ultimate goal: Get better data to better manage Alabama's Natural Resources.

Ultimate goal: Get better data to better manage Alabama's Natural Resources.

I think that is a great goal. I can't speak for others but I'm still scratching my head as to how this new system will really help in accomplishing this goal???

Last year, I only killed one buck and one doe. Was that too many, just right, or not enough? I would think that more data is needed to accurately answer this question. So, just how helpful is the harvest data? With clubs wanting to grow better/bigger deer, I wonder if the models that may have been used in the past are still applicable. This does assume that models are used.

Does anyone know how the data will be used in order to better manage the "natural resources"? Are the goals to decrease the deer herd, maintain it, or increase it? Is the goal fewer yet bigger deer? Does anybody have any answers to these questions?

Please don't get me wrong, if the data can be used to better manage, then I'm all for it. If the form had mandatory information and voluntary information, I would gladly provide additional information if it was helpful to better managing the resources. I am not in favor of it just to be like other states.

I am also in favor of it if it will deter others from killing over the limit. I really think that may be the main goal, to manage the hunters. If processors were required to have a confirmation number, that would keep some people from continually just printing out a new license.

I certainly don't have all the answers, but it is a lot easier for me to comply when I understand the usefulness and purpose of a regulation or law.

My 2 cents (which is 2 cents more than it is worth).

There’s just too many variables that must be taken into consideration when deciding how many deer need to be taken from an area, or better yet…how many deer CAN be taken (sustainable yield). My uncles club has half the deer population of mine but they kill more deer than we do because they have much laxer rules. This is a difference in management practices. How is this taken into consideration? How can you decide what he and I need to do from only looking at data that says he kills more? Habitat type must also be taken into account as well as habitat (vegetation) management of an individual parcel. Something as simple as thinning and burning effects how many deer a property can sustain compared to one that may lie right next door. How can you assess these variable through kill numbers alone?

The Conservation Number would be a unique number for every individual that never changes for that individual. Currently, unless you have a lifetime license, your license number changes every year and is 16 digits long. With a number that is 6 digits and doesn't change you could memorize it/write it down and then be able to check in deer/turkey with a little more ease and precision.(numerous people have made mistakes imputing their 16 digit license number in the Gamecheck system. 6 digits leave much less chance of error than 16 digits.).