Harvest Report - 2016 vs. 2017 - Numbers Down

[megalomaniac]

YTD;
Antlerless harvest: 55,130
Antlered harvest: 71,777

If we are "slaughtering" the does, what word describes the buck harvest?

I personally don't think the 3-does a day limit has anything to do with the reduction in kill numbers. It may have an effect in very localized areas, but not overall.

:lol: I wasnt even going to post this but glad you did, numbers dont lie!!!! So many people just have no idea!!!

Not necessarily, depending on the age of those does and the percentage of population can give you some better insight. It could possibly mean a over harvest or under harvest of doe, or its balanced.


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Absolutely right. Unless you look at trending age data of the does, you cannot say whether too many are being killed or not. If the average ages of the does killed are trending downward, does are being overharvested despite fewer overall kill numbers than years prior.

But the big drop for this year is primarily due to East TN and EHD. The gradual drop in harvest is a longer- term problem due to a gradual decline in overall population statewide. Why the population statewide is gradually declining is the crux. Noone knows that for sure. (I subscribe to a combination theory of excessive predation with overharvest of does)

 

[Boll Weevil]

I hunt in Hardeman county and our overall harvest is now HALF of what it was 10 years ago. With does making up between 48-54% of that total annually, it's clear to me that the population is somewhat smaller than in the past (which is a good thing...we had way too many).

 

[TheLBLman]

One of the few times i disagreed with BSK was about this issue.
He was of the opinion that dropping the buck limit from 3 to 2 was pointless because very few hunters killed 3 bucks each season.

I think you may have SOMEWHAT misunderstood what BSK was saying.
I do not think he was saying dropping the buck limit from 3 to 2 was "pointless", but do believe he was trying to communicate he didn't think it would make a huge difference, and was questioning whether it was necessary when done.

Over the years, BSK was one of the bigger proponents of going to a 2-buck limit, somewhat buffering is thoughts a bit later due to so many hunters voluntarily raising their personal shooter buck standards and voluntarily showing more restraint on how many bucks they were killing.

I said the biggest impact would be on the 2nd tag, not the 3rd.

I think BSK agreed with that, know I did.

What I'm seeing from people i know is that they are being VERY selective with that second tag, where in the past they would have pulled the trigger much quicker.

I surmise that a lot fewer 2nd tags will be filled in the long run.

I agree.
And, I'm seeing many hunters I know being even more selective with that very 1st tag as well.
Yet, ANY antlered buck remains legal, totally up to the hunter as to what he considers a "trophy" buck for himself.

 

[Snake]

I know we have had alot of EHD reports in the east but I expected these numbers to be down . I relate that fact to the fewer checking stations now active . Once a person is home with a deer some don't bother to turn them in , I know this has happened for a fact and much more so now .

 

[duckduck84]

I talked to my processor the other night in Tipton County and he said his numbers are up from last year, overall, but alot of the guys dropping off have mentioned lower sightings of deer. He did also say that he has noticed larger bucks and fewer button bucks being dropped off since the 2 buck limit went into effect.

He's processed about 1250 so far this season, give or take, over roughly 1000 last year, but he attributes that to new customers not necessarily an increase in deer being killed (obviously).

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[Hardwoodmaterials]

I don't know what everyone else saw this season but I have seen less deer than I ever have in 26 years of deer hunting. I saw 4 living deer in the woods all season! I did see a few small bucks threw out whole on the side of the dead end roads! I hunted 2 WMA's and 1 public hunting area that I have hunted for years and always have done well on. Never even run in to many other people on them except the same 2 or 3 other local guys that hunt them all season. This year all of them were completely over run during M/L and the first week of rifle with groups of guys from East Tn and they shot EVERYTHING with hair! I assume they flooded to middle Tn due to the EHD in their area this year and I hope they can't find their way back next year! I really enjoy living and hunting in unit L especially when all the East Tn rejects treat it like Vegas! What happens in unit L stays in Unit L! :bash:

 

[Snake]

I really don't have any facts to prove what I'm about to say but to say these liberal limits on does are not having effect is IMO wrong . I've heard some say no one kills this many does ...WHAT ?? I know a few on here that has killed quite a few does actually in the teens !! I've been that hunter trying to out do my friends when I was younger haven't you ? Well there are some young guns out there still .If that was what TWRA was wanting then I think they got what they wanted . Maybe not all areas but some I would say the population has dwindled . I've even heard some say you couldn't hurt your population by taking what the limits were and I know that to be a fact wrong , seen it done on a place in Lincoln Co. oh we have plenty of deer come with me and shoot all the does you want , well the well went dry !!!!

