Party Hunting....thoughts?
 

First off, posted this here because it is at top of the board, there is no sub forum for general hunting. Party hunting in Montana is illegal. I know other states allow it. I am not just talking deer. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Pardon my ignorance, but what's party hunting? Is it where people in a hunting party put their tags on each other's kills?

If it's legal, have at it. It's not legal anywhere that I regularly hunt.


TN, yes basically. If a group has ten tags, then the group can harvest ten. One guy might shoot 3, while some shoot zero. But they tag them all with the groups tags.


-Jake

That's pretty much it. In WI it's legal because of the tradition of doing deer drives. But you legally have to be in sight or voice calling distance of the other individual.

Illegal in all the areas I hunt and I have no issue with it being illegal. Kill your own game.

Legal in Ontario.

In certain types of hunting I can see it being a way, like duck hunting for instance or dove hunting but for deer I am against it. I have nothing against those that do it where legal but I would not want it legal here and would vote against it.

In Wisconsin this has been used for many years as a DNR tool--It helps reduce herds in certain area,s . Example--there are many area,s of private farmland that only gets hunted by landowner , many times these landowners get together to make deer drives in a more efficient way to reduce herd numbers and deer damage. This is one example---it also is a fun way to hunt together as a group and enjoy the camaraderie . If it ever has had a bad impact I am sure it would have been dicontinued

Granted I mainly hunt public land but I hate the guys that do the drives while I am trying to harvest a deer. It ruins the "normal" hunting for quite a while. Just doing a drive however is not the same as party hunting. I could keep the population of my herd in check with normal still hunting and not checking someone elses deer under my tag. I could see how the DNR could use it as a setting the overall quota for an area however by issuing 10 total tags for a property instead of the normal 2 tags per person lets say. Since the landowner might bring in 20 folks which would be 40 tags. If they would issue it by property and put a limit on how many per person as well I might be up for that instead. I just don't like the idea of one person shooting deer and the other tagging it. And I also don't like the idea of drives with or without dogs. If it is legal I will support it but I just don't like it lol Might be cause that kind of hunting especially with dogs is not allowed here so I have not been brought up around it.

Drive hunts are not that popular around here anymore, that I know of. Not that it doesn't happen.

If guys are doing a drive, I have no problem with the one of the walkers put his tag on the deer. He was part of it.

As far as drives on public land, ya it might suck, depending where you are at. But its public land. Can't control when someone gets up to go to the bathroom or lunch.



Unless deer are scarce, or using it as a way to get trophies, I really don't care what others do.


As for controlling population, that is a matter of opinion. Farmers would like them extinct. Which is why they get crop damage permits and give them out.

So your idea of controlling population, may not be the same. Lots of guys just want bucks. Than you have other guys that call meat eaters slob hunters.


Before my time used to have camp bucks. Could a deer to eat for the camp, wothout using a tag.

I believe it's legal in Maine. It's an old tradition.


Still don't think it's right.

Its not like a hunter is in the field, without buying a tag. I really don't care much.

One guy in the group has a doe tag. Shoot a doe, throw that guys tag on it, and split the meat. They don't give doe tags by me. But I think in areas, that happens some.

It is illegal in Washington State. Only a disabled hunter can have one person with them that can dispatch wounded and retrieve game.

I've wondered about that. And think it's a good law.


-Jake

It's a way to let the older hunters use their tags when they haven't shot a deer in 20 years. If someone is 80+ years old they can still pull tags, go to deer camp, hunt out in the field (as much as they can), and take a deer home so they have venison all year long.

The object of the tags is to generate money and to thin out the Deer in a controlled way to prevent over forage and the spread of disease. If they decide the herd is getting too thin they can limit the number of tags next year.

Does it really make any difference whose tag goes on which Deer? Only a percentage of tags are filled each year anyway, plus or minus a few Deer isn't going to have much impact in the short term.

We do it a completely different here, a shooting plan/quota is set at the beginning of the year for each parcel of land. The object is to harvest out the Deer, by age group, in a controlled manner. You report at the end of the season. If you fail to shoot your quota for two years running. they send in a paid hunter to harvest your Deer. An overseer keeps track of the game numbers. They've worked out the fine points long ago, they have been doing it this way for 500 years. The up side is we have a nine month season.