Let's Talk Deer Hunting Seasons

[Sportdog]

Are you a fan of your states hunting seasons and bag limits? Would you like to see some changes? Do you feel that your state has it all wrong when it comes to seasons and/or bag limits? I'm just curious to see if there is a general feeling of approval or disapproval and why. Here in Michigan where I reside I have a general feeling of approval but do think there are some things that I would like to see changed. #1) The bow season is three months and the general gun season is only 15 days. Keeping in mind that I am both a bow and gun hunter I think that the bow season is now too long. Years ago there were many fewer bow hunters and the impact on the behavior patterns of deer was small. With the increased number of bow hunters the deer have been pestered quite a bit and the quality of the gun hunt has suffered. #2) Bag limits on doe shooting is so liberal that the whitetail deer has suffered in image from a special worthy game species, to almost pest status in the eyes of younger hunters. The goal of the Michigan DNR is to make drastic reductions in the overall size of the herd. Crop damage permits are issued to farmers in theory to reduce the damage done by deer to his crops. The reality is that these farmers LEAVE crops in the field to feed the deer so that the lease fee for hunting privileges can be raised because of liberal doe shooting. This system has all but eliminated the access to private property unless you are quite wealthy. The land belongs to the farmers and he has the right to allow hunting or not, pay or not, but the DNR should not be helping them to profit from bogus crop damage permits. Most of the game species in Michigan are well managed with research and data. Deer on the other hand are subjected to political and special interest group influence. Disclaimer.....These are my thoughts and opinions, not scientific facts or opinions influenced by any special interests. My opinions are based on personal experience and impact that I see. Your experiences and opinions may vary!

[fxdrider]

I'm in Virginia, where our seasons/bag limits are pretty good. The only glaring change I would like to see is for the state to legalize hunting on Sunday. For those of us who work during the week, Saturday becomes ALL-IMPORTANT.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I wish NY would institute antler restrictions to allow babies to grow up. Everybody shoots every buck they see because they know if they don't somebody else will anyway. Deer beyond 2 1/2 are rare, beyond 3 1/2 are very rare.

[Kreyzhorse]

I live in the northern portion of Kentucky. I'm very happy with the deer laws covering this area. We have roughly a 3 week gun season in which you can use rifle or shotgun. A basic tag allows you to take two deer, one of which can be a buck. Additionally, at least last year, you can apply for an unlimited doe tag because this portion of the state is over run with deer. Once a deer is down, Kentucky has a telecheck system that allows you to call in your deer at that point you are issued a "tag" number. It's much easier than when you actually had to phyiscally check in your deer.

All and all, I'd give Kentucky an "A" rating.

[Niagara Shooter]

I agree with peetzakilla! I hunt Genessee county in Ny State and like previously stated, if it has horns, it goes down! With the amount of hunting pressure in our area you may only see 1 buck a year and a really big buck is a rarity, but every year we hear of someone in the area managing to find one thats slipped through from seasons before. I know some people shoot deer to feed themselves through the winter but with the amount of doe tags avaliable for our county its not that hard to shoot several antlerless.

[deanadell]

Living in a state (SC) with one of the longest. most liberal deer seasons, I can't complain.

If I could make one change, I would happily give up the earlier season if instead it ran into January. Having an opportiunity to harvest a buck in velvet is a novelty, but really.....hunting in SC in late August, Early september is just too hot and buggy......

[RLFD5415]

I wish NY would institute antler restrictions to allow babies to grow up. Everybody shoots every buck they see because they know if they don't somebody else will anyway. Deer beyond 2 1/2 are rare, beyond 3 1/2 are very rare.

+1. Guys I let hunt my property are NOT allowed to shoot a spike.

[bclark1]

I agree on managing antlered deer - problem is in enforcement. You can do that on private land, between buddies or a club, but it would be a mess for the government to try. I don't fill my buck tag unless I see a wall-hanger. But seems like so many people need those damn antlers. I have seen trucks with three forks in the back before - why? Does are plentiful where I hunt, and it just annoys me. I shot a 3 1/2 year old last year and the neighbors were ooh-ing and aah-ing - sort of a shame that's a big deal where antlerless herd control tags are $2 a pop.

Nonetheless, the conservation purpose is served, as I have heard a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio of does to bucks is optimal, sometimes higher. But it is a shame knowing that this 6-pointer will probably wander off the family property, get nailed and never be an 8.

This will be my first year in Ohio, but I like the hunting opportunities so far. Plan to try to get in the woods a couple hours before sunrise, though, because I can only imagine how crazy public land an hour from Cleveland will be during shotgun season. Deer permit at $24 with antlerless tags for $15 seems fair, though.

