General Hunting Discussion
Is anyone OK with deer hunting in N. Wisconsin the way it is?
9/22/14 @ 12:13 AM
Cause this sucks. If the reason we have few deer is because hunters (we) shot too many does then why doesn't the darn herd recover? I pay attention to the species of shrubs and trees that are growing and there is absolutely tons of stuff deer used to chow so much you wouldn't even see it when it was young like say serviceberry and sumac?anybody notice how mush of this stuff grows on our roadsides now? you won't see it..at least not less then about 6 feet tall if our deer ever come back. I don't have much time left..who does? and I would really like my beloved north woods deer herd to come back please
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Killing 4 deer and taking others chances away is selfish. If the need to kill more is what is needed to keep 'interested' then as far as I'm concerned the true meaning of a hunt and respect for each kill is lost. Buy the kid an xbox if he needs notches in his belt to keep interested!
I think you need to look at the context of the harvest. Just because it is legal, doesn't make it right, responsible, or intelligent. Keep in mind I believe there have been years where the DNR gave out enough tags to kill every single deer in the state.
It will vary by species and by area. You used geese as an example. The early goose season is more liberal and is designed for getting rid of primarly nuisance urban geese. If people want to load their freezers, this is the season they should participate in. The later season is on the migratory flocks that are shared by everyone in the flyway. This one people need to be more careful on.
Fishing is like this as well. Bluegills are plentiful in many areas and a successful day of bluegill fishing usually involves catching a bunch and taking some nome. Now, a successful day of muskie fishing might involve a couple of follows or maybe boating a CPR fish. You can't treat everything the same because abundance, recruitment, sustainability of harvest, etc differs greatly amongst the various species of fish and game.
Same goes for deer. Some areas in farm country are loaded and people do need to shoot multiple does each to reduce excessive damage levels. Other areas, the resource is struggling just to keep pace with car kills, predatation, and sometimes winter kill. Filling all tags in those areas is just plain irresponsible.
The concept of exercising discretion in your actions is unfortunately lost on some people. If you make the decision to leave noting for tomorrow, don't be shocked when tomorrow rolls around and there is nothing to be found. Sure, the DNR has fault in this as well by enabling and pushing slobs, but we need to police our own ranks as well as well as pushing management changes to mitigate some of these challenges.
For the record I tend to agree with you guys on most things. This is just me thinking in a different direction as I like to see things from both sides.
Isn't it funny how deer hunting has been made different than all other kinds of hunting?
If you shoot deer within what the DNR allows you could be called a slob. You are not breaking the law.
But then you'll see guys shooting their limit of geese multiple times a week. Easy to do since its only 2 a day typically. Not eating them fast enough to be within their possession limit. Technically breaking the law. That's fairly common though, not considered slobs in many cases. A lot of people won't even bat an eye at that. Now if they had antlers on their heads, watch out lol.
When you go for geese, ducks, rabbit, grouse, etc. you expect to shoot something. You don't go for a week and come home empty handed thinking it was a good hunt. But then take deer, completely different mindset. They are on a pedestal compared to other animals. Although you can't shoot as many either....well then again... 
great outdoors you are right on point. If you teach a kid early to shoot every buck you see what kind of a hunter are you making him, slob? where does the appreciation for the buck you shot? there is none. you made hunting all about killing. I had the privilege to take a friends 11 year old into my private spot this year, witch is full of deer. like you may see 15 to 25 deer a night, with buck opportunities. He was told not to shoot a doe. by the end of the night he had record book buck and another mounter within 15yds.[bowhunting> wasn't able to quite pull off a shot on either one. His father was watching from a stand 40yds away. Talking to him after the hunt he said it was the best hunt he had ever had. Never fired a shot. Its how you bring your kids up that determines the success of the hunt. He is already talking about next year. Kids are taught to have to shoot multiple deer to have fun by there parents. If left to there own devices, they would have fun without shooting. Make it about the whole experience, not just the shot.
"Lets be honest when you guys were kids and shot a buck did you want to sit out the rest of the season?"
In all honesty, nope, never shot more than 1 buck in a season. I could pile them up with the best of the slobs if I wanted to, but I would rather show some restraint and ensure that my future will be successful also. 2004 was the only year that I have filled both my bow buck tag and gun buck tag. Got a 10 pointer with the bow that year and an 11 pointer with the gun. If you have a doe tag and a healthy population, you can try to fill that tag. You can go out and try to get a coyote. You can do drives and pushes to try to help other members of your group fill their tags. Or, you could just go out and enjoy the woods. There are other options available to finish out the season beyond trying to kill every buck in the woods. If you weren't happy with that buck, why did you shoot it?
When my oldest kid starts hunting in a few years, he will be taught that conservation is more important than the kill. He also won't be let of the chain to just start smoking every buck he sees. At 7 he already has a pretty good grasp on how things are going to be. He already tags along on the habitat projects and such and realizes that give and take are more productinve than take, take, take.
ATP congrats on having a son interested in hunting. That is an indication of good upbringing. All of this group of posters who hunt are some of the leaders in financial contribution to our natural resources and your son and others like him are the next group to keep our resources funded and healthy.
Many years ago, when group hunting for deer was not legal, but largely overlooked, did your dads and grandfathers stop huniting, mine did not. Were they slob hunters and poorly brought up because of this? I don't think so. This was a group that worked, saved, scraped and prioritized their 4-5 days and the "tradition" of deer camp. They walked many times miles to stands, did not have cell phones and staying out hunting did give them a chance at a second albeit "illegal" deer but it kept them in the team game. They were there to help their friends and family with their deer. Imagine, miles from camp, your buddies are tagged out and you get your deer. No cell phone, no 4 wheeler, even poor flashlight and now you get to gut and drag for miles. This was the tradition and work of "deer camp". As we remember the anniversary of the battle of the bulge, these men knew how to work.
The DNR has made tagging someone else's deer legal if you are within visual and audible distance. The DNR has made it legal. Very interesting that this group of fairly like minded hunters would call each other names.
A small percentage of Americans hunts. A small percentage of Americans are anti hunting with more anti gun. As hunters, it is our job to get more young people involved in hunting. If we lose this next generation and other hunters as is happening, our cherished resource is at risk.I am not at all crazy about the additional hunts etc, but if the DNR allows it, it is not the families who participates fault for taking part. Contact the DNR, attend meetings and initiate change if unhappy which some on this page do.
A solution about group hunting that I have written to many representatives is if you have tagged your first gun deer, trophy buck restrictions must apply to using someone else's tag (I don't care about details, but something like 8 points or better or wider than the ears). Sure some folks would not comply and they might be a slob hunter but if we take small steps in every way to improve our deer numbers and quality, we will succeed in improving this resource that we all love and keep our numbers up with a good image to sway the opinions and votes of the huge majority who do not hunt or care, that hunting and firearms are not only a a right and a great part of our history, but also a right and a great part of our future.
I think party tagging is great, nothing would make me happier than to tag my 12 year olds 2nd buck in a season and I'm pretty sure his grandpas would give up their tag if he got a third or a forth. What would suck is to tell him nope you got to stay home because your tags full.
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