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Shoot'em when ya' see'um!
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Troy Butler
Senior Member
Shoot ‘em all and then cry when they don’t see deer
Honestly I don't care when you shoot em. A dead don't wont have a fawn if shot during bow, blackpowder, gun or extended archery.
The big issue is A LOT of folks only hunt opening day and will kill a few (not 1) if they see them, without thinking of the bigger picture.
WRD says the population is up. Maybe, but there is A LOT of areas that either can't or aren't hunted that are covered up with deer, not the general areas that most folks hunt. Leading to the appearance of a big population.
Ex, ride around ATL and you think the state is way over populated (it is), then you go way south and low and behold there is farm land. For now, but it wont be for long.
The big issue is A LOT of folks only hunt opening day and will kill a few (not 1) if they see them, without thinking of the bigger picture.
WRD says the population is up. Maybe, but there is A LOT of areas that either can't or aren't hunted that are covered up with deer, not the general areas that most folks hunt. Leading to the appearance of a big population.
Ex, ride around ATL and you think the state is way over populated (it is), then you go way south and low and behold there is farm land. For now, but it wont be for long.
Buford_Dawg
Senior Member
I see this as disappointing move for the county I hunt which is Oglethorpe. No reasons to open up the whole season for doe days. Our population took a big hit 5-10 years or so ago and DNR changed the doe days to not start until early November, so the first 2 weekends did not allow doe days. Slowly, the population seems to be coming back and now DNR is wanting to open it back up. I am thinking too early to do that, way to quickly. Oglethorpe is a heavily hunted county due to its distance to Atlanta and Athens. Oh well, we will see what happens. Disappointing if they do this.
Gator89
Senior Member
I plan to keep my farmer/landowner happy and put 2 bambi mamas in the freezer.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
I don't understand it. If a feller has an overpopulation problem he doesn't need three months to handle it. And, if you need three months to get "two or three for the freezer" you likely don't need to be shooting does. We have been down this road before, and it didn't work out so well for a lotta folks who hunt anywhere near Billy. We always cater to minorities with the regs, the 10 deer limit is a prime example where 1% of the population is enabled by giving the same limit to everybody. It's frustrating.
I have let every doe walk for almost 10 years now only to watch everybody around claim they are gonna go on a "doe slaughter" then fail miserably because they can't even see a deer most the time. Not counting the clubs I am in, the 300 acres around my house had 18 deer killed (that I know of) this year. Over half of them were does. There is nowhere in this state that such a high harvest rate per acre is anywhere near rational. Yet, we enable it so folks who don't wanna participate in DMAP can do what they wanna do.
I have let every doe walk for almost 10 years now only to watch everybody around claim they are gonna go on a "doe slaughter" then fail miserably because they can't even see a deer most the time. Not counting the clubs I am in, the 300 acres around my house had 18 deer killed (that I know of) this year. Over half of them were does. There is nowhere in this state that such a high harvest rate per acre is anywhere near rational. Yet, we enable it so folks who don't wanna participate in DMAP can do what they wanna do.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
The deer don't stay on your farm or lease though. So you ain't really controlling anything unless you kill em yourself. Mebbe that's the answer. Hammer down so folks will whine enough to get the days restricted again?
Then holler that the coyotes ated them, because they kill all the does and let all the little sacred bucks walk.
Dutch
AMERICAN WARRIOR
Makes me glad I got my own piece of dirt to manage as I see fit.
JB0704
I Gots Goats
Heck yea!
furtaker
Senior Member
It wasn't long ago that they cut back on the doe days to help the population.
Shadow11
Senior Member
I don't see much of a change. Most ppl that want to shoot does has a cross bow by now.
Kev
Senior Member
I started seeing less deer when they brought doe days back in a few years ago. If you have the habitat, it seems the more you shoot the more babies they have. I’m happy about having doe days all year.
Toliver
Senior Member
Help me understand this. The doe limit is set and did not change. Only the number of days you can shoot them changed. If people are going to take their limit, and their hunting area supports that, they likely could do it if they tried. If they're not going to take their limit because their area doesn't support it or they just don't want/need to for other reasons then they're not going to even if it was legal 365 days a year. I'm sure this argument is as old as corn, small bucks and property line hunting and I'm not trying to perpetuate it, I am truly just trying to understand it.
Gator89
Senior Member
Correct, 10 does between 11/5/23 - 01/14/24 is no different than 10 does between 10/21/23 -01/14-24.
Dutch
AMERICAN WARRIOR
Alabama allows a doe a day, do hunters in Alabama cry about seeing no deer?
Y’all think it’s gonna make that big of a difference?
JB0704
I Gots Goats
Not sure, but I have enjoyed the heck outta folks having to holding off a few weeks then waiting till after the rut cause they wanna shoot a mega buck then not being able to find any does after the rut. Seems to have tamed a lot of the shooting from my perspective.