Wisconsin is a great state to hunt deer in, if you live there. My major gripe was with the license pricing - doesn't matter how much you pay in taxes, if you do not have a WI driver's license, you get screwed with nonresident pricing. I have done my share of griping about this to the DNR, the state, various organizations - no dice. Doesn't matter what we try to do for the state, we're just dollar signs to them. Of course there's a heck of a lot else wrong with that state, too, so I guess it's not surprising.

Never hunted deer in Illinois, although I wish I did after some of the sheds I found while while turkey hunting.

Primary gun season (shotgun, rifle, shotgun) in all three, if I remember correctly, is a week long. Haven't done muzzle-loader or archery yet. Seems fine, longer would be nicer for commuters like me but the deer practically evaporate after opening weekend so it'd probably be a fruitless effort anyway.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Nonetheless, the conservation purpose is served, as I have heard a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio of does to bucks is optimal, sometimes higher.

Really? I had thought the number was best between 2:1 and 1:1 but I could be wrong. I considered the source of that reliable but who knows.

[davlandrum]

Oregon is very restrictive: You must chose your weapon for each species (and obviously only hunt that season). So if I chose to bow hunt deer, I only can hunt bow season for deer.

Bag limit for any species of big game is one animal, unless you get drawn for a special tag, which would allow an additional doe. What that animal can be depends on which weapon, which species, and which unit you are in.

Example: bow hunting elk in Western Oregon is usually a hair tag (either sex), but the unit we hunt is either a cow or a 3 pt or better bull.

Rifle deer is either horns, or forks or better depending on the unit.

What I would like to see is a rifle deer tag be either sex. That would get a lot of hunters out of the woods fast with freezer filler does.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Oregon is very restrictive...

That is absolutely incredible. The 4 people in my hunting party have 24 (yep, two-four) tags for whitetail deer. We each have 1 Bow/Muzzloader Either Sex, 1 Bow/Muzzleloader Antlered, 2 Antlerless, 1 Gun Antlered (also can be used for bow), and 1 nuisance permit from the owner of the land we hunt.

I would not like Oregon. That might be enough for me to move. Seriously, hunting is a big past time for us and one of the few times we get any quality time sitting around camp together and talking.

[davlandrum]

peetza - Well - at least I can buy a elk tag over the counter...

When I was stationed at Ft. Drum was the first time I learned that everyone else got to kill a lot more deer and hunt a lot more seasons than I was used to. I was lucky enough to hunt a lot of different states in 20 years in the Army. Maryland was close to limitless on doe tags when I was there.

The "upside" of Oregon's regs is you have to make very clear choices about your hunting - so you don't get as many "casual" bowhunters, either you commit to using your season on bowhunting or you don't. Same with muzzleloaders, although the choices for that are not great (and in-lines are no-go).

We get quality time in hunting camp as well, just get the hunting out of the way and then hang around in camp for a while...

[rem870hunter]

i'm ok with some of the seasons/weapons. i would like to see some changes as far as seasons and weapons. the state is divided up into deer management zones. ranging from #1 to #60 or #70 something. some have different regs from others.

a few of the zones a deer must have atleast 1 antler 4" high. that reg. should be done away with. sunday hunting would be good in my opinion.

i would like for bow and arrow season in the whole state start the saturday after labor day and run to the 2nd saturday in november. the following sunday/monday start regular shotgun/bp rifle season and that run to the first saturday in january. then have permit shotgun/bp rifle season run until the first day of march. be allowed to hunt on wma and state forest with a rimfire rifle for woodchuck. loaded with no more than 5 cartridges and they can be short,long,or long rifle.

3 per deer per person/permit per season. 2 of which must be antlerless. or see what the farmers and other hunters in the state think and make changes it that way as far as the bag limits.

[hogdogs]

I absolutely love the Florida General gun season...
Runs from mid November to Mid february with a 2 per day bag limit. I am allowed 4 in possession but that just forces me to find folks that need meat as much as I need freezer space to store extras.
My offer to them is simple... "If'n you let me put venison in your freezer, you are welcome to eat as much as you need."
Brent

[bclark1]

Really? I had thought the number was best between 2:1 and 1:1 but I could be wrong. I considered the source of that reliable but who knows.

Yeah the answer is varied, depending on your purposes and who you ask - just Googling:
http://www.google.com/search?q=optim...k+to+doe+ratio
Lots and lots of different answers, from 1:1 to 1:6.

Who knows?

[Brian Pfleuger]

We get quality time in hunting camp as well, just get the hunting out of the way and then hang around in camp for a while...

I suppose that's true. I would HATE to limit myself to a single weapon. If I had to it would be bow, hands down. I see far more deer, they are far more natural and approachable and I like the tranquility of not being scared to death by a gunshot 50 yards in the brush.

The elk hunting would be pretty sweet also.

[Swampghost]

hogdogs, I guess that we really do have it pretty good down here, and we can still hunt hogs all year.

