Hey, Illinois residents.......
 

Is it possible the IDNR finally gets it? Of particular interest take note of the IDNR wildlife division head's comment about "pandora's box". Think they finally realize what a monster they have created? :bash:

www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/dnr_drops_two_bucks_for_non-residents/

a 2nd buck tag for non-residents? without earn a buck? are they kidding?!? this was even an idea/possibility?

Of course I'd rather see residents than non-residents have a 2nd buck option, but overall residency isn't the issue, I think we need a "earn a 2nd buck tag program"

resident or non, people are shooting 2 bucks and going home, without taking any does. If you want to shoot a 2nd buck I think it should be mandatory that you harvest a doe first.

i dont know im just asking but do alot of resident not shoot does , i know where im located alot of the reidents do . my family takes at least ten a year of our farm maybee i just blindly thought everybody else did the same . i persolly think we need more outfitter regulations

IMO there an EAB program should be put in effect immediately and it should be for every buck!

my experience has mostly been some guys/hunters shoot does, others do not...

my cousin for example, I think has shot 1 or 2 does in his lifetime in IL....and has taken 1-2 bucks every year since IL has had a season.....just about....

and the year he took a doe, i know we were riding him to shoot a doe for meat/management.

The more people learn the more they may take a doe, but I'm convinced so many hunters fee like less of a man or less of a hunter to actually take a doe instead of a buck, personally I'd take a doe over a immature buck/buttonbuck/yearling/dink...

I do understand that a buck does have more meat on him though, so pure meat hunters may be into it for that reason, but then again meat hunters probably shoot anything they can, does, bucks, etc...

depends where youre located too, if youre in a pure farming community where deer are harvested for crop damage and guys want to kill every deer they see, of course those guys are gonna be taking does...

I definitely think a Earn a 2nd buck could be put in right away without causing a problem and hopefully get a lil something done...much better than cancelling a 2nd buck tag for everyone as well...or forcing guys to pass up a shot on a buck opening day because they've yet to take a doe...

make me the IL deer czar already! haha.

Yes, IL residents have ALWAYS done an excellent job of shooting Does. The problem with some areas is the fact that they have been taken over by high dollar Outfitter leases and its these Outfitters that ae trying to get as may NR hunters as possible on their properties to hunt. Obviouly,a non-resident hunter comes to IL and pays a few grand to hunt for just one week.... they aren't to interested in shooting a Doe. This has created some seriously high Doe numbers in these regions. Police the Outfitters.... leave the resident sportsman alone! :mad:

Outfitter regulation is absolutely needed in my opinion. The former Golden Triangle has been decimated by outfitters not doing their part with the doe harvest. A money machine was created by national media hype about the giant bucks behind every tree, but at the expense of the overall herd health.
As for the 2nd buck, I see absolutely no problem with the 2nd tag being EAB. But, with our current check-in system, awfully hard to police something like that. Naturally, a valid, used tag would have to be submitted to get that buck tag, but without actually showing up with the carcass, hard to validate something like that. Only thing I can think of is that the state would have a "bank" of numbers and when someone called their doe in, that number would then be taken out of circulation AND the license vendor would need to be able to check the number into that "bank" system to make sure that it is a valid tag. How that will work, I have no idea. In parts of WI that went to EAB, roadkilled does became awfully valuable.

I totally agree.

Exactly, with todays call-in system, it wouldn't be any big deal for any IL resident to call-in an invisible Doe. Just to easy.

I wonder if they build in a certain amount of no-calls when they are figuring out the final deer harvest numbers.

I always figured harvest numbers would be pretty accurate, however the boone and crockett locations I've often wondered how many actual booners have been taken in certain areas?

In some areas I think if a guy shoots a booner he's gonna get it registered, however in other areas I would suspect as little as 50% of people bother to register their booner.

i agree 100 % with you on that

Dunno how wonderful Illinois residents are nowdays for shooting does. Plenty of buck-oriented guys who have little interest in shooting a single doe, let alone a couple in order to reduce the population. At least that is my experience in a part of Illinois where there are relatively few outfitters and we are crawling with does.

Considering how much Illinois rakes in from non-resident permits, it is no surprise that they want to cater to such folks.

Partly off the subject...

I think that instead of raising the prices of resident tags, we should really stick it to the NR's and let them pick up the slack. I would imagine that most hunters who already come into our state to kill a big corn-fed IL deer would pay any price that the state requests.

Hey, and even better yet! Take that out-of-state revenue and pay us Illinoisians to harvest does! They could give us credits towards our turkey tags or fishing licenses!

We all (myself included) gripe about the outfitters and the nonresident hunters, but think about it. If you lived somewhere that you couldn't hunt, wouldn't you be willing to pay to go somewhere so that you can shoot something? It's just something we're going to have to gripe about I guess, and more so as time goes on.

rw

i really dont have problems with outfitters and nr but in moderation, i think they need more regulations and higher fees to obtian an outfitter licenses were im located in pike co. they have litterly changed hunting around here for the worse , ask anybody that came on an outfitted hunt fivr years ago as compared to now chances sre they saw more quility deer five years ago

The real problem is the way the IDNR has pimped out our Deer herd to the highest bidder. In my opinion, you can't blame non-residents for coming here or Outfitters for providing a service, they're just playing the game. It is the sheer number of NR permits that are available that needs to be addressed. It has gotten way out of hand IMHO. Cut the number down to about 25% of what is issued now and start a points preference system for those who do not draw a tag. Illinois could learn a lot from Iowa.

I wish someone would point me in the direction of these "over-populated" Doe areas ?!?

I've only ever hunted 1 area where there were higher populations an thats mainly because t was a large farm that bordered a 3,000 acre non-hunted area. Any average tract I've ever hunted had relatively modest deer numbers and was in NO WAY close to any sort of population problems!

come on up to were i live in pike , i can take u down one road in paticular were we would see around 300 to 400 deer and pry 10 to 15 bucks , im not jokin just take a drive around the highways and your guna see dozens of does hit by cars if you dont believe this problem is around you are more than welcome to come up and we can go for a drive the last late season hunt i was on i saw 26 does and one fork horn . and its a 300 acre farm surronded by ottfitted ground

Yeah, some folks need to get out more. I drive thru about five counties in southeastern Illinois on a regular basis and some evenings it is doe alley in terms of having to dodge the things. My dad has had over 20 does clustered under his stand at times the last couple years and the closest outfitter operation is about 3 miles away. After bothering him for several years i have finally convinced him to pop several does a year and we give them away.

Of course, if you are younger and your only experience has been in recent years with the high populations and associated problems seeming to be normal, then you may see things differently.

I agree, our harvest numbers are probably as accurate as any. The booner numbers is an interesting point though. And, what certification is required for the "booner" numbers, unless they are strictly using the B&C book with the county list. One of my best friends manages for a large landowner, and they haven't registered any of the boones they killed in the last 4 years. By register, I mean they haven't had them officially scored by B&C and entered into the record books.

I agree with you. My property and the neighboring properties in Macoupin don't seem to be over populated. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more deer. I think our numbers are down maybe from blue tongue. It sure isn't from harvesting.

Allegedly, the eastern burbs of Pekin are way overloaded. I recently participated in a handicapped pheasant hunt on a preserve there (don't remember the name). The owner was telling about the hundreds of deer seen each evening by hunters in the late firearm season. This is after they harvested over 80 does on a 900 acre farm. It is near a park.

I can second that. My Sister lives in White County and I do some hunting down there and I can show you 50-60 Deer just about any evening driving around White and Gallatin Counties. But, I agree with Bob, it is not that way here in Macoupin County. Some areas are clearly more populated than others.