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2 buck limit question from WV
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<blockquote data-quote="TheLBLman" data-source="post: 5626972" data-attributes="member: 1409"><p>Jaydell, there's already been many good answers to your questions, so I'll try not to repeat, but may be able to expand on them a bit.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Generally speaking, it would be easy to think it "should be" the "opposite", and this could have been the case on a level playing field of consistent ongoing circumstances. But the circumstances have been unprecedented, highly variable, and unpredicted.</p><p></p><p>Over many decades, TN hunters were conditioned to "protect" (not shoot) female deer because that's from where more deer come. That's what we were told, and in many hunting circles, it was simply taboo to kill a doe. Many will tell you most TN gun deer hunting had been mostly "buck only" until the creation of Unit L.</p><p></p><p>The creation of Unit L (with essentially no limit on doe) worked in convincing most deer hunters that it was not only ok to shoot a doe, but that hunters needed to kill lots of them! Prior to this, does were mainly only allowed (with a gun) or a single weekend or two, initially by quota draw. But also, since 1999, there had been a 3-buck limit with lots of opportunity to take bonus bucks on public lands.</p><p></p><p>Then suddenly, the flood gates were opened to shoot female deer. Hunters were killing & processing lots of does for friends & family. A growing number of non-hunters were enjoying eating venison.</p><p></p><p>But then, many hunters, like myself, simply got tired of dragging out & processing deer. Many decided they'd rather spend more time just hunting than dragging & processing. Many more simply decided to hunt a lot less, progressively less (for a variety of reasons, not just being tired of processing deer).</p><p></p><p>Then CWD hit, and the fear-mongering regarding eating "diseased deer" caused many people to simply stop eating venison. Suddenly, if you killed more than a doe or two a year, there might be no friend or relative wanting it. So you just cut back on how many you "harvest". I "need" one or two a year for the table. Taking any more than that can just be too much trouble.</p><p></p><p>The age of the average TN deer hunter is old. Many just aren't as willing to drive from East TN to Middle or West TN for better deer hunting. Instead of going about every weekend (when they had fulltime careers), they now deer hunt a weekend or two annually, despite being "retired" and having more "free" time. They kill a deer or two annually, and that's "enough".</p><p></p><p>The main reason the doe harvest is as relatively low as it is currently may be because the average hunter is simply hunting less, and less willing to drag & process a deer than ever before. We may have about as many deer hunters as ever, but on average, they hunt fewer days annually than in times past, and simply watch deer more than they shoot deer.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TheLBLman, post: 5626972, member: 1409"] Jaydell, there's already been many good answers to your questions, so I'll try not to repeat, but may be able to expand on them a bit. Generally speaking, it would be easy to think it "should be" the "opposite", and this could have been the case on a level playing field of consistent ongoing circumstances. But the circumstances have been unprecedented, highly variable, and unpredicted. Over many decades, TN hunters were conditioned to "protect" (not shoot) female deer because that's from where more deer come. That's what we were told, and in many hunting circles, it was simply taboo to kill a doe. Many will tell you most TN gun deer hunting had been mostly "buck only" until the creation of Unit L. The creation of Unit L (with essentially no limit on doe) worked in convincing most deer hunters that it was not only ok to shoot a doe, but that hunters needed to kill lots of them! Prior to this, does were mainly only allowed (with a gun) or a single weekend or two, initially by quota draw. But also, since 1999, there had been a 3-buck limit with lots of opportunity to take bonus bucks on public lands. Then suddenly, the flood gates were opened to shoot female deer. Hunters were killing & processing lots of does for friends & family. A growing number of non-hunters were enjoying eating venison. But then, many hunters, like myself, simply got tired of dragging out & processing deer. Many decided they'd rather spend more time just hunting than dragging & processing. Many more simply decided to hunt a lot less, progressively less (for a variety of reasons, not just being tired of processing deer). Then CWD hit, and the fear-mongering regarding eating "diseased deer" caused many people to simply stop eating venison. Suddenly, if you killed more than a doe or two a year, there might be no friend or relative wanting it. So you just cut back on how many you "harvest". I "need" one or two a year for the table. Taking any more than that can just be too much trouble. The age of the average TN deer hunter is old. Many just aren't as willing to drive from East TN to Middle or West TN for better deer hunting. Instead of going about every weekend (when they had fulltime careers), they now deer hunt a weekend or two annually, despite being "retired" and having more "free" time. They kill a deer or two annually, and that's "enough". The main reason the doe harvest is as relatively low as it is currently may be because the average hunter is simply hunting less, and less willing to drag & process a deer than ever before. We may have about as many deer hunters as ever, but on average, they hunt fewer days annually than in times past, and simply watch deer more than they shoot deer. [/QUOTE]
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