ahunter55: Don't be moronic. Discuss what I wrote,not what you think I meant.

I never said or implied killing for the sake of killing. I talked about deeer density statewide. For clarification, I am talking about having a statewide, and county-wide, deer density that makes more biological sense. Not loads of deer everywhere just so we can see them or hunt them easily, but a density that is more in line with best management practices. It is likely that deer populations (and definitely densities) are at historical highs, is that necessarily a good thing?

Why do people have such a thing for the number of bucks harvested per year? I am all for controlling the number of permits of each type that are made available each year, but most of the time, people are more concerned with the number of bucks they see everyday vs. the number that SHOULD be in the population. As long as we have a healthy buck:doe ratio, locally and overall, properly managed by controlling the number of permits of each type, what does it matter?

One other thing, if you think IL deer are really managed by archery permits, then we should probably just stop this conversation. It's true, archery does have an impact. But, when compared to the impacts of the firearms season, archery harvests have very little effect.

Il Bow Man: I hear what you're saying, but as long as the meat isn't wasted when it's given away, someones using it. Why is that bad? I don't see anything wrong with people hunting for the sake of hunting, as lomg as the meat is ALWAYS used. Besides, if they are using others' tags, that's already illegal and they should be prosecuted.

IL Buck: 20 deer per square mile is a good bit of deer. 50-80 in a 5 mile linear drive is even more. That's a lot, just about wherever you are.