According to GC 31,653 deer have been killed to date. 15,891 bucks and 15,748 does. Does anyone including our state officials believe these numbers are anywhere close to the actual numbers? And if not how does the State use the numbers for anything?

I really have no idea. Regardless which side people fall on, it would be hard to back up their argument. Especially since what happens in one county may be the opposite 20 or 200 miles away.

Why you wanta ask to tricky, loaded questions? And at Christmas time too.

Lol I was bored after the Christmas party and decided to look at the totals. Even with my " so called gloom and doom" outlook on Alabama's deer population ( which I think is not an accurate description of my Outlook btw lol) I do not believe those numbers could be anywhere close. I don't know where we were last year at this point but could compliance actually be getting worse?

IDK. I do know I ain't kilt one yet

I know of several people that haven't reported kills. One guy has killed 3 and hasn't reported. I think just being new rule and feels it really doesn't matter.probably take 20 years to get accurate numbers IMO.

Don't feel like you're alone I am in the same boat lol. My club has killed five deer off 1500 acres so far this year which is two more than we killed all last year so for us at least things are looking better this year. We also make sure that all the deer killed on the club are checked in because we want the State to have all the information they want/need to make the best management decisions but it looks like a lot of hunters do not feel the same way or we have a big problem with our deer population. Even though I have stated before I think our deer population could be increased in this case I think it is more Hunter compliance but I could be wrong.

I agree it looks like it is going to take a while before it could be used for accurate data.

The numbers you posted above tell me that either there are a lot of folks hunting & killing that are not reporting or we are in serious trouble with our deer herd.

I'd venture to say that there is a lot of non reporting going on.

I personally know of some fellas that are still killing however many bucks they want to kill every year.

All of us probably know someone like that.

They aren't reporting anything at all.

Short of catching everyone who doesn't report, I know of no way that Game Check will ever be truly accurate.

How are you going to catch the non-reporters?

I don't think that is possible.

I guess the state has a margin of error built in to cover the non-reporters.

I can't say that I will ever have 100% faith that this system will ever give us an accurate assessment of the state deer herd.

I talked to the guys who own/operate the processor close to me a week ago. They said they have already processed over 1,000 deer.

Now, I know not everyone takes their deer to a processor, and some processors are busier than others, but that's just one in a county with at least 2 more processors that I know of. And Cullman County isn't known for it's deer population.

I'd be interested to hear numbers from processors all over the state and compare those to GC numbers.

If what y'all are saying is accurate that it will take a long time to essentially get good numbers, we are in trouble. We don't have time. Decision, rules, bag limits, and seasons are going to be set off these numbers. All of those done using bad numbers??? GC could be the downfall of hunting as we know it if that's the case. Who really thinks the Dept. will admit it isn't working after say 6 years and have a back up plan ready to go???

If we could somehow get the processors across the State to report those numbers it would probably be eye opening and not to mention more accurate. I wonder if the State ever thought about spending the money required to run and implement GC instead to pay the processors to provide that information which would be way more accurate and useable from the start.

Long ways from our totals so far here in MO

To date so far , season ends Jan 15th

Quick Harvest Summary

Antlered Bucks: 132576
Button Bucks: 28900
Does: 110326
Total: 271802

Give us info. How are deer checked? How long in place? Estimated accuracy?

I'll always say this every chance I get when this topic is presented:

Percentage-wise, virtually nobody is reporting (I'd guess 5% to 15% "maybe"), and even though this will sound contradictory, I think the deer herd is in grave danger. Nowhere that I hunt has even remotely as many deer as it used to. My overall Alabama hunting experience these days is very close to causing me to lose interest. The return on investment isn't worth it anymore. And I don't really think the harvest regs are the problem, not even the liberal doe limits. I think it is the astronomical explosion in the number of hunters, combined with coyotes.

The state will finagle the numbers to support their point of view. Personally, I think the deer population is much lower than stated in Alabama. In Georgia, the processors are indeed involved with reporting deer harvests. I took one a couple of weeks ago, and that was the first thing they asked for was day of kill, license #, and confirmation #. I asked what would happen if I didn't fill it out and the guy told me I could take the deer with me and process it myself. He said the GW comes by every 1-2 weeks to pick up sheets. I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that all processors do this in GA.

Areas vary but there is a large % that would agree with you. A large % in this case I would say is 40+%. We've aged, hunting isn't like it use to be (use to be more of a social event), $$$, and kids have more options for enjoyment. So, I think the boom of hunters is correcting itself. Personally, from my stand point I'm in total agreement with Ikillbux.

I used it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Actually worked pretty well. Reported right in the field with the carcass. The only thing I find backwards is the requirement to have a paper harvest record despite electronic license and reporting. It is just stupid and backwards to make me carry a pen and paper harvest record and fill it out before moving carcass after I've already reported it on Gamecheck. Why the duplication? Have to carry a pen and backup pen in case pen doesn't work. If folks kill a deer and report it electronically on the Gamecheck they should not be made to carry pens and fill out paper in the woods.

If you have the outdoor Alabama app you don't have to carry the paper harvest report. So it has been stated on here.

Ok good to know. Thanks!