[wpcexpert]

I've gotten the oportunity to hunt regularly in West Virginia, South Carolina, and Arkansas. My favorite by far is South Carolina. (Edit) Also killed one big slick at Tindal AFB.

South Carolina is the only state I've seen that wants you to kill everything they have. You can legally kill over 100 deer a year. If you've got the time to put into it. Five turkeys per year. The only thing I would want changed is the no hunting on public land on sunday. But other than that, that's as close to perfect as you can get. I would be in favor of an antler restriction. They work.

Arkansas isn't that bad. You can kill 4 deer per year, it's a long season.

West Virginia is pretty good too. I think with all tags you can kill 11-13 deer. I haven't hunted there in some time.

[hogdogs]

expert, I did the math and not counting muzzle loader and bow season we can bag about 180 per year. Not that many of us ever come close to that. I am after a goal of around 20 or so. That is a realistic possibility.
Brent

[deanadell]

South Carolina is the only state I've seen that wants you to kill everything they have.

If you don't kill 'em and eat 'em, they're just going to get smashed on the road

Seriously, the deer herd in SC just keeps getting bigger. Rifle Season opened two weeks ago in the western part of the state, we have 12 either sex days between Oct. 4th and Jan. 1st where you can kill 2 Does a day, AND you can buy an additional 4 Doe tags for 5 bucks each.....and we still don't kill enough slick-heads in this state....

[simonkenton]

South Carolina, like most states, has different regions for deer season.
The coastal area of SC is overrun with deer.
I was in a club, in 2003, about 60 miles west of Charleston.
Season opened on August 15 and ran through January 15.
The year before, the limit was 1 buck per day. So, you could legally shoot 150 bucks!
But they changed the rules for '03. That year, there was NO limit on bucks.
You could, theoretically, have shot 400 bucks and still not broken the law.
Not so fast on the does. There were 32 doe days, limit one per day.
For twenty bucks you could buy a special doe tag, which allowed you to shoot 4 more does on any doe day.
So, theoretical limit of 36 does.
Last I checked these limits were still in place in coastal South Carollina.

Now I live in the North Carolina mountains. We don't have very many deer.
The gun season is 4 weeks. Limit two bucks total.
There is just one doe day, limit two does. In practice, few people are going to shoot two does on that day, December 13.
I am happy with the NC rules, these restrictive rules are just about right for the conditions.

[wpcexpert]

The most I'd ever killed in a season in SC was 17. And that was doe heavy. I just don't see the need to kill a cowhorn for meat. Not with all the slickheads runnin around. And don't forget about the Refuge hunts. Cuddo Refuge is one week bow and one week muzzleloader no limit. And I believe McBee is still the same with their rifle hunts. Maybe they put a limit on them now, but there didn't used to be. And all the Bowfishing and duck hunting to be done down at Marion and Moultrie. God I miss South Carolina.

As far as the deer herd, I remembers the numbers one year I looked them up. There was aprox 350,000 registered hunters. That year, there was something like 420,000 deer killed. And I had killed 15, one buddy smoked 19, and the other 14. Someone in the state didn't kill any. They need more doe days. It's almost like the biologists don't want larger antlered deer.

[crowbeaner]

I hunt with just about any weapon and anything that walks, flies, or crawls. I really wish that the DEC would make the southern zone BP week the week BEFORE shotgun so those of us that hunt with smokepoles could fill our antlerless permits before the woods get cut down by flying slugs. It is in the northern zone. We have 5 tags left, and BP is only a week long. I've just about given up trying to fill unused permits after shotgun closes. I also wish that Onondaga, Cortland, Thompkins, and other counties that are still shotgun or pistol only would get on the ball and allow rifles. The several counties that have changed have seen the rate of accidental injury shrink to almost nil. I'd rather shoot a nice fat cornfed flathead myself, but they have to make the shot possible. I may hunt the southern zone with just the BP rifle this year; the Browning gets heavy after 2 or 3 days of lugging it around; the CVA weighs much less even with the scope. If I lived in Oregon I'd just have to move; I can't fathom only being able to choose one gun or bow per species. I have been known to bring along a rimfire when deer hunting so if I'm not seeing deer but only squirrels, I can trade out and give the treerats hell.

[wpcexpert]

I have been known to bring along a rimfire when deer hunting so if I'm not seeing deer but only squirrels, I can trade out and give the treerats hell.

I'm concidering getting one of those new whisper pellet guns with the silencer on it for just that reason. Shouldn't effect the deer much. Especially if they aren't within eyesight.

[davlandrum]

Peetza - we normally bow hunt elk and rifle hunt deer. We put in for extra doe tags (I got one this year). We put in for antalope every year, but have yet to get drawn. My buddy has put in for them for about 25 years in a row and has yet to get drawn.

Turkeys within easy hunting distance are all on private land. I would like to get into that, but not sure I would trade a hunt later in the year to do it.