When I was about 5ish back in 2000, we would see herds of deer in the cow pasture behind the house. We literally haven’t seen deer back there since I was about 7. Wrr we had about 8 that would bed in a little patch of trees right in the middle of a field. It’s nearly impossible to see a deer period on our property now. Something changed

About 5% in the NE corner has limited doe days-

Killing one doe can deplete a local herd of a pile of deer over a five year period. You gotta think about the fawns that one doe could have plus the fawns of those fawns. And that’s just one deer. I know some areas don’t have the deer that other areas do but we have to manage the natural resources in some type of way. The unlimited doe slaughtering has not helped people see numbers of deer. The goal of doe killing is a healthy balance of does to bucks and how many can healthily sustain on one property but that’s property specific. There is no way for a state biologist to set seasons that will benefit everyone’s property. The open season allows you as the leasee or land owner to determine that for yourself. You can shoot as many as you want or sit back and watch the population jump. I think a big problem is that people are paying good money to join clubs or leases and are wanting to get there money’s worth. They don’t see many deer from the over harvest of the does from so many years ago and they want to jump from lease to lease or club to club. That just drives the demand up for property. I think if people saw more deer in general they would be happier with their investments. If that’s the case bring back the doe days and allow the population to thrive all across the state. Set several weeks of the long drawn out season to allow harvest of does and that could be done more or less by zones. I feel like Alabama has back tracked in the overall good or management of its natural resources and now it’s all about money.

I thought one of the benefits of the "bait license" money was to hire more game wardens for the areas that need more help. Has that happened yet, and is it still in the budget?

I wouldn't think that would happen immediately. I wish it would. They've been down about 20-25 spots (counting admin) for years, unless that number has decreased in the last 10 or so. Hiring new ones seemed to be a perpetual challenge for many reasons.

not happening. No "extra" money EVER goes to hiring more GWs.

I figured the bait license money would just be treated like CCW permits issued by sheriffs....to be used at Chuck's "discretion".

Nope. Too many does on farm. I hope the farmer lays them down this year

Sounds like you need some more hunters.

I think part of the problem is these mega neighborhoods. They are covered up with does. Heard of them and they get counted into the states numbers. I live in one in Bham and we see doe everyday, they eat anything you put out flower wise. And when I visited a friend in Hville, same thing. We saw 30 plus doe. On my hunting lease we've seen 4 does and 7 bucks, all year. I think they should limit it to one doe and end doe days before January each year

[img]https://imgur.com/a/eVv9iqD[/img]

Looks like they are doing there part in Beaverton to keep the population in check.

Sounds like you need some help controlling that doe population. Just saying I ain't far from ya, have rifle/will travel.

No.

Its hard enough getting into the woods for some people. If you want to limit # of deer killed then limit the # allowed for the season but let the hunter choose when to take them.

the dept pushed liberal doe killing for 30 years, saying you could not kill too many does by lawful hunting. All the while denying that coyotes had ANY effect on deer numbers.

Yet here we are in 2020.....

Maybe,maybe not, depends on where you are. Location, location, location.

That's really sad. And I bet that's how most leases are now. I don't like new laws, though.

Maybe y'all should just kill more does so that you can see more deer?

Yep

The actual truth isn't on either side, it's in the middle.
Yes you can kill too many does, but the average Joe on average land can't.
Yes coyotes do kill "some" deer but nowhere even close to the stats published by recently (Overfunded and highly profitable) published studies.

Question. Why have the members of your club slaughtered the doe's to the point of extinction? Just because they say you can kill a doe a day, doesn't mean you should. How a bout each club set their own rules on their belief and their deer sightings and leave the govt out of it. You suburbanites need to get together and do some bowhunting in your subdivisions.