My comments were directed at the statement that bowhunting wasn' t a valid game management tool, not against firearms hunters. I have nothing against firearms, I own a few, love to shoot ' em, have friends and family that hunt with firearms, etc. but I bowhunt to give myself a greater handicap against the game I pursue. It is no challenge for me to get within rifle range, even shotgun slug range, of any game animal that I' ve hunted so far.

I realize that bowhunters are the minority and don' t wish to create any wider of a gap than what already exists between firearms hunters and bowhunters. I was only pointing out that the areas where the biggest deer populations are will probably never allow anything other than bowhunting. Consolidating parts of several units into one urban management zone didn' t take any land away from firearms hunters or give any more to bowhunters than what was already there, it just specified where we could fill the rest of our game tags.

I definately agree that the state has no solid data on the deer herd and think that is a very poor way to run any kind of management program. I' d like to see check stations personally, or at least make it mandatory for you to return part of your deer/turkey tag to the state with the same info they send out for antelope and furbearer tags, i.e. days hunted and animals taken, then if you didn' t return the info you wouldn' t be able to buy a tag the next year. Car/deer accidents and spotlighting aren' t giving us any real information on herd structure or harvest numbers. I also think the legislature needs to get out of the wildlife management business and let the trained professionals decide how many tags need to be issued based on hard facts so we don' t lose a valuable resource for all of us to enjoy.

As far as someone shooting a deer with a bow in town and having it die in someones flower bed with mom and the kids looking on, fat chance....almost all the suburban areas that allow bowhunting have to be a minimum of 20 acres so it' s not like we' ll be hunting in anyone' s back yard, and anyone lucky enough to be able to obtain permission will more than likely (hopefully) be very cautious about what they do and how it can be perceived if they have any sense whatsoever. Also, the non-hunters are starting to realize that the deer numbers in these areas are needing to be thinned out and they are the one' s we need to project a good image to, not the anti' s...we won' t change their minds.

I' m trying to be part of the solution, care to join me?

KJr (aka Pain)

Trebarker...my Bowsite handle was already taken on here and I didn' t feel real creative at the time [8D]