How does your state manage ?
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: cityhunter
21-Nov-14
Im from NY and its sad to say that our DEC manages its wildlife for failure !!! liberal bag limits , no violation enforcement, coyotes protected !!! No habit improvement on public ground !!! The list goes on and on .
From: CAS_HNTR
21-Nov-14
In Ohio they do pretty good. Sure there are things I dont like.....early muzzleloader,mid-jan muzzleloader, poorish management of public lands. ....but in reality, we have a one buck a year season that allows us to bowhunt from late September to early February. Plus..... gun season is several weeks out of the peak of the rut thus helping to minimize buck slaughter!
Like i said....herd has been better and i would change some stuff, but it could be worse!
From: Mule Power
21-Nov-14
Pa has antler restrictions which I love. Other than that it's a slaughter in lots of places with months and months of gun hunting for does and in some places with unlimited antlerless tags. Sucks.
From: kentuckbowhnter
21-Nov-14
Kentucky does pretty good, one buck limit. unlimited does where there are too many. they just have the same problem that other places have, the public land is way overhunted and the experience sucks. law enforcement in wildlife issues is virtually non-existent. private land can be out of this world hunting wise if it is managed properly. the public land used to be awesome until leasing of private ground caught up with the state about ten years ago and drove thousands of hunters to public land that could not afford to lease private ground, and the good public was soon ruined.
From: Barrera
22-Nov-14
New Mexico has some great big game hunts of course the gila elk hunts, oryx and ibex. As for deer I would like to see stricter point restrictions. Elk hunting is my passion. In my opinion I don't agree with the private ranch elk licenses being unit wide which allows them to sell for much more than if they were ranch only. Ranches with unit wide tags are suppose to leave access to their property to all public draw elk hunters. But there gates are always closed and access is almost impossible. NM doesn't use a point system which I prefer. Your odds of drawing are pretty much the same every year. Make sure you guys buy your valles caldera elk lottery ticket.
From: LINK
22-Nov-14
Oklahoma manages for license sales. In that regard they do good. I'm sure our management program is better than alot of states but it could be greatly improved IMO.
From: Coyote 59
22-Nov-14
Nobody can be worse than Indiana! IDNR= I Desparatly Need Restructured.
From: Pintail
22-Nov-14
In NJ, its money that is managed not the game animals.
From: drycreek
22-Nov-14
Texas manages with 30 year old info while trying to please everyone and manages to piss everyone off.
Ok, maybe that's a little harsh. I give 'em kudos for implementing antler restriction, but a swift kick in the butt for wanting to kill all spikes.
From: hunt'n addict
22-Nov-14
Michigan is all about money. The insurance land agricultural lobbyist control the DNR here. Also, IMO the "tradition" of Nov. 15 thru Nov. 30 gun season sucks and will never change. Therefore Michigan will never have great deer hunting.
From: Fulldraw1972
22-Nov-14
Mn sucks!! Gun season is first weekend of November. Way way to many liberal doe tags for too many years. Plus they need a more liberal wolf season.
Ne has a rifle season that starts the Saturday closest to November 15th. They are also a 2 buck state. It could be better hunting if they went to a one buck and later rifle season.
From: t-roy
22-Nov-14
Iowa does pretty well, however, especially in regards to the deer management, it would be a lot better if the DNR had more say in things & the Governor, Farm Bureau & other Ins. companies had less. They want most of the deer dead. They did reduce the number of tags as well as a few other good things this year, which was great.....& shocking.
I love the fact the gun season isn't till Dec. & after the rut, but from a landowner's perspective, I would like to see the 2 separate shotgun seasons combined & reduced to a single 9 day season. I get sick of road hunters constantly running up & down the roads & the trespassers.
From: kota-man
22-Nov-14
ND used to be very good. The current regime is terrible. They are more interested in managing people than they are wildlife.
From: pav
22-Nov-14
Coyote 59 - "Nobody can be worse than Indiana!"
+1
From: bowriter
22-Nov-14
In a perfect world, wildlife would be managed based four criteria: Environmentally-biologically-financially and last would be hunter satisfaction.
Unfortunately, when politicians make the rules, the wildlife lose.
