monster10rackstack

i agree with you oneverypoint arrowmaster except if the deer herd is out of balance why not shoot a couple does even if the are smaller. the gun season is to long and i would like to see a much shorter gun season and maybe a early season primitave antler-less 2 or so days long as far a only shooting bucks 140 and above im with you on that to thats my standard too i also only use my bow and ocasionally my hawken on a late season stalk hunt one buck has help around my area but i would like tosee somethoughtaboutearn a buck tags

TROPHYHUNTER25

I hunt in 2 diffrent counties. Lagrange and elkhart. There are deer every where in lagrange but in elkhart. there hit or miss one area will have a few or none the other over flowing. I think the gun season is too long but think we should have an area season. meaning sertain counties have longer than others.

dbowling

WHILE BIG BUCKS ARE NICE HUNTING FOR THEM IS WHATS GOING TO RUIN HUNTING IN INDIANA, THE BIGGER BUCKS YOUR STATE PRODUCES THE LESS LAND THE NORMAL GUY WILL HAVE TO HUNT, LAND WHERE THE BIG BUCKS ARE KILLED WILL BE SNAPPED UP BY THE GREAT TROPHY HUNTERS. WHILE I LIKE BIG DEER SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE I HUNT BECAUSE I EAT THE DEER I KILL(ALL OF THEM) AND WHEN I KILL A BIG BUCK ITS A BONUS, I DONT MAKE MY LIFE(EGO) REVOLVE AROUND THEM. A OLD DOE IS 10 TIMES HARDER TO KILL THEN THE SAME AGE BUCK. I LIVE IN FAR WEST CENTRAL INDIANA AND JUST LOST 1,000 ACRES TO HUNT DO TO THE FARMER LEASING IT AFTER SAYING HE WOULD NEVER LEASE IT, MONEY TALKS. SO EVERYBODY KEEP HOLLERING FOR TROPHY DEER AND SEE HOW LONG YOULL BE ABLE TO HUNT THAT GREAT "PRIVATE" PIECE OF PROPERTY YOU HAVE,WILL ALWAYS BE PUBLIC LAND FOR FUTURE TROPHY HUNTERS...THIS IS JUST MY OPINION BUT I SEE PRIVATE LAND OUT HERE WHERE I LIVED DISAPPEARING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS..

TROPHYHUNTER25

IF YOU WANT TO INSURE A PLACE TO HUNT THEN BUY SOME LAND. I OWN THE LAND I HUNT ON. NOBODY ELSE IN THE ARE MANAGES DEER AND THERES NOT HUGE DEER SHOT ALL AROUND THERE. AND I CANT EVEN LEASE A PIECE OF PROPERTY. FOR EVERY BODY THAT HUNTS FOR FREE ON SOMEONES LAND AND CRIES BECAUSE SOMEONE CAME UP TO THE FARMER AND OFFERED HIM MONEY TO HUNT THERE TO HELP HIM PAY FOR THE LAND AND TAXES,THAT YOU HUNT ON FOR FREE, I GET A LITTLE CHUCKLE. NOW IF YOU OFFERED THE LAND OWNER MONEY THEN THAT SUCKS FOR YOU AND I WOULD BE MAD TOO. ITS NOTJUST TROPHY HUNTERS THAT ARE LEASING ALL THE LAND. PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF OTHER HUNTERS RUINING THERE HUNT ON PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SO THERE INSURING THEY HAVE A SPOT TO HUNT

