poorhunter":l9rm4son said:
It's not the actual number of people that kill three a day that is the problem. It's the mentality that there is a limitless supply of does that the three a day limit fosters. I don't know how many times I've read on this site of someone who lives in East Tennessee say "I'll just go to middle and kill a doe". That plus people have a number of different hunters "come kill a doe, it's three a day ". Friends family kids, it all adds up. The liberal limit says there's actually NO limit and people don't manage their property to sustain good populations.
For most of Unit L, my views are congruent with Poorhunter's, but not as dire or extreme.
IMO, neither the people nor the limit is much a "problem"
at present.
Otherwise, everything Poorhunter states is spot on.
It's the mentality of a limitless supply, which is exactly why TWRA decided to make the Unit L limit 3 a day.
The goal was to reduce the deer density in those counties designated as Unit L.
To a significant degree, it has worked.
But now,
should we still have the Unit L doe limit stated as "3 per day"?
Not only has the deer density been reduced in most Unit L counties,
but many bordering Unit A counties have been now designated as Unit L counties,
not so much to decrease their deer density, but more for the cause of simplicity in the regs.
IMO, some of these former Unit A counties are not being served best ongoing with this high a doe limit and the attitudes it fosters.
That said, just as an aside, for similar but opposite "mindset" reasons, the buck limit was reduced from 3 to 2.
A higher doe limit simply means more hunters kill 2 or 3 doe annually instead of 1 or 2;
a lower buck limit simply means more hunters kill 1 or 2 bucks annually instead of 2 or 3.
Although the Unit L doe limit has gone unchanged for years,
many hunters are simply tired of killing, dragging, processing, any more than they can use for food.
More "hunting" can be more fun (and less work) than more "killing".
Thus, the "killing" has become more "selective" for most hunters.
For most, this number of deer to be killed is no more than 3 deer total annually,
and the "management" issue becomes whether that is geared more towards
fewer to be bucks, or fewer to be does (and/or, fewer period, or more period).
Make the doe limit 10 a day, and most hunters will still not kill more than 3 deer a year.
Make the buck limit 10 a day, and most hunters will still not kill more than 3 deer a year,
although the ratio of kills would likely become more bucks and fewer does.
Basically, we're just not going to get the
average hunter to kill more than 3 deer a year.
The ongoing deer density (population) is effected most by the doe kills.
Other herd health dynamics may be effected more by the buck kills.
It's all about the balance.
All that said,
the biggest challenge of future deer management may still become
getting hunters to kill enough female deer to keep deer densities in check.
No matter how we do it, it will be a challenge to get the average hunter to kill more than 2 or 3 deer annually,
no matter what the buck or the doe limits become.
