Well, tomorrow is 10/1, a date the will live in infamy for the DE Deer
Herd. The politically motivated Shotgun Antlerless October season begins.
Unless you are a landowner or are hunting a landowners property that is
suffering a major economic loss due to deer, I'm appealing to you to join
me in Boycotting these seasons!

I will remind you of the following Facts:

1) DNREC does not have solid data on Deer numbers by zone
2) This season system has not been tested in any other part of the
country, therefore DNREC has no basis to conclude it will do the job
3) These seasons weren't brought on by crop loss or deer exceeding the
carrying capacity of the land as DNREC would have to believe. They were
brought on by pressure from the legislators whose constituents have moved
into developments that recently were farm country. People that are crying
that their flowers and trees are being grazed on. The thing to do is slow down
sprawl, not shoot all the deer. Bottom line, this is not science, this is
political.

I can certainly understand the temptation to take advantage of the season
if you primarily gun hunt. Its been a long time since January. Its
getting nice and cool and cabin fever is really setting in. But try and
fight the temptation. Don't be a DNREC pawn. If the kill does not rise,
DNREC will be forced to abandon this plan and explore other methods
that are proven to work (eg; QDM, AR and support Sunday hunting if we the
hunters get our Reps to put a Bill on the floor of the state house). If
these seasons continue, guaranteed you will see a drop deer numbers, maybe
to near zero in zones where overpopulation is not currently a problem. The
quality of the Traditional Muzzle Loader and Shotguns Season we all now
enjoy will drop. The Deer and the Hunters will be the losers. The only winners
will be the yuppies buying all the houses south of the CD Canal, Insurance
companies who dont want to pay deer/car collision pay outs and the
politicians who bend over for those people. Dont be fooled.

I will not hunt these 8 Shotgun days with Bow or Gun. Maybe I'll hunt on
QDM areas that aren't participating in them. Maybe i'll hunt in NJ where
the guns are quiet. Maybe I'll just goose hunt. Or maybe I'll just stay
home. But I wont participate in a potential slaughter season that has no
scientific basis and clearly politically motivated. I'll hope you all at
least give it some thought before you head tomorrow.