I consider myself a fair hunter in terms of how seriously I take it and how successful I am in it. I will say that deer numbers in all of the areas that I hunt are down significantly in the last 3 or 4 years. But that was the intention of Gary's program now wasn't it? Shoot more does and reduce the number of 1.5 year old bucks taken. Well, he has accomplished that. The question is when is it enough? As mentioned we cannot have blanket policies that govern most if not all of the state. The herd needs to be micromanaged. The current WMUs are much too large to be effective in controlling deer numbers within them. The difference between private and public land alone is enough to justify changes in the deer management policies.

I feel very fortunate to have taken a nice buck during archery season this year and I hope to be as fortunate next year. However, I do believe that the intensive hunting of does really needs to be cut back at this point. Many public land areas are being decimated by the generous seasons and bag limits. We really need to....

1) Reduce that two week rifle season for does. I don't have any specific suggestions but two full weeks is just too much considering the current herd levels in some areas.

2) Eliminate or further regulate the early muzzleloader season in October.

3) Reduce the number of doe tags issued specifically to heavily pressured areas. It does no good to issue 40,000 tags to a Wildlife Management Unitwith heavily pressured but limited public hunting land.