ORIGINAL: Trapper22
BowhuntingFool why would you blame the hunters in the EAB areas for not doing there job??? That's a bit idiotic at best. I don't think you read my post or don't grasp the comprehension of it. I'm not a horn hunter and I've said that. I do prefer shoot a buck because I don't see the deer numbers that are supposedly there. I'd rather let a doe go if I have the choice of shooting one or the other at the same time. I don't know of anyone that is a horn hunter on the approx 600 acres of private land I hunt on. We've all done our jobs in harvesting antlerless deer along with bucks when we get the chance.
What everyone is pissed about is the steady decline of deer sightings over the last few years while the DNR implements an EAB for the first time in 2008 in 73D. The deer numbers have been going down in my area before EAB. Why in the hell did we get put in it then? It's political and greed of the DNR to inflate numbers to try to convince people the deer herd is out of control.
It is likely that the deer numbers are above goal in one area of a DMU without a doubt. But when the DNR blankets an entire DMU because of one small area all it's going to do is cause an even bigger decline in sightings in other areas and will harbor resentment from the hunters. That's already happening. I don't trust a DNR employee (herd counter) any farther than I could throw one. I doubt if it would be a problem to get several thousand hunters in the state to do just that. It could be a game just like the DNR is treating deer hunting in this state.
Trap, maybe I was wrong on blaming "all" the hunters for not doing their jobs and not shooting enough Does. But you know and I know that there are old school guys out there that refuse to shoot does because they think it's taboo an are set in their ways and others also don't shoot em' to despite the DNR. Hence the sightings up in one area and down in another area of the same DMU. Like I said before there is a place for EAB in certain areas!
I also think "some" of the deer hunters have been spoiled in some areas of the state with the big numbers over the past few years. They want to be able to walk out into the woods and shoot a deer or two every time in the woods. Now that they may have to work a little for it they don't, they would rather look for a scape goat, they blame the DNR. There were a lot of deer killed this year so they are out there! Hell even my numbers were down a bit, I thought man the winter kill took a lot of deer this past year. Then late season bowhunting there were deer everywhere! Sure they yard up on the food sources but I was seeing big numbers on all the food sources! I counted 68 deer in one fiald while coyote hunting in late jan. Now where were these deer during the season, thats what I'd like to know!
I tell yo this, that job to count the deer is a ruthless one, I wouldn't want it, trying to please all the hunters, ain't gonna happen!