What do you do?

[Guest adamoxtwo]

I think that there should be something in the regs for people on State Aid to be able to apply for a license that is state sponsored and that allows for an individual to hunt Anterless deer to the tune of one tag per month during the respective season. That would be Sept-Jan Four (4) months and 4 deer. The reason I say Antlerless is that if the state is even considering a point restriction this would be a way to manage without having to manage since that isn't their responsibility apparently. Just my

[Guest GunTroll]

I would point folks to take another look at the two top photos WD posted on page four to see what would still be a legal buck under a proposed four point on one side restriction. But the photos are no longer visible to me at least. Any ways if they could be seen, they would both be legal and basically back up my point (credit to WD for posting them and IMO making my argument for me), while not being the typical trophies one might think of those deer met the requirement for a legal harvest. All this is hypothetical of course. TWRA will never get its head out of its arse and I am wasting my time arguing with most of you. The argument of bubba will not be able to comply with such a reg, is saying a lot about yourselves and your neighbors of the great state of TN, I guess. Bubba would be able to shoot those deer (in photo) and bring em home. How many of those deer have you seen? How many times did you let them walk? How many times have you shot them and ate them , I hope? A four point restriction isn't like saying the deer have to be 6 years old and a B&C/P&Y buck or anything. It simply allows the deer to make it beyond the 3 whooping inch rule or whatever they have here in TN (can't recall at the moment) that defines them from antler less to bucks. Three inches and they are legal??!!?? Your chances of shooting does are greater anyways so why is their resistance for such a proposal? Have you seen the ratio???

Real simple....S H O O T M O R E D O E S F O R T H E M E A T Y O U N E E D ! ! ! And let bucks get bigger. Yes there are stupid laws on the books. Again, very simple. Remove them. Add better. Make simple to understand. Too easy! Also we have four sets of units here in TN, Ok have four sets of regs that work with each unit (funny isn't that what we have presently??). Not to hard to grasp in my brain.

[JAB]

Real simple....S H O O T M O R E D O E S F O R T H E M E A T Y O U N E E D ! ! !

And let me try to put this in equally as simple terms...THAT IS ILLEGAL IN ALL BUT UNIT L!!!

Again, in some parts of Units A and B the 'antlerless' season is only a couple of weeks in December and only one antlerless deer can be taken, period. Some counties in those units may have a couple of weeks in another month when antlerless deer can be taken and some may allow more than one but there are large portions of Units A and B where, according to the way the table on page 30 of the hunting regs reads, DOE SEASON IS ONLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS OUT OF THE YEAR AND YOU CAN ONLY LEGALLY TAKE ONE DOE (ANTLERLESS DEER) PER SEASON. Shooting more 'for the meat you need' is in violation of the the regulations. Therefore, any more regulations - such as point restrictions - would place even more limits on the ability of a hunter in these parts of the state to legally take a deer, period, much less fill the freezer.

So, no, Bubba won't care that some group of folks in a TWRA meeting room decided that he could do without the meat so someone else can put a head with a nice looking set of antlers on his wall.

Edited August 22, 2011 by JAB

[DaveS]

Every day that I drive down the highway, I see numerous deer that have been hit and killed by vehicles. Does of all sizes, fawns and bucks of all sizes. The only exceptions of the bucks...THEY ARE NOT "WALL HANGERS". They're the dumb little young bucks (spikes up to small 6 and 8 pointers). Those young bucks are causing alot of property damage and going to waste. Let the hunters harvest them. There's too many of them! Pass up the bucks on your land, and your neighbors will kill them for you. The only way QDM will work for you is to get your surrounding neighbors involved. The law says "3 inch" antler minimum. Wonder if there is a reason for that in unit L? Wonder why (I ask myself this) Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky (plus more) all southern states, don't have point or spread restrictions?

[Guest GunTroll]

wrong post quoted.

Edited August 22, 2011 by GunTroll

[Guest GunTroll]

And let me try to put this in equally as simple terms...THAT IS ILLEGAL IN ALL BUT UNIT L!!!

