wiranger

I think one of the biggest problems with the whole issue of EAB and overpopulation is the lack of hunting allowed in urban areas. My mother lives in Oshkosh,WIright in the middle of thecity. She has to fence in her garden now, and has a wonderful picture of a ten pointer drinking from her bird bath. There is a small woods behind the neighborhood that could easily be hunted, instead they are going to let "sharp shooters" get payed to waste these animals. In these economic times, wouldnt a municipality want to save as much money as possible?? Seems to me that urban areas are the true cause to over population in the deer herd.

tchunter_va

i agree with eab here in va the hunters i know all they want sre big bucks and wontthink about killing a doe i believe you should have to kill a doe in each of your seans before you can kill a buck bow/ml/rifle

Canned Heat

Madison really needs to listen to the hunters that are out there. Not look at the numbers. I have seen a MAJOR decrease in deer sightings through out Clark, Jackson, Wood, Monroe, and Eau Claire Counties. Im not the only one that has seen this decrease over the last couple years, many people that I talk to say the same thing. There are no deer. Most of these counties are in some form or another in EAB status and parts of the counties and zones are on EAB watch lists. This is a bad idea in my opinion. On the 3 or 4 properties that I hunt, I used to be able to sit for 3 hours and see as many as 20 different deer, now with the EAB in some of these area, im lucky to see 1-4. TheDNRhas made a mistake in some zones. I can see it being implimented in some zones but when more than 60% of the state is in EAB status this is a bad thing.




I've hunted in 4 of those 5 counties mentioned...and you're dead on.

After 22 of us sat for 4 days in SE Eau Claire County, and came away with 6 deer(8 ptr. and 7 does), we were unpleased to say the least. In 2005, 10 of us came home with 14 deer. We pride ourselves on keeping our zone out of EAB status...Hah.Supposedly,the over allotted antlerless tags given out, bear predation (alarmingly high in some studies I've seen), wolf numbers (don't get me started...more than double the count of what the state says exists, and I know guys all over the state that have visual contact or tracks of wolves all over their hunting sites), and a fairly tough winter due to high snowfall last year, has decimated the deer totals. All to the pleasing of the mega insurance agencies we have in our home state here who are rubbing elbows with the state legislature to reduce the amount of deer/car collisions and save them tons....can't blame 'em I guess.

If anyone else got the DNR pamphlet regarding this year's hunt, I'd love to see what you answered....I'll share my response as well....in a PM (for swearing sake).

lookingforthebigone

Come on guys you can say it is selfish, but being honest you know that if you saw a doe with a nice buck you would shot the buck. Myself I'm not a trophy hunter. I hunt for the meat and take a doe every year. But if that doe is walking with a nice buck I will shot it every time. And to the guy that said we should have the earn a buck program in ohio (NO WAY)!!! You mean to tell me that if you saw a nice buck walk by you would let it walk. You dont want to do that. My avice for you is to scout more and find the bucks they are all over ohio. Do your homework and find them. You are only alowed one bucka year so no one is shortchanging you. Do your homework and it will happen for you but you dont want to change the law in ohio.

Bukmastr

1st off, last time I looked almost 50% of the "does" harvested were really button bucks during Wisconsin's EAB seasons... Look at our regular gun deer season, the button bucks were just kicked out by momma a week or two earlier when she went into heat. A button buck is the most vulnerable deer in the woods... Now, take a look at what Wisconsin is doing. Its not about "herd control" its about complete destruction. There goal is 10 per square mile state wide, and 5 per square in the CWD areas... My hunting has dropped off almost deerless!
My main dissatisfaction is the wasteful slaughter of baby deer. The idea that we should shoot more than we need and just toss the rest. If you want non-res. to flock here to spend money, you better have deer, and I mean mature deer... A nice balanced herd.
With that said, my oldest son gave up hunting when it turned into a blood bath. For a boy who loves animals, it sickened him to see hunters shooting fawns to earn a buck and then just toss them into a ditch or a DNR supplied dumpster. He was taught to respect these animals. When there were absolutely no limits in southern Wisconsins CWD zone we hunted and he noted that every deer he seen was wounded, and all were stressed... Is that hunting? He quit, and has refused to go back out with me... James, my younger boy, has been trying to keep up the enthusiasm but its starting to wear on him also... He says why hunt if there are no quality animals to shoot... He hunted a couple weekends with bow this year then gave up. For the 1st time ever, he decided not to join me in the gun hunt...
If we have increased hunters, its killers, not hunters... People who enjoy killing lots of fawns and 1 1/2 hyear old deer that never got a chance to grow up...
The WDNR makes me sick!

kevin1

EAB is an excellent idea in areas such as where I live that have far too many deer. We have a bonus antlerless license available here in nearly all counties, the first is $24, but all succeeding ones are only $15.

Sylvan

Doe permits are free in NY.

Charlie P

Only if you get a sportsmens or Super Sportsman right?

Kybuckhunter

JMO....but I think the earn a buck is the dumbest thing ever to hit deer hunting. Thank God we don't have it in Ky. We can kill 1 buck only and from 3 to unlimited does. We kill close to a 50/50 on buck/doe ratio. I dont mine the Dept. telling how many I can kill but I want to be free to kill what I want when I want. I would be sick if a Booner walked out before I killed my doe.....this would have to make outlaws out of many a hunters.

patchholder

I would be willing to possibly try it in this area in MN, but I would be worried about to many button bucks getting shot. The way it is now there will be 30-40 does in the field at a time and your lucky to see any bucks over 1.5. I am allowed to shoot one buck and 2 does here, woopy 2 does that does barely anything and that is with bonus tag. Yes I could have a whole bunch other people come out and try to clean up a little but you would only get a few and even if you did get 20 of them or something all it does is put all kinds of pressure on them and you probably won't see anything then, I feel like I might be in a lose lose situation. I don't know.