ORIGINAL: TJF
ORIGINAL: davidmil
Well there's more to play here than just growing macho bucks. Hunting is a tradition and gun hunting in particular that started long before archery became popular. It's traditionally been done at this time of year since forever. On top of that, when's the best time to get a big old mature buck? During the rut. Move the gun season to an earlier time or a much later time and the old boys are in seclusion. So after a week of banging around the woods with no big buck showing all the firestick hunters would start unloading on the little guys to fill their tags. Time of year isn't the problem if you want to grow big bucks. Antler restrictions would be more effective. November is the perfect time of year to be hunting deer. The weather is more suitable for comfortable hunting, meat preservation and visibility to cut down on accidents. You want to take away the best time of year for hunting simply because you want bigger bucks. That's a pretty selfish wish I think.
Dave very good post... butyou forgot a few things. The State uses the rifle/slug hunters to manage the deer population since it is the most effective way to manage them.If bowhunters were effective, wouldn't we be the one with 9 days seasons, 2.5 week seasons and ect... ?? Out of all deer hunters... what percent bow hunt?? What percent bow hunt only?? Look at the big picture.
What are we complaining about ?? We have long seasons. We shootyoung bucks also. Most of us don't know what we are talking about when it comes to managing a deer herd at a state level. Heck the majority of the hunters only see the deer woods during hunting season. What about the rest of the year ?? Managing for a state is just a tiny bit different thenQDM on100 acres.
Hate to say it but I would rather the State manage the deer herd then hunters. We've been down that road. Remember the buffalo ??
And yes you are right. We tend to be selfish for our own goals and over look the bigger picture when it comes tomanaging the deer herd.
Tim
Yup, we agree. I thought it was a universally acknowleged truth that gun hunters control the population.