C.Killmaster
Georgia Deer Biologist
Mr.Kiillmaster
Do you think the buck harvest will go to 3 bucks.
That would require a legislative change and I haven't heard of any interest at that level to do so.
Mr.Kiillmaster
Do you think the buck harvest will go to 3 bucks.
I live in SEGA and I don't know of anyone who's killed their limit of does. I'm not saying some don't, but I don't believe the majority of hunters, and I mean the vast majority of them, don't do so.
KM, does the DNR tease out the number of hunters who take what number of deer?
Mr.Kiillmaster
Do you think the buck harvest will go to 3 bucks.
So are you saying Dnr didn't have input on the current bag limits or legislators are not listening to their recommendations. I find it hard to believe they would go against Dnr since most have limited knowledge, especially the non hunters. Unless they are listening to the lobbyist.That would require a legislative change and I haven't heard of any interest at that level to do so.
So are you saying Dnr didn't have input on the current bag limits or legislators are not listening to their recommendations. I find it hard to believe they would go against Dnr since most have limited knowledge, especially the non hunters. Unless they are listening to the lobbyist.
The chart below is statewide, but it bears out what CK states....The objectives for the 10-year deer management plan in the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley were to slightly increase then stabilize the population. The last 2 years have accomplished that, see the numbers below. While the number of doe days would increase under the proposed regulations, doe harvest likely won't increase by any substantial amount. By far the largest reduction in harvest is the result of the first 2 weeks being buck only, which is not changing. This is a move to stabilize the population and make the regulations less complicated.
Doe Harvest
2014-15 - 283,000
2015-16* - 234,000
2016-17 - 182,000
*Regulation change to make first 2 weeks, weekend before Thanksgiving, and January dates buck only,.
So are you saying Dnr didn't have input on the current bag limits or legislators are not listening to their recommendations. I find it hard to believe they would go against Dnr since most have limited knowledge, especially the non hunters. Unless they are listening to the lobbyist.
The objectives for the 10-year deer management plan in the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley were to slightly increase then stabilize the population. The last 2 years have accomplished that, see the numbers below.
Doe Harvest
2014-15 - 283,000
2015-16* - 234,000
2016-17 - 182,000
*Regulation change to make first 2 weeks, weekend before Thanksgiving, and January dates buck only,.
A bag limit option would obviously prevent areas that receive a lot of hunting pressure from being over hunted, at least in most situations, that's the main problem I see with the way its being done now, that and strictly relying on estimated kill numbers and reported kill numbers, I'll guarantee there are many more deer killed than the state thinks there are, especially in the counties where clubs are concentrated and hunting pressure is greater, more and more people self process their own deer nowadays, and a lot, if not most of those are never reported.
But hey I'm just as long as lobbyists can influence our crooked politicians, I don't see anything changing.
help me out here... where do those numbers stabilize? all I'm seeing is a drop of 50,000 per yr in the doe harvest.
Which to my "unedumacated" self means the reason for such drop would be from lack of deer to be harvested more than anything else.
Virtually every person I know complains about not seeing deer like they used to, so who are we to believe ?
I also hunt in Oglethorpe County. Have been hunting there for over 30 years. I agree that deer densities don't seem to be what they were in the '90's...but is that a bad thing for the herd and the habitat?DNR can say all they want about deer population " estimates" , but what I know is I've been hunting the same lease for the last 39yrs, this will be the 40th, our club is in the middle of roughly 2000 acres owned by the same landowner, our club has consistently seen less deer for the last 5 or 6 yrs, as well as the surrounding clubs, the surrounding clubs have had trouble keeping members renewed because of the lack of deer, one club dropped their lease because they didn't see enough deer to warrant paying the current rate. This is in Oglethorpe county, in the middle of what used to be one of the highest deer densities there was, and one of the counties that has consistently had a lot of hunters.
Do they, and/or you conduct camera surveys to estimate the numbers of deer on the properties/leases?I have acquaintances that have quit joining clubs because of the cost of membership versus the opportunities of seeing deer. Virtually every person I know complains about not seeing deer like they used to, so who are we to believe ?
