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I also talked with John Mezerol of the F&W council. he agrees that the late shotgun/muzzloader days are not good and working against the promotion of an older age class of bucks. He is also open to suggestions to improve the quality of hunting in NJ, without going back to the harvest of 85% bucks in the extended archery season.
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John, I'm not sure what you mean by this. If someone told you that 85% of the buck harvest is/was happening during extended bow, they fed you a big fairy tale. Just look at the number taken during 6-day firearm and you see that it is almost 50 percent of the antlered harvest alone, not counting permit shotgun, muzzleloader and fall bow.

Now, if you are trying to say that more than 80 percent of the deer taken in extended bow are/were bucks, I would agree, and add that you are not going to be able to change that. Extended bow is the month of November, and the rut. I'm pretty sure 8 out of 10 bowhunters will wait for a buck during the rut. The only way to change that is to cancel the extended bow season, or don't issue buck tags for it, in which case, you will not sell too many permits. I would hope that the UBNJ would fight for the bowhunters of NJ, and against these types of programs, instead of towing the F & W line that got us into this mess in the first place. From reading the comments you posted made by Mr. Mezerol, I think the bank-a-doe for EAB is off the table, as well as issuing fewer buck stubs, but allowing a hunter to fill them with his weapon of choice. Both of these things we discussed would allow bow hunters to take bucks in November, which we all know is a big problem with The Federation, and by extension, many members of the Council.
Looks like a rough road for archers in NJ.

Edited by - NJ_Bowhntr on 01/15/2003 10:05:42