Deer change?

[Mooneyes]

What we are all forgetting here is that the "average" rifle hunter is not willing to only shoot does and thus won't buy a permit if this is the case and thus the NGPC will never implement this kind of a policy as they will lose to much income. Again, as a state we are committed to trophy deer management.

I also beleive that things are only going to get worse with more and more people outfitting in our state. I just returned from a hunt in Illinois and paid 340 dollars for an archery only tag. Two guys in camp from LA paid this plus 1200 for a three day hunt. With our statewide buck only tags being priced so cheap even for non-residents and a gauranteed tag you can see the writing on the wall for outfitters.

[Shorty]

Personally, and this is just my choice, I love to shoot does to put in the freezer. I usually buy seasons choice tags to simply put meat in the freezer and then use my either or tags during archery and ML to trophy hunt for a nice mature buck. Prior to the seasons choice tags being available I had no problems whacking a basket rack buck for the freezer. Now days I pass on numerous basket rack young bucks every year and let them go to get bigger, other people hunting the same property have been doing the same thing over the last 5 years and one of these days someone will benefit very nicely from it. Those mature older bucks are much more of a challenge to hunt too. I think it's the best of both worlds, I get great quality meat for the freezer and at the same time have been increasing the odds of taking a mature buck in the future. One major component of trophy buck management is simply letting the bucks get older which a lot of hunters are unwilling to do, it's little horns or nothing. While I am out ML this weekend, if I see a nice mature doe being chased by a basket rack buck, the doe is getting whacked and hopefully I will see that basket rack buck in a year or two when he is worthy of putting up on the wall. By hunting this way we are both keeping the deer numbers down and we are also increasing our odds of taking a mature buck in the future. This also helps keep the deer numbers in check and the crop damage is much more limited down on the family farm.