 

[MUP]

:lol: East TN rejects? :roll: I've never even been West of Franklin co in Tennessee hunting before, but I might just sneak over there and kill a button just to fill my 2nd buck tag now. :rotf:

 

[muddyboots]

I agree doc about bsk 110 per cent. It's the mindset with 2 tags instead of 3. It's also the mindset of 3 does a day. People are of the opinion kill every doe it doesn't matter. When u kill a a doe you don't just kill 1 deer you kill 20 that 10 would have been bucks.

 

[muddyboots]

I personally loved the season when we only had doe days. Not legal every day. Jmo.

 

[AT Hiker]

I personally loved the season when we only had doe days. Not legal every day. Jmo.

I did too. It was like opening day all over again. It is nice now to kill a doe whenever I want (unit L) but the nostalgia is burning out.


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[TX300mag]

I agree doc about bsk 110 per cent. It's the mindset with 2 tags instead of 3. It's also the mindset of 3 does a day. People are of the opinion kill every doe it doesn't matter. When u kill a a doe you don't just kill 1 deer you kill 20 that 10 would have been bucks.

Never thought of it in that light. Tennessee has a 1000/buck limit.

 

[TheLBLman]

Now that it is generally no longer "taboo" to kill a doe,
perhaps we can simply promote the benefits of striving for a balanced sex harvest,
or deer KILL if you prefer
both collectively and individually?

 

[larry ipock]

Hardwoodmaterials, we had to deal with that back in the 80s, when Knox and Anderson counties didn't have a deer season. We didn't call them rejects, we just called them idiots. LOL Seriously, some of them were a###s, most of them were just looking for a place to hunt. And a few were better hunters than we were. LOL

 

[Hardwoodmaterials]

Hardwoodmaterials, we had to deal with that back in the 80s, when Knox and Anderson counties didn't have a deer season. We didn't call them rejects, we just called them idiots. LOL Seriously, some of them were a###s, most of them were just looking for a place to hunt. And a few were better hunters than we were. LOL

We have always ran in to a few guys from East Tn and most were pleasant enough and had some courtesy when hunting on the WMA's but most all of the ones I ran in to this year were REJECTS! I can't believe East Tn let them back in once they ran them out Ha-Ha. I ran in to one group during m/l that smelled like a brewery at noon slurred speech and all on a WMA, guys walking in and setting up a blind within 50-75 yds of me at 7am after waving at me, a couple guys yelling across the hollow wanting to know if I had seen anything yet, emptying out their truck and bags of camp garbage where they park(which I picked up a couple times and hauled to a dumpster less than 5 minutes away!) and I know none of them can be on here because they can't read! I know this because they obviously didn't know the big white and red signs say "NO motorized vehicles" when they were driving their trucks, UTV's and ATV's all over the place! I really wished they would end this Unit L 3 does a day at least on the WMA and public hunting areas and go back to giving out a couple tags at the end of season. We saw a few deer all season long and didn't have to deal with all the absolute nonsense from the vacationers that just don't care. They treat Unit L like Las Vegas. If it happens in Unit L it stays in Unit L!

 

[WilcoKen]

I would be interested to see the number of incidents reported of cars hitting deer this year compared to years past. To see if those are trending down like harvest reports. It may support the claim that overall herd numbers are down. I wonder if insurance companies track this.

 

[duckduck84]

I would be interested to see the number of incidents reported of cars hitting deer this year compared to years past. To see if those are trending down like harvest reports. It may support the claim that overall herd numbers are down. I wonder if insurance companies track this.

They do, but the numbers aren't out yet that I can find. I at least know they rank it by state and such.

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