Again, in some parts of Units A and B the 'antlerless' season is only a couple of weeks in December and only one antlerless deer can be taken, period. Some counties in those units may have a couple of weeks in another month when antlerless deer can be taken and some may allow more than one but there are large portions of Units A and B where, according to the way the table on page 30 of the hunting regs reads, DOE SEASON IS ONLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS OUT OF THE YEAR AND YOU CAN ONLY LEGALLY TAKE ONE DOE (ANTLERLESS DEER) PER SEASON. Shooting more 'for the meat you need' is in violation of the the regulations. Therefore, any more regulations - such as point restrictions - would place even more limits on the ability of a hunter in these parts of the state to legally take a deer, period, much less fill the freezer.

So, no, Bubba won't care that some group of folks in a TWRA meeting room decided that he could do without the meat so someone else can put a head with a nice looking set of antlers on his wall.

Since you took the time to directly address me...

Take another minute of your time and read further down in the same paragraph that you are referencing me from. I will directly quote myself to save you the time... " Also we have four sets of units here in TN, OK have four sets of regs that work with each unit (funny isn't that what we have presently??)" end quote. I will now go further to say this again since your does not seem to " Not to hard to grasp in my brain".

By unit I meant region(s)

Edited August 23, 2011 by GunTroll
I'm dumb

[Guest adamoxtwo]

Again, this is coming from someone who has never shot any deer, period.

Need I say More?

[Guest GunTroll]

... The law says "3 inch" antler minimum. Wonder if there is a reason for that in unit L? Wonder why (I ask myself this) Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky (plus more) all southern states, don't have point or spread restrictions?

Not sure why. What do you think?

Bad genes (other than western KY)? Horrible foresight? Successful lobbying? All of those states endorse the spending of all those hunters dollars in states other than their own? Bubba don't come around to quick/hard to teach a old dog new tricks? Larger tracts of private owned. More hunt clubs with their own QDM rules? Your guess is as good as mine.

I'll ask you. What makes MO,IL,IA,KS,OK,TX,SD,even ND,WI and others destination hunting spots for white tail? I don't think they all have point restrictions but yet seem to embrace QDM. Why the resistance here? What makes our residents so different? If I hear any more ol boys have to eat what they can I am gonna puke. TN isn't the only state where country boys, rednecks, white trash, poor folk, or whatever other adjective you can come up with, reside. They exists outside of our borders too! Has anyone been to MO lately? Mississippi even has spread restrictions ( I hate the idea of that BTW). Arkansas has point restrictions too! If they can have them and Arkansas ol boys can eat and survive, we damn sure can.

[Guest GunTroll]

Need I say More?

no need to.

[Guest GunTroll]

TN had 161,998 deer harvested last year Tennessee's deer harvest Information & News from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) with a population of 6,346,105. Obviously no where near that many people are hunters. With the land owner tags I'm not sure how to pin point actual hunter numbers in TN. Pretty good number though IMO!

MO had 274,207 deer harvested last year (or thats at least what I added up from here)

http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/reports/deer-reports/deer-harvest-map (look to the right of page for a better option to see summary, I can't link to it)

with a population of 5,987,580. Again they also have a landowner tag system and getting solid numbers seems difficult.

To better understand the regs and my point if it hasn't been made abundantly clear look here Deer Regulations | MDC you should really look this link over well before blasting away with opinions of yesteryear's logic.

Reading between the lines and looking real hard at the info from the MO link(s) and adding up the numbers from both states, my conclusion based off of stats from TWRA and its regs, and then looking at MDC's regs and stats, is that the ol boys in MO are doing fine with their herd as far as the freezer is concerned as well as their wall with a point restriction in place. Might be said that thats not comparing apples to apples or herd to herd, but with that aside, it can work if applied in a way that fits the need of the herd (in your unit) as well as the hunters and landowners that reside within. I'm not suggesting TN should mimic MO exactly BTW. Rather, just look at both the successes of similar states regs (point restriction states) as well as failures and make the best decision based off of that.