dbowling

NOT EVERYONE CAN BUY LAND OR AT LEAST NOT ENOUGH TO HUNT AND 95 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE LEASING LAND ARE PEOPLE WHO JUST HUNT BIG BUCKS, I LIVE WHERE SOME OF THE BIGGEST BUCKS IN INDIANA ARE KILLED AND TALK TO ALOT OF THESE GUYS. PEOPLE WHO HAVE HUNTED OUT HERE ALL THEIR LIVES CAN NO LONGER HUNT BECAUSE THEY DONT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO LEASE THE GROUND. WHILE I RESPECT THE FACT FARMERS HAVE TO PAY FOR THEIR GROUND, GREED HAS ALOT TO DO WITH WHAT IT COSTS TO LEASE GROUND, KILL A HUGE BUCK ON YOUR PROPERTY AND THE SKYS THE LIMIT AS FAR AS WHAT YOU CAN CHARGE. MY FRIEND KILLED A MONSTER BUCK OUT HERE THIS YEAR, 198 IN. DEER AND THE PROPERTY HES BEEN HUNTING WAS A GUY HE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH GRANDMAS PROPERTY AND NOW HE MAY LOSE IT TO BEING LEASED DO TO SOMEONE FINDING OUT ABOUT IT AND OFFERING HER BIG BUCKS TO HUNT AND IN GENERAL SHE HATES PEOPLE BUT LIKES MONEY, BUT DOESNT NEED IT. NOTHING AGAINST TROPHY HUNTERS OR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO HUNT BIG DEER BECAUSE I DO DO BUT THE BIG PICTURE IS ONLY A MINORITY CAN AFFORD TO BUY ENOUGH GROUND TO HUNT OR LEASE AND THAT WILL LEAVE THE MAJORITY OF HUNTERS CLUSTERED ON PUBLIC GROUND LIKE THEY ARE IN ILLINOIS AND OTHER LEASED OUT STATES, ASK THE HUNTERS THAT LIVE THERE HOW THEY LIKE IT, A FEW GET RICH OFF HUNTING AND ALOT OF PEOPLE LOSE PLACES TO HUNT SOUNDS LIKE A FAIR TRADEOFF TO ME....HUNTING NOW IS ABOUT MONEY OR KILLING BIG DEER NOT ABOUT WHAT ITS MEANT TO BE, THE EXPERIENCE WEATHER ITS A BIG BUCK OR A DOE.....THIS IS THE LAST ILL POST ON THE SUBJECT BECAUSE THERE IS NO SENSE ARGUING ABOUT IT, IT IS WHAT IT IS AND THE MENTALITY OF TODAYS HUNTERS ISNT GOING TO CHANGE..

TROPHYHUNTER25

You are right about not everybody can afford to buy or lease land. But you can’t blame the farmers for wanting to make some extra money. There not getting rich off of leasing. You always want to make as much money as possible at work so why shouldn’t they be able to do the same. I think it’s a revolving circle just like corn prices. It will peak then go back down. I’ve been offered $5,000 from a guy to hunt my 56 acres. Turned him down because he wanted sole rights. I could use that money and go to an outfitted hunt but that’s not my style. Indiana hunters will never be on the same page. There are too many small tracks of land. Not like Illinois where a farmer may own thousands of acres here they might own a couple hundred.

Lanse couche couche

Illinois is a bigger state with a lot of variation in landownership. There are parts of the state, especially in the northern part of the state where many farms are thousands of acres, but it is different in the southern half of the state. In the area where i am from, tracts generally range from my very modest 19 acres of woods to 200-300 acres of combined fields, pasture, and woods.

People are well within their right to post their land to hunting or lease it to small groups that post it and use it to farm trophy bucks. But, the flip side to that is that you end up with very low hunting pressure and very large numbers of deer in generally, especially does. It gets even worse when the big buck mindset comes to dominate. People hitting deer with cars and havng their fields and gardens torn up by too many deer is pretty common.
The same farmer that leases his land for 5K may end up with 10K in crop damage because those leasing the land only shoot a few big books.
I prefer the old days when the numbers were low and getting any deer was a challenge that was appreciated. Nowdays you get people who literally go into depression if they don't tag a 10 pointer or bigger every year. What a change in 20 years.

TROPHYHUNTER25

I haven’t been hunting for 20 years but I do remember when you had to put in for a drawing for a doe tag here in Indiana. Yeah theres an outfitter by my property that has like 1700 acres but its all family owned, and he said his biggest problem is he can’t get the hunters to shoot does. He charges $2000 per hunter and you get to hunt it for the month of October. Then he does something simaller for muzzle loader. No shot gun hunting. But over there we have a deer population of about 45-50 deer per square mile. So I shoot a lot of doe’s

Lanse couche couche

If i recall, back in the 70s when i started hunting, Illinois only issued one permit (buck only??) per person per year, and it was on a lottery system. People picked the county that they wanted to hunt in as well as alternate counties. Some people didn't even get permits or they got them for counties where they did't really have places to hunt. In my opinion, the state was very slow in allowing larger deer harvests to the point that many places are crawling with deer and it is a problem.

js2397

One of the arguments i have heard against a shorter gun season is it makes people less selective instead of more selective. If someones knows they have two weeks to kill a buck they are more likely to pass on a smaller deer but if they only have three days they might just take the first one that walks by them. As far as the one buck rule in Indiana it has not had any effect on the overall buck harvest. The numbers have stayed constant from the pre OBR to the post OBR. The only thing that has changed is the weapon they are taken with.