Final Buck Harvest

[CJDore]

So if I looked at the final numbers correctly, we harvested over 2,100 bucks this year than last year. This is in spite of going from a 3 buck limit to a 2 buck limit. I keep seeing stats that show hunting participation is still going down. So with # of hunters in decline and the # of allowable bucks limited down by 33%, how could we have harvested that many more this year than last year?

[CJDore]

So if I looked at the final numbers correctly, we harvested over 2,100 bucks this year than last year. This is in spite of going from a 3 buck limit to a 2 buck limit. I keep seeing stats that show hunting participation is still going down. So with # of hunters in decline and the # of allowable bucks limited down by 33%, how could we have harvested that many more this year than last year?

 

https://jc.activeoutdoorsolutions.com/TNHFInternetHarvest/app/harvestReportSearch.do

[Omega]

Looking at the column descriptions, I understand Antlered, Doe and Button... But what do they consider Antlerless Buck?  I don't recall seeing that option in the reporting app, but there were almost 3k harvested.

[TacoBubba]

Looking at the column descriptions, I understand Antlered, Doe and Button... But what do they consider Antlerless Buck? I don't recall seeing that option in the reporting app, but there were almost 3k harvested.

That could have been in the late juvenile season, after some bucks dropped their antlers.

[Sunfish]

Anything with less than 3 inch horns is not a legal buck. How the TWRA does anything lately is a mystery. They throw a cloth over it say a few words and poof the money disappears. With the recent jump in fees for a sportsman license that I buy to hunt on my own land for nearly 14 years because I own it jointly with another guy whom I'm not related tells me they are all about the money. Everything else is secondary       

[CJDore]

No one has addressed my question.....Whit limits on bucks cut down 33% and less hunters in the woods, how do we have more bucks killed than last year?

[Omega]

Well, I for one harvested a buck this year where last year I did not; just does.

[LagerHead]

Well, I for one harvested a buck this year where last year I did not; just does.

 

^^ That's the answer right there. It's possible that the government accidentally did something right and managed the population properly and we ended up with more bucks out there this year. Didn't help me any, but...

[CJDore]

I shot one buck myself this year vs none last year. I am not sure the additional buck harvest is due to TWRA planning. The buck limit was just reduced this year.

[10-Ring]

Looking at the column descriptions, I understand Antlered, Doe and Button... But what do they consider Antlerless Buck?  I don't recall seeing that option in the reporting app, but there were almost 3k harvested.

 

I believe that is going to be any buck with an antler less than 3" that is not considered a button or a buck whose antlers have fallen off.

[10-Ring]

So if I looked at the final numbers correctly, we harvested over 2,100 bucks this year than last year. This is in spite of going from a 3 buck limit to a 2 buck limit. I keep seeing stats that show hunting participation is still going down. So with # of hunters in decline and the # of allowable bucks limited down by 33%, how could we have harvested that any more this year than last year?

My buck take was down this year.  3 last year to none this year.  Some of this can be attributed to passing.  I had chances on at least 4 bucks that I passed on.  Only one I regret is an ugly spike I passed on early in the season.   If you will recall we had that funky warm weather right at the peak of the rut which in my opinion had their movements limited a little bit.  I certainly was not seeing the number of bucks that I saw at the peak of last year's rut.  So, my personal data and observations contradict the stats.  I have nothing.  I spent a lot more time afield this year than I have in the past 5 years combined probably and I just wasn't seeing the bucks that I saw in 2014, I would say that I saw vastly more bucks in 2014 than any other year that I've hunted.  I hunted exclusively in Wilson County this year and looking at data from both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 it looks like Wilson County is trending with the rest of the state, I guess I'm just an anomaly. 

[up2snuff]

In answer to the original question my belief is that the weather during prime hunting season for the past two years was bad and kept the harvest number low. Our club doubled the number of shooter bucks this year compare to last year. The only difference I could tell was decent weather in November.


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