Are you a QDMA member? Ever considered trying to get a QDMA Cooperative started among your and adjoining clubs/properties?I saw a few deer this year, not enough that I felt comfortable putting one in the freezer, and most of the guys on my club felt the same way. I think there was one doe killed, during bow season by a guy who hadn't taken a deer in a couple years. We chose not to take any more because we are trying to let the population recover in our area, the clubs surrounding us for the most part say they did the same. We still have one club adjoining us that will shoot whatever is legal I suppose, as one of my guys let a small 8 pt and a doe walk,, and soon as it crossed the property line he heard shots. Upon walking to the boundary he met the guy that shot, of course he had just killed both deer, and his reply to my buddy upon asking do they ever let any walk ? was,,, if its brown , its down... I'm sure we will see an increase in doe kills this coming season thanks to the new regs,,,,, cause there are many hunters out there like that guy.
The population "estimates" that you refer to also show a substantial decline in the deer population from the 1990's to 2010's. It would seem they are in agreement with what you have observed. A lot of that reduction was by design, there was a time when there were too many deer in Georgia. I'm willing to bet your area has a hunter density issue, which is not something the regulations can really address. Regulations designed to accommodate too many hunters per square mile leave the rest of Georgia headed right back to having too many deer.
It's hard for most folks to understand how difficult it is to maintain an appropriate balance for everyone, and I mean all 10 million residents in Georgia. There are a plethora of hunter densities and management objectives, not to mention deer-vehicle collisions, herbivory around homes, and agricultural impacts.
I also hunt in Oglethorpe County. Have been hunting there for over 30 years. I agree that deer densities don't seem to be what they were in the '90's...but is that a bad thing for the herd and the habitat?
Do they, and/or you conduct camera surveys to estimate the numbers of deer on the properties/leases?
My son and I conduct camera surveys every year...and we know generally how many deer use the 267 acres we lease in Oglethorpe, and the 75 acres we lease in another county.
Using the DNR Game Check numbers of deer reported I kept a daily running tally of the deer reported in Oglethorpe County. Look at the charts below.
The first one shows the raw number of deer reported for the season in Oglethorpe County as well as the number of bucks, doe, and total deer killed per square mile. While the numbers can't account for "unreported kills" they do give "minimum" numbers.
Oglethorpe County ranks 11th in the state at 5.66 deer reported per sq. mile, and 22nd in the state at 272 doe deer reported per square mile. There must be some deer in the county!
The second chart shows a day by day graphic from Gun Opener thru Nov. 30th of what was reported. It is quite easy to see the effect that "buck only" days have. Blue bar = Bucks reported....Red bar = Doe reported.
The third chart shows from Dec. 1st thru end of season.
Sort of easy and interesting to see how "hunter preference" switches as the season progresses!
Are you a QDMA member? Ever considered trying to get a QDMA Cooperative started among your and adjoining clubs/properties?
I also hunt in Oglethorpe County. Have been hunting there for over 30 years. I agree that deer densities don't seem to be what they were in the '90's...but is that a bad thing for the herd and the habitat?
I know there were a lot of deer in the late 80's and early 90's in Oglethorpe, but I don't think they were over the carrying capacity of the land back then, we had a healthy herd, deer were well nourished, with normal to healthy body weights, virtually the same as its been since the population has declined.
Do they, and/or you conduct camera surveys to estimate the numbers of deer on the properties/leases?
Myself and one other member have run multiple cameras all year for the last couple years, I haven't sit down and tried to identify/count the deer we get on camera , at least not until this spring, I've been doing it lately trying to figure out how many pregnant does we have.
Oglethorpe County ranks 11th in the state at 5.66 deer reported per sq. mile, and 22nd in the state at 272 doe deer reported per square mile. There must be some deer in the county!
Do those numbers really mean Oglethorpe holds some deer ? Or as Killmaster suggested, Oglethorpe may have too many hunters for the area ? Which I believe is more than likely the case, even though club membership is off in the surrounding clubs that I know of, the deer numbers are down also.
Are you a QDMA member? Ever considered trying to get a QDMA Cooperative started among your and adjoining clubs/properties?