In TN, we are fortunate. Our wildlife are managed about as well as any state I have seen. And guess what, our big game director is a biologist from NY. he is one of the best I have run across.
From: trkyslr
22-Nov-14
Cali is anti so it's one of the worst for several reasons working against the hunter and against improving game numbers.
From: Nick Muche
22-Nov-14
WI manages for no deer.
From: cityhunter
22-Nov-14
Troy Iowa is managed for failure !!! Resident two buck limit if u own land 3 bucks !!! plus for years they allowed a RIFLE Jan doe season , 3000 doe tags can be had just in my county ,come Jan !!! Plus when Iowa DNR had knowledge of EHD they did nada to limit the tags .. Iowa DNR are puppets run by deep pockets .
Illinois in my opinion had some of the best whitetail hunting , but DNR sold out and let unlimited NORES hunters have there tags.
It seems today the only person who wants a deer around is a hunter !!!
From: Zim1
22-Nov-14
Illinois does an outstanding job managing our public land to plant as many nonresident hunters from Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee & Michigan on our taxpayer paid for public land as possible. All to fund our ludicrous unsustainable state pension program, and pay for our former governor's prison expenses.
From: Keadog
22-Nov-14
Ohio bucks seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I have seen pictures of so many large bucks killed in the central part of the state so far this year it's amazing. This in spite of a bow season that runs from the end of September until the beginning of February, crossbows being legal in archery season and gun as well as muzzleloader and special youth gun hunts as well as unlimited, over the counter non-res tags that are pretty much dirt cheap compared to other states. The limit in my county is down to three this year (1 buck, 2 antlerless or 3 antlerless), but this year the byzantine regs now seem to include being able to hunt more does in other zones throughout the state. Three will be plenty for us and I pretty much hate traveling anymore.
From: Mule Power
22-Nov-14
From over here in Pa Ohio looks damn good.
From: Season Ticket
22-Nov-14
MA is basically managed by the insurance companies. No deer = no deer/car collisions.
From: sbschindler
22-Nov-14
In Montana , its money that is managed not the game animals.
From: cityhunter
22-Nov-14
Whitetails have fallen on tough times .
From: Boothill
23-Nov-14
PA seems to think the legislators manage game issues better.......so that's who gets to be in charge.....
From: MDW
23-Nov-14
In Kansas, the state legislators think they know better than the biologists and want to manage the deer herd like a CASH cow. It's amazing that once elected to a position, a person instantly knows whats best for everything.
The KDWP&T folks have to try to keep the hunters happy, keep a good deer herd and appease the state legislators all at the same time.
Just my .02 worth. I'm sure others see it differently!
From: 12yards
24-Nov-14
MN manages for low numbers of young deer.
From: Brotsky
24-Nov-14
I can't complain too much about SD, they do a pretty good overall. The biggest problem with our game department seems to be their timing on changes. They're usually a season too late to really make changes count. At least they try and do make changes even if they are often times a year late. A more proactive and less reactionary approach and I'd give them an A+.
From: StrutNut
24-Nov-14
MN 2 buck state? Where? MN manages for optimal Wolf numbers. We have way more then anywhere. You never need to worry about deer/car hits in MN! The biggest mistake in the southern part of the state is when they let you buy both a firearm and muzzle loader tag. You used to have to pic either. Too much pressure on farmland deer with limited late season cover. We also have way too many coyotes and wolves. As bad as WI is it is still way better than MN! MN seems to only use harvest data to determine the population. It is sad to see what used to be a good state for deer hunting turn into a go out of state to hunt big game kind of state.
From: Fulldraw1972
24-Nov-14
Strutnut, who said Mn was a 2 buck state? They have been a 1 buck state as long as I remember. They used to have a license you could buy that was good for all seasons. I actually like that license back when I gun hunted. I still hunt Mn some but I moved onto greener pastures for the most part.
From: sundowner
24-Nov-14
How does my state manage wildlife?
Much like NY..........stupidly.
From: JamesV
24-Nov-14
Mississippi is the pits. Horses and dogs to chase the deer, it is like the old wild west here and the game and fish want every deer killed. You can use a center-fire rifle during muzzle loader season, and the locals hunt 24/7 all year long because they can with no law enforcement to speak of. If you do try to report illegal hunting it is usually a relative of law enforcement or in some instances, the warden himself..
