Mail In samples
Massachusetts
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The law is just for the first week of shotgun, correct? I would bet there is a disproportionate number of game laws broken during this week.i wonder if the state knows that and it is part of the reasoning. I always forget about this law. Luckily or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, I havent had to deal with the law yet.
guess I'm lucky in that I have 2 check stations within 15 minutes....too bad I never kill $#!@. lol
Agreed on the inconvenience aspect, pi. I wonder how many hunters kill this week and check it online next week? Not suggesting it, just wondering. I'm sure it happens.
Is this In Regards to cologuard?
I have only ever gotten one deer when the biologist was at the check station. And let me tell you, he was not a good ambassador—overtly antagonistic, and drunk beyond belief on his tiny snippet of power. If circumstances allowed, I would happily take advantage of that 48-hour window to avoid another episode of that nonsense.
It is a bit annoying... they do test a variety of samples and age deer, so there is some benefit, but it does seem a bit weird.
Make a random lotto. When u online check a deer, if you "win" you then have to get it physically checked... seems reasonable.
So the state makes it more convenient by eliminating the requirement of going to a check station for the entire season except for one week and you still bitch.......
To check deer........
got any hard questions Pi?
We arrived at 5pm- 5:15p but the guy went home already.
So you just did regular check in noob? No samples taken ?
Noob I’ve heard that some butchers really aren’t too fond of those state biologists, but I suspect they remain a check station because it brings more deer their way.
At the checkstation I use it is staffed with Mass Wildlife agents. They weigh the deer, they check the teeth to age the deer. (They ask if you mind if they cut the skin at the jaw to access the teeth better) If it is a buck they also take a base antler measurement with calipers.
I think its to get the most bang for their buck with biologists surveying the harvest
It gives the bio's the most data. Historically, the number of deer shot week 1 of shotgun are huge. Prior to archery getting much longer, there were probably more deer shot on shotguns opening week than the rest of the year combined - or close to it. So for one week's effort, the bio's get the most possible data.
Even if you now have more deer tagged over a longer archery season, the density of deer killed per day is lower than the day's of shotgun week 1. So, again, the bio's have the most access to deer to assess and use to help understand herd health etc.
Using Arlow's point, antler dia relative to age (tooth aged) can help indicate herd health, body weights as well. People stink at "eye witness evaluation", even when we have the evidence in front of us. So when we answer stuff like buck with branched antlers or doe... we are fine, but when we estimate weight we are horrible. Just relying on that would likely lead to really bad data, and bad data in = bad info out. So they still do the shotgun first week to collect the most accurate data.
That seems to have coincided with fewer local places checking deer in person (If I shoot a deer this week, Ill have to research where to take it, I think W. Boylston is my closest option but not sure). As a kid, almost every town had a general store or something that did it. Now, I have no idea. That could be external pressure on business if folks didnt want to see dead deer... but could also be a business thinking: for one week I'm not making extra $ at a rate high enough to make this worth it.
That's all theory and guesswork.
The end point, is that they need accurately gathered physical data from a high number of deer to make trend estimates which they can use to adjust management strategies. So they do that this week.
I'd never thought about it much. But your question Pi is interesting. I do think the simple online lotto thing would be good. I suppose the risk is not getting enough data for sample size and statistical power to workout in the analysis, so they seem to have determined they can achieve those targets with this strategy.
I wonder why other states with larger deer populations and more hunters don’t require this. I’ve hunted out west, the midwest and here back east and have never had to bring an animal to a check station except in MA.
I think it's interesting that other states don't require this. Other states that are hunter friendly. And by interesting I mean ridiculous. This is mass so ridiculous is the norm
If I manage to harvest anything this week my sit is less than 2 miles from the NE district which is located about .5 miles from the house
Be careful what you’re asking for. CT shut down all its check stations…..now these little ma and pa fishing or hunting stores get zero traffic. They lost.
And the hunters lost because now guys don’t check in their deer online and the population is trending down each year since.
It’s a lose lose all over when check stations disappear. I’m all for bringing them back in force.
That's a great point BC, many of those same states do awesome biologic analysis, I wonder where they get the data? Serious question. If they are relying on hunter feedback it makes me question the data... Or do they do it through roadkills or something?
It is funny how attitudes change with convenience. Before all this online check in was available it was exciting to have the privilege to be fortunte enough to bring your deer to be checked in. It was a rite of passage. It was a tradition.
Now people cry like little girls if they are inconvenienced for one week out of 14....
So sad.....
I personally like checking in at the stations….nothing beats hanging that metal tag on the gun bunch every year
It used to be pretty cool to go hang out at the big check station on the common of the next town over as a teen, after getting my license. I remember hunting, and going by at lunch just to see what was coming in. I was always amazed both at the number and size of bucks guys shot, and sometimes at how small some deer were. Every now and then, a truly giant buck would be there, and everyone would be around. Basically every hunter who had a deer would end up with back slaps and a fun debriefing by the other hunters there - all proud for each other.
They are, I suspect, going to be a thing of the past not to far from now, but those will always be fun memories for me.
I wont mind when they are gone, so long as the bio's get their data some how. But it does stir up some fun memories.
Pi, point taken. I feel it’s much easier and convenient to simply bring your deer home with no tag on it (CT rules) rather than affix a plastic tag to your deer and check it in legally at a check station. I think the bigger concern is that you’re not affixing a punched tag that you cannot use again. So yes, I feel there are more people who do not check their deer in online now vs back when you had to report via a mail in survey or with a plastic tag affixed directly to your kill. It was a honor to do either of those options.
The check stations were never in effect for archery season here….only for gun season. But I, like many of the others have stated, would also enjoy stopping at a check station and see what was brought in back in the day….. circa ‘80’s and ‘90’s. It made you WANT to bring your deer there to be part of the action.
People are absolutely throwing the paper tag on, driving it home, cutting it up and then printing another tag. Most of the guys in CT are lamenting the conversion to printable tags and online check in as being the number one reason deer population has declined. All to serve the "Instant Big mac mentality" of today's entitled, don't want to be inconvenienced society.
Real tags, real check stations and the metal tags help prevent this.
I am not triggered, but I am saddened by the loss of traditions and loss of control over the deer harvest that will inevitably happen.
4 out of 5 dentist relate "triggered" to your last post vs mine, LOL. A rational man would be happy that 13 out of 14 weeks of the deer season the in person check in was lifted rather than be apoplectic about the 1 week remaining and those that support it.
Were I live there are no check stations close by. Back when every deer had to be checked I drove all over trying to find one that was open. This was prior to internet and cell phones. After the third attempt I called the EPO number to explain my situation. No answer. I left a message and my info and went home and butchered the deer. Never heard from them. MA does not put a huge effort into the hunting community (with the recent exception of next year's fee increases). I'm glad to see the checking requirement go.