ORIGINAL: Lanse couche couche
The tag systemwas consistently abused when they had check stations and it will continue to be abusedif they bring it back.And yes, I am all about population control. Not to be harsh, but the people who want to keep things the way they are generally arent the same people who have to deal with crop and property damage from too many deer. I dont really care about the the whole trophy state thing. It is funny that folks like the idea of Illinois being a trophy state, but then complain bitterly about outfitters, leasing, and high land prices that result from the trophy hunting mentality. You see a significant reduction in the deer population, including bucks, and those problems start going away.
The funny thing is that I used to think my way of thinking on the topic was way out of the ordinary. However, over the holidays, I discussed the situation with several folks in my part of Illinois who are pretty hardcore deer hunters and who like to go after the big bucks. Surprisingly, they tended to agree with me. And I know that the majority of large landowners in my area (many of whom don't even hunt) agree with me.
Lanse,
Don't get me wrong. I agree that something needs to be done about the deer population. Our doe population is out of control! With that being said, I love deer hunting in IL. for one reason and one reason only. Big Bucks!IL. will always have big bucks. With that we will always have outfitters. With outfitters we will always have a large doe population. With our current tag system we will never come close to having an accurate harvest number. Our harvest number was down over 80,000 deer this year bow and gun season combined. That right there tells me the call in system does not work. Sure the check station method was abused as well, but not nearly as bad as the call in system.
If we continue with what we are doing right now the problem will take care of itself. Eventually we will run out of quality deer and the out of state hunters will seek other states like Iowa and the new sleeper state of Indiana for large bucks. This will include the guy from PA that I ran off of my hunting ground three times during gun season. The third time the game warden was called and he was given a ticket after I called the landowner and he came to the scene. The exact words from this guys mouth was, " This $250 fine is a lot cheaper than a guided hunt in Pike Co."
To make any difference with our exploding doe population we will have to lean towards a earn abuck program and re-instate check stations. You will get your buck tag when you check your doe in at the check station. Buck tags would not be able to be sold over the counter. This will never happen in IL. do to the Chicago politics who do not care about funding our DNR.