chris1976":5swyfkjo said:
. . . . . please tell me how you ASSUME that it's not on the future agenda?
The Commission (as well as the TWRA now) has placed much merit in the surveys and opinions of the majority of TN's deer hunters. For the past many years, they have been right on the line of preferring either a 2 or a 3 buck limit. In early 2015, the
initial surveys showed a slight preference for a 2-buck limit, while later surveys showed a slight preference for a 3-buck limit, but taken as a whole, the Commission believed most hunters had a very slight preference for a 2-buck limit and that's what ultimately happened.
Only a small minority (of hunters) preferred a 1-buck limit, and neither the TWRA nor this current Commission has any intention of pushing a 1-buck agenda. In fact, it was agreed that the 2-buck limit would be a 5-year deal, so I fully expect it to be early Year 2020 before the buck limit is revisited. The expected discussion is whether to keep the 2-buck limit, go to a "2-3" like we had for many years, or go to a 3-buck limit like we had for only a short time before going to the current 2-buck limit.
Of additional note, even many "big buck" states (such as Illinois) do
NOT have a 1-buck limit. Most states now have a 2-buck limit, which appears to have been the best overall compromise between what few prefer a 1-buck limit and those who prefer a higher buck limit.
For whatever reasons, anything perceived as "negative" always becomes the front page discussion, a zillion pages, while anything "positive" goes to the back page and is ignored. Just look at all those posts about the definition change of an antlered/antlerless deer, while the bigger positive of
ALL statewide hunters for the first time in TN's deer hunting history being able to hunt opening day of the 2016 gun season "either-sex" isn't even being discussed.
Again,
2016 is the first year in TN's deer hunting history where ALL deer hunters across the state (including all of East TN) can now legally hunt "either-sex" for at least the first week of our rifle deer season (which includes Thanksgiving week). What's more, unless and until
AFTER "a" deer is killed, the definition of antlered/antlerless is now totally irrelevant to this majority of hunters because
ANY deer will be legal to them.
How can this not be a "trajectory" of increasing opportunity for the majority of TN's deer hunters?