James
From: SB
26-Nov-14
Deer numbers so low here in SE Mn . I didn't even buy a licence this year. Too many doe tags for WAY too many years. First season I've missed since 1963 ! And yes ....Mn. has ALWAYS been ONE buck. This year no bonus doe tags in most of the state. One deer period! But it's a case of too little too late! They should shut it down next year . That happened in 1971!
From: overbo
26-Nov-14
Va. has the best management plan in all the U.S. for 2 1/2 year old or younger bucks. You can start shooting them the 1st Saturday in Nov. w/ muzzleloaders and kill three w/ a rifle till the 1st Saturday in Jan.
We have too many deer in my area of Va. because the land owners don't allow hunting(horse country).
From: 12yards
26-Nov-14
You can shoot as many bucks in MN as you can find tags for. It is a one buck state, but allows party hunting. So you can blast away if you know guys (or grandmas, or deceased uncle Ted, or your wife, or your mistress, etc.) willing to put their tags on.
From: R. Hale
26-Nov-14
Marvin,
I am not sure many that I know of would differ from your assessment much. I think you pretty much nailed it. Surprised that not many KS folks posted on this.
From: Purdue
26-Nov-14
Hunting limits should be viewed the same as speed limits. They are the max number legally allowed, not the recommended number. Just because the law says you can legally take 5 does doesn't meant you should. Both bow and gun hunters need to adjust their harvest to the local conditions.
Hunters know better than anyone the numbers that SHOULD be taken from the property they access. They know or at least have a feel for food availability, the effects of disease, the number of other hunters, etc. that effect deer population on that property.
If each hunter tries to take the legal limit, what will it do to next year's herd ? Greed and ego are what destroy the heard, not the state regulations.
From: Dude
26-Nov-14
Purdue: Agree with you. However, most hunters (not all) I know are not game managers and need to be restricted or even encouraged irregardless of their local deer numbers and habitat conditions.
From: Trial153
26-Nov-14
NY is the bench mark that the stupid strive for. When you reached it you reached a scale unmatched in stupidity and as a prize you receive higher taxes more fees, and useless over regulation.
From: R. Hale
26-Nov-14
Archery, Not sure about other states but the ones I know of except for Iowa are all one buck and Missouri is trying to move to that as well. Not sure it they will get it done. For example, in Colorado, last time I checked, you could only get a license for one season, one buck. In Ks. you can get a permit valid for all seasons but only one buck. I think that is the norm. Have not really researched it nationwide.
From: StrutNut
26-Nov-14
Full Draw,
I apologize but I didnt initially catch the transition from MN to NE. Upon reading it looked like you were referring to NE MN. My mistake. I just read your post too quick ;)
From: willliamtell
26-Nov-14
Let's see, in CA they have sacred cougars, bears darn near (no dogs or bait)virtually no public land can be hunted within 3 hours of any major metropolitan area, what little public land you can hunt gets hammered so hard there are almost no animals, they come up with new 'up yours' regulations to saddle hunters with annually (the latest is copper bullets only statewide in 2015), revenues are dropping so there are no enforcement officers - outside the coast, I have NEVER seen a game warden in 20 years of hunting here, so of course poachers are decimating deer in some areas, areas with overpopulations of deer do not have doe hunts, or any hunts at all (check Pt. Reyes elk populations), I could go on but why bother. Suffice to say it may not be great where you hunt but I guarantee it is better than commie Cali.
From: bowriter
26-Nov-14
Most of TN is a 3-buck limit. I live in Unit L which stands for liberal. My limit 3-does per day for the entire season-any equipment-approximately 111-days. Therefore, I could legally kill 333-does and three bucks a year.
I know of no one who has tried but know of guy who killed something like 38-deer in one year. His goal is to kill a deer in all of our 95-counties. I have no idea why. We have found it almost impossible to make much impact if any on the deer herd with archery equipment.
The most I have killed here is 11-does and one buck. The next year, I had more deer than ever. Overpopulation is a growing problem not only with deer but with turkeys.