For you naysayers, my point is why not with all the evidence that it really does not hurt your hunting, food gathering, and herd strength (ratio).Is it land ownership rights and the feeling of you loosing control of them? That really is the only argument that holds water. I suspect WD is coming from that position.

Take note of the bucks shot in the antler less firearm portion on the MO link. The dates seem way to early for antler shed so its proof the Bubba resides elsewhere!!

This has been a good conversation and I believe I have nothing more to add and therefore this has run its course with me this year. Till next season, I'm out. Feel free to applaud my departure . Happy hunting fellas.

Edited August 23, 2011 by GunTroll
links not working

[Guest adamoxtwo]

:surrender:Mr. Moderator I think it may be time to close this. The horse has gotten a little beaten.

[DaveS]

Yep, we've all said our piece.

[Guest GunTroll]

I'm not sure why the need to close it is being suggested. If others are inclined they should be able to opine.

Ok now I'm done.

[JAB]

Need I say More?

I didn't say I haven't hunted. In fact, I said that I have hunted deer, off and on, for much of my 40 years. I currently hold - and have for the past, several years - a hunting license and big game stamp. What I said was that I have never shot any deer - largely because I have never had a chance, during a legal deer season, to take a legal deer. I have had opportunities to take deer illegally or to take illegal deer during a legal season and could have done so - probably without getting caught - but being a person who obeys the law has kept me from doing so.

Therefore, the points of my statement were:

1. I obey the regs even though I believe many of them are wrongheaded

2. There are already enough regs in place to keep law-abiding hunters from taking game. We don't need any friggin' more.

3. (Which goes back to my answer to the original question of the thread) Because of that, I am going to take any legal deer I have a chance to shoot, be it a spike, an eight pointer, a doe - during the very short period of time when that is legal - or whatever. I want to take a deer because I enjoy venison. I can't eat antlers (and, yes, GunTroll I read in the other thread where you said that phrase annoys you but for me it is simply the fact of the matter) so I couldn't care less what kind of 'rack' it has.

Edited August 23, 2011 by JAB

[ShaunM]

Some states you must kill a doe before you can get a buck tag.

[DaveS]

"Earn a Buck". Our local refuge is like that.

[ShaunM]

Earn a buck that's it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to do it state wide.

[whiskey]

Earn a buck that's it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to do it state wide.

+1, but maybe not statewide. Certainly in Unit L. The other two units don't have the herd numbers that we have in Unit L.

[DaveS]

Good idea.

[Wingshooter]

If you hunt "public land" shared by hundreds of other hunters, better shoot that 1 1/2 year old 6 pointer while you can! If you don't, the guy next to you will.

I have the luxury to have 200 acres of prime deer land at my disposal. Our trail cams are showing some mighty fine bucks hitting the food plots. An aweful lot does, fawns (some still nursing) young bucks and bucks with crappy horns (3 pointers, crazy looking spikes ect., ect.)

Our efforts are going to be the taking of does. I think we'll let the "big boys" breed this year and rid the place of scrubs. Keep in mind though that if a buck bigger than my 10 pointer or my daughter's 12 pointer come within range...the Ol' Smoke Pole might just call down the thunder! But that's not my plan.

We'll let the kids on the youth hunt take whatever they want from the food plots. It'll be their call.

I'm impressed that you have food plots in this heat! Topic for another thread, I know, but my plots are 'crispy'.

[DaveS]

Mine are going down fast. Mainly due to turkeys digging it up. There is a thread on here about trail cams. A couple of thos pictures you can see some of the plot.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

Some states you must kill a doe before you can get a buck tag.

And I agree 100%

[Guest adamoxtwo]

I can't keep my Feeders filled cause of them turkey. They are going through a bag of corn in about 4 days. It's getting costly, but I won't have to worry about that here soon. Figure I will wait a few days then fill it up again. I know that the deer are there, but I need to verify. I am getting a Trail Cam today so I want that up to see who the culprit really is...and what time they are there ;-)

[DaveS]

We caught raccoons stealing from my son's feeders. Caught them little banditos red handed!