Interesting thread, pt 1. Not surprising, but interesting.
I started hunting deer in Tennessee in 1981. Deer hunting was different then to say the least. There was actually a group of people called stump sitters who studied deer behavior year round by simply sitting and watching deer behavior. Their published reports were found in many of the common magazines, not the least of which was Deer and Deer Hunting.
I had never heard of a game camera, or a laptop let alone a cell phone.
Biologists and game management has changed DRAMATICALLY since then.
A truly HUGE buck around here was a 180 pound dressed 8 point that might score 140.
Bowhunting was VERY unpopular and the equipment was very crude.
Laser rangefinders were unheard of and tree stands were wooden and dangerous.
There were no safety harnesses, only waist belts.
No mechanical broadheads.
No inline muzzleloaders (at least I never saw one).
And ANY deer track, not deer, but deer track, SERIOUSLY, was worthy of discussion. How fresh, which way, buck or doe, how big, etc...
Research about the how to's and where's was NOT at your finger tips on a computer or cell phone. It was gained through discussions at local archery shops and shooting events and from anyone who you might have heard had killed a deer.
Gathering info in 1981 about how and where to kill a deer by bow was about like trying to guess the right numbers for the powerball.
And putting it all together to actually put an arrow through a deer and recover it, on your own, was definitely hitting the lottery.
Fast forward to 2016.
Things are definitely different now. Information is just a click or tap away. Not that this is a bad thing at all. But it seems we have all gotten away from the enjoyment of hunting. And turned it in to something competitive.
Don't get me wrong, deer hunting IS competitive. But the competitors are not the hunters. They are supposed to be the hunter and the animal.
It seems only natural that as a hunter enjoys his journey to becoming a better, more accomplished hunter, he would naturally want to "raise the bar" so to speak on his own personal accomplishments. In other words it may not feel quite as rewarding or satisfying to him to kill that fawn he killed that first year or three when he started.
And if this is the case, then it seems only natural that he would want to set his own goals accordingly so as to still feel the same enjoyment as he did.
This may or may not be true for other hunters but I have never met any hunter who did not enjoy his hunt. Because if he did not enjoy the hunt, he quit.
So we all hunt for enjoyment. And sometimes we adapt our hunting lifestyle/choices to accomadate our experience.
What I do not understand is how some hunters want to manipulate other fellow hunters deer hunting experience, to try to increase their own odds for killing an animal that already exists in huntable numbers in this state.
It never ceases to amaze me how we all associate skill level with antler size. The reality is, in most cases, nothing could be further from the truth.
There are few deer in the woods easier to kill (by gun or bow) than the low pressured (or no pressured) rut crazed buck (or doe).
Yet we naturally associate an almost hero like status with those hunter who kill one that just happens to have a large rack.
Conversely, there are fewer deer, in the woods, harder to kill (by gun or bow) than a mature, highly pressured, matriarch doe.
In fact, the only reason so many more of these does are killed than their buck counter part, is simply because of sheer numbers. And for the sake of herd health, it is my understanding that this needs to be so.
There is absolutely ZERO biological evidence to support that a reduction from a 3 buck limit, to a 2 buck limit or even 1, will be good for the entire deer herd in Tennessee. ZERO!
Likewise there is little evidence that it will hurt it either. Except for the sake of hunter enjoyment.
So why do it?
If it were true that going to a 2 or 1 or 0 buck limit were best for the herd of deer in Tennessee, I would be screaming support from the roof tops. But until TWRA Biologists, AS A GROUP, support this notion. I AM OUT!
Besides, IMO, there will be little if any noticable difference in the number of mature bucks taken in Tennessee by reducing the buck limit (over the long haul) as long as we continue to have the liberal long range rifle seasons we now enjoy.
Personally, I really enjoy the seasons the way they are now. I want what is best for the deer herd, as deemed this way by the experts, not the arm chair big antler enthusiasts.
I started hunting deer in Tennessee in 1981. Deer hunting was different then to say the least. There was actually a group of people called stump sitters who studied deer behavior year round by simply sitting and watching deer behavior. Their published reports were found in many of the common magazines, not the least of which was Deer and Deer Hunting.
I had never heard of a game camera, or a laptop let alone a cell phone.
Biologists and game management has changed DRAMATICALLY since then.
A truly HUGE buck around here was a 180 pound dressed 8 point that might score 140.
Bowhunting was VERY unpopular and the equipment was very crude.
Laser rangefinders were unheard of and tree stands were wooden and dangerous.
There were no safety harnesses, only waist belts.
No mechanical broadheads.
No inline muzzleloaders (at least I never saw one).
And ANY deer track, not deer, but deer track, SERIOUSLY, was worthy of discussion. How fresh, which way, buck or doe, how big, etc...
Research about the how to's and where's was NOT at your finger tips on a computer or cell phone. It was gained through discussions at local archery shops and shooting events and from anyone who you might have heard had killed a deer.
Gathering info in 1981 about how and where to kill a deer by bow was about like trying to guess the right numbers for the powerball.
And putting it all together to actually put an arrow through a deer and recover it, on your own, was definitely hitting the lottery.
Fast forward to 2016.
Things are definitely different now. Information is just a click or tap away. Not that this is a bad thing at all. But it seems we have all gotten away from the enjoyment of hunting. And turned it in to something competitive.
Don't get me wrong, deer hunting IS competitive. But the competitors are not the hunters. They are supposed to be the hunter and the animal.
It seems only natural that as a hunter enjoys his journey to becoming a better, more accomplished hunter, he would naturally want to "raise the bar" so to speak on his own personal accomplishments. In other words it may not feel quite as rewarding or satisfying to him to kill that fawn he killed that first year or three when he started.
And if this is the case, then it seems only natural that he would want to set his own goals accordingly so as to still feel the same enjoyment as he did.
This may or may not be true for other hunters but I have never met any hunter who did not enjoy his hunt. Because if he did not enjoy the hunt, he quit.
So we all hunt for enjoyment. And sometimes we adapt our hunting lifestyle/choices to accomadate our experience.
What I do not understand is how some hunters want to manipulate other fellow hunters deer hunting experience, to try to increase their own odds for killing an animal that already exists in huntable numbers in this state.
It never ceases to amaze me how we all associate skill level with antler size. The reality is, in most cases, nothing could be further from the truth.
There are few deer in the woods easier to kill (by gun or bow) than the low pressured (or no pressured) rut crazed buck (or doe).
Yet we naturally associate an almost hero like status with those hunter who kill one that just happens to have a large rack.
Conversely, there are fewer deer, in the woods, harder to kill (by gun or bow) than a mature, highly pressured, matriarch doe.
In fact, the only reason so many more of these does are killed than their buck counter part, is simply because of sheer numbers. And for the sake of herd health, it is my understanding that this needs to be so.
There is absolutely ZERO biological evidence to support that a reduction from a 3 buck limit, to a 2 buck limit or even 1, will be good for the entire deer herd in Tennessee. ZERO!
Likewise there is little evidence that it will hurt it either. Except for the sake of hunter enjoyment.
So why do it?
If it were true that going to a 2 or 1 or 0 buck limit were best for the herd of deer in Tennessee, I would be screaming support from the roof tops. But until TWRA Biologists, AS A GROUP, support this notion. I AM OUT!
Besides, IMO, there will be little if any noticable difference in the number of mature bucks taken in Tennessee by reducing the buck limit (over the long haul) as long as we continue to have the liberal long range rifle seasons we now enjoy.
Personally, I really enjoy the seasons the way they are now. I want what is best for the deer herd, as deemed this way by the experts, not the arm chair big antler enthusiasts.
oke:
