Trying to start a petetion to stop the late firearm season in counties hit by EHD.
 

Trying to find out how many people would be interested in signing a petition to stop the late firearm seasons in Central Illinois and other counties affected by EHD. This needs to move quickly in order to get them stopped!

I hate to say it but you are going to be too late for this year. To get it passed in time it would have to go through too many processes to be enacted. Plus, EHD was very spotty this year. I know in Fulton County, some farms got hit hard while others didn't get hit at all. We still have a lot of deer in our area and with the cold weather a lot of people were too lazy to get out so harvest numbers may be down. In the first season totals are too low, the DNR will blame the low count on that. With the rut still going strong in first season though, numbers will still be pretty good because a lot of bucks were chasing. I saw some big mature bucks going down in my area. With that happening the DNR might now think we were hit too bad. My taxidermist said that numbers aren't up to the last few years with the amount of bucks he does but its pretty close.

We didn't have a great season but by no means was it bad. My buddy dropped a nice 9 pointer and we took out a few does. I got the skunk, other that a coyote, and missed a nice buck due to a sapling getting in my way. I did have some low deer sightings the first two days but it was just the wrong stand. Sunday morning I braved the cold and saw 15 deer all within 60 yards of a new stand I was sitting. Unfortunately, I needed better shooting lanes to get off a clear shot. Oh well!

I can't get out second season but looking forward to our annual late season hunt to do some deer drives and hopefully get a doe for the freezer.

EHD may not be bad were you are hunting, but we used this (1st Firearm Season) to gauge how bad it has hit our area. I can say I have been deer hunting since 1987. I have NEVER experienced a season such as this one. Every 1st season, I have ever been apart of, I would be low balling that I easily would hear a min. of 50 shots each day. I think the number is probably closer to 100. Friday which was mild and misty, extremely tolerable, I heard a total of 7 shots all day! Saturday I heard a total of 9 shots. Those numbers are unbelievable! That's when I told my wife, that we needed to leave these deer alone, and quit hunting them. This is the first time I will not be participating in the 2nd and muzzleloader season since 1987.

We need to do something, beside scratching our asses!

Is your taxidermist part of the Illinois Taxidermy Association? Because if he is, then he would certainly know about how bad Central Illinois taxidermists are hurting.. This is coming directly from Pete Switzer (Past President of Illinois Taxidermy Assoc.) who has been trying to inform the state of Il. of what a dire state we are in!

I agree with you on the limited number of shots. We commented all weekend about how this was one of quietest weekends we have ever heard. We didn't have an EHD problem in out area so I think a lot for us had to do with the windy conditions opening day and then the colder weather on Saturday and Sunday. We went in for lunch on Saturday and heard a lot of people saying it was to cold to head out that morning. There were noticeably a lot less trucks parked on the roads Saturday and Sunday too. While I'm sure it was EHD in your area, I think it was a lot of lazy hunters as well in our area. I guess the only thing we can do is wait for the numbers to come out. Next year I'd rather they put a 2 doe limit in place and a 4 point on one side rule. I think that would really help.

My taxidermist is a member and when I picked up my buck in late October he said it was the slowest he had ever been and he runs one of the bigger and better taxidermy shops. When we went in there last Saturday night to drop off my buddies buck he didn't seem as concerned as he did two weeks before. We did have a lot of standing corn in our area until a couple weeks ago. He says that he has been hearing of deer dead in standing corn and they aren't thinking its EHD, might be something else.

We did have more 1.5 year old bucks this year than I have ever seen before. I think every sit this year (20 or so) I saw a different young buck. Its also the first year that everyone has held back and no one shot a small buck. I'm hoping in two years we'll have a good population of nice bucks.

Again, sorry to hear about the lack of deer. It seems like a weird year for EHD, I've heard parts of our county getting hit hard and others not being touched. I think about 80% of the people I've talked to Fulton/Peoria County didn't see any effects this year but the ones who did see it got hit hard. You just never know.

Numbers are way down everywhere.. Yes Dnr needs to reduce tags for next season in most counties. But the almighty $$$ rules when the Dnr makes any moves...The DNR's cwd Bs is killing our deer herd not the cwd and ehd.....I have talked with over a dozen hunters after first season and all said numbers are waaaay down....

The numers on my farm in schuyler are 1/2 of what we had the last 3 years.The numbers on the farm I hunt in lassale are dead.....Normal year I will see 3-8 deer every sit in lassale but this year I have see 2 deer so far..Dnr shooters shot 20-40 deer to the east last year for CWD prevention. Total BS...I know people that hunt pope,jackson, fulton,schuyler,dekalb,lee, lassale,grundy,green,JoDavies counties and all said their numbers are low from last season...

Do we need 5 gun seasons NO !!!! BUT $$$$ RULES WITH ILLINOIS ............

I'm mainly a bow hunter but I also gun hunt. Why all the blame on gun hunters? Illinois gun seasons are very short compared to other states. Not everyone can bow hunt. It's a viable means of taking a deer. I can't stand the deer belong to the elitist bow hunter mentality. If it's to the point of canceling the remaining firearm seasons bow hunting should be shut down too!