We have a spring and fall turkey season in my county and in addition, can kill one bird a day, either sex with archery equipment during the 30-plus days of bow season. This is my backyard about a week ago and this is maybe 30% of the birds in the flock.
From: Woodswise work
26-Nov-14
What problems do too many turkeys cause? Just curious.
From: mtoomey
26-Nov-14
From: mtoomey
26-Nov-14
Woodwise, think poop. Lots of it. For ranchers they tear through hay bales. And every now and then one will chase a small child.
From: NorthT
26-Nov-14
X2 james, In ms this year can shoot one than one doe per day on private land, gun season starts nov 21-jan 15th I think. During muzzloader season you can use 45-70, 35 Whelen or 500 s/w for last couple years now private land owners can shoot anything during the season now- 300 mag-243 during muzzleloader season.
From: Tyfrei7
26-Nov-14
Indiana is horrible. The dnr is ran by the insurance companies. They r trying to eliminate the deer herd. Dnr states in their website. That a healthy deer herd is only four deer per square mile. What a joke a healthy herd is more like 12 deer per mile. It is sickening what our state is doing to the deer herd
From: BMG2
26-Nov-14
Quebec has alot to be desired. Moose management is terrible, they think they are managing for quantity and to uphold the "tradition" and cash. What is actually out there is another thing all together. Never actually seen anything regarding deer management other than doe tag alotment.
From: Zebow
26-Nov-14
Ohio isn't bad but they are letting too many does to be killed in the past few years. The herd in west central Ohio is less then half what it use to be. Hopefully they are done with stupid limits per county and go back to 1 or 2 deer per zones.
From: dillkill
26-Nov-14
PA sucks. I only live an hour from my Ohio hunting properties and spend all my time there. There is absolutely NO comparison in the bowhunting. Quality of deer, season duration, etc are far superior in Ohio. I'll be in a treestand tomorrow morning in Ohio before I'm eating turkey. PA closed it's archery season over 10 days ago...so stupid.
From: JayG@work
26-Nov-14
I live in Northern NY. Our DEC sucks something serious. They don't manage the herd, they try to eliminate the herd... Let's see. We have 8 days of archery,, with the weekend taken from bowhunters for the youth rifle season, where dads take the kids out, and shoot a deer and have the kids tag it. Then we have a week of ML, followed by 7,, say it with me, SEVEN WEEKS of rifle,, which is during the rut, then a week of late ML. They also allow X-guns during the archery season, so for all intents and purposes, the deer get slaughtered. I have hunted here in this state over 15vtimes and have seen 5 deer total, one of which was a buck,, a spike. I have not seen a buck I would shoot,, 8pts or better, in over 5 years in this state. I shot a doe last Sunday just to put some meat in the freezer and to sort of justify the stupidly high taxes I pay for owning land. I dropped my deer off to get processed and there were over 40 bucks laying on the ground in the cooler room. Out of all of them, there were two deer I would even consider shooting, the rest were dinks. Around here, the DEC lets you shoot anything, so they do... Then the complain that there are no big bucks around. I tell them that you will never have an 8 or 10 point if you kill it when it is a spike. I get blank stares, then usually the comment, "If I don't shoot it, someone else will". I need to move to Ohio..
From: SB
26-Nov-14
12 yds.... In the 300 series hunting areas(basically southern half of the state) there is no cross-tagging ...( party hunting ) for bucks. Out of the regs..."a person can not take and tag an antlered buck for another member of thier party. This applies to all hunters, licence types,and seasons. It remains legal to take and tag antlerless deer for members of the party." .... But we have no doe tags this year,so that's a moot point! It's a Hunter choice tag .. One deer.. Buck or doe and you are done. Plus antler restrictions.... Which is fine with me!
From: elkmo
27-Nov-14
Missouri has rifle rut hunt and 3 buck limit. 2 with bow and one rifle. 9 day doe rifle season even after the EHD. Missouri conservation dept is one of the most well funded depts in the country and do good work with the public land, but no wildlife on the public land to utilize their efforts.
From: cityhunter
27-Nov-14
elkmo its a shame the whitetail have fallen on tough times !!!
