Stealthy_Bowman

I got this off of the NJ Fish & Wildlife website.
Any NJ hunter wishing to express their concern over rampant Earn-A-Buck regs in the state should make every effort to attend these meetings.

2003 Fish and Game Council Meetings Schedule

Below is the 2003 meeting schedule of the Fish and Game Council.
The Council meets monthly, usually on the second Tuesday of the month. Meetings are at the Central Region Office in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in Robbinsville unless otherwise noted. Dates below are subject to change. The public is welcome to attend these meetings.
Fish and Game Council 2003 Meeting Schedule
Thursday, January 16 at 10am
Saturday, February 15 at10am - Trout Stocking Public Meeting
Council Meeting at 1pm
Pequest Natural Resource Educ. Center, Oxford
Tuesday, March 11 at 10am
Tuesday, April 8 at 10am
Tuesday, May 13 at 10am
Tuesday, June 10 at 1pm
Game Code Public Meeting 8pm
Mercer County Community College
West Windsor
Tuesday, July 8 at 10am
Tuesday, August 12 at 1pm
Fish Code Public Meeting at 7pm
Tuesday, September 9 at 10am
Tuesday, October 14 at 10am
Tuesday, November 11 at 10am
Tuesday, December 9 at 10am



Edited by - Stealthy_Bowman on 01/14/2003 16:26:59

Broadhead88

Stealthy--thanks. I have emailed Paul Tarlowe from Fish/Game as I can't attend the mtgs. I suggest that everyone email/write/attend the mtg to express displeasure w/the JAN Shotgun hunts as well as earn-a-buck. I cited "successful" states such as IL that have shorter seasons as well as limited buck take. Also, mention QDM either for expanded zones or statewide. We all know that this JAN nonsense is not working and is reducing the hunting quality.

Bob

Hunting the wilds of Jersey

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NJ_Bowhntr

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I also talked with John Mezerol of the F&W council. he agrees that the late shotgun/muzzloader days are not good and working against the promotion of an older age class of bucks. He is also open to suggestions to improve the quality of hunting in NJ, without going back to the harvest of 85% bucks in the extended archery season.
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John, I'm not sure what you mean by this. If someone told you that 85% of the buck harvest is/was happening during extended bow, they fed you a big fairy tale. Just look at the number taken during 6-day firearm and you see that it is almost 50 percent of the antlered harvest alone, not counting permit shotgun, muzzleloader and fall bow.

Now, if you are trying to say that more than 80 percent of the deer taken in extended bow are/were bucks, I would agree, and add that you are not going to be able to change that. Extended bow is the month of November, and the rut. I'm pretty sure 8 out of 10 bowhunters will wait for a buck during the rut. The only way to change that is to cancel the extended bow season, or don't issue buck tags for it, in which case, you will not sell too many permits. I would hope that the UBNJ would fight for the bowhunters of NJ, and against these types of programs, instead of towing the F & W line that got us into this mess in the first place. From reading the comments you posted made by Mr. Mezerol, I think the bank-a-doe for EAB is off the table, as well as issuing fewer buck stubs, but allowing a hunter to fill them with his weapon of choice. Both of these things we discussed would allow bow hunters to take bucks in November, which we all know is a big problem with The Federation, and by extension, many members of the Council.
Looks like a rough road for archers in NJ.

Edited by - NJ_Bowhntr on 01/15/2003 10:05:42

Broadhead88

Guys--I think that everyone agrees that the Jan slaughter must stop ASAP. This is doing more damage to the age class and numbers of bucks than any other item besides loss of habitat. I think that if we stop the Jan either-sex hunts then we have taken a huge step forward in improving NJ's deer quality as well as the hunting experience.

EX:

Last SAT in Zone 2 (wantage); my buddy was pheasant hunting and said that the club behind ours lined up over 20 guys for several drives through fields and small wood lots. My friend counted over 20 shots during the next hour or so. He rides over there after he is done and there are 8 does dead and 3 button bucks on the ground. Also, there was talk of some deer that &quot;got away&quot;. No one saw any bucks! We had the worst deer season since I joined the club in 1994 and next year doesnt look any better. In addition, the farmer that owns the land had a depredation permit this summer!!!

Bob

Hunting the wilds of Jersey

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NJ_Bowhntr

John, considering what you've said, I don't see how bank-a-doe can even be considered. If they are worried that the majority of deer killed during permit bow will be bucks, how would allowing a hunter to satisfy an EAB requirement before extended bow ease their fears? If they pass bank-a-doe, and allow hunters to shoot their EAB doe for permit bow, in the regular bow season, almost everyone will shoot only bucks during permit bow because they will have already filled the EAB requirement earlier in the year. The percentage of deer killed during permit bow that are bucks would certainly increase with a bank-a-doe program, not decrease. I can't see them doing it.

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6ptsika

That's the truth, it's not that they don't want bucks shot in a particular month, they just want to make sure if bowhunters are allowed 2 bucks, they shoot two does as well. Kinda helps balance the herd a little despite the gun hunters only shooting bucks.
I like what I'm hearing from NJBowman. Get rid of the extended shotgun, eventually get down to 3 bucks per year, total, antler restrictions. Might make me want to actually hunt my own state. Well, maybe.
I'd sure love to see ARs with 1 buck limit for each of the three weapons. THAT would be nice.



&quot;In heaven, even the fish have antlers&quot;

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