2015-2017 Proposed Hunting Regulations: Public Hearings Scheduled

[BornToHuntAndFish]

For those of us that hunt the Northern Zone Piedmont not in the specified specialty areas...I like the new doe dates. A shift lower in doe harvest in the total harvest numbers is coming from this IMO. I really really like it. It is essentially the same amount of doe days as we have now, but the beginning of the season (while most hunters are in the woods) is off limits and then while hunters are out there chasing a big buck...this is their first opportunity to take a doe. LOVE IT! Gotta decide what matters most first 2 weeks of November...deer meat or antlers.

Baldwin, Barrow,
Bartow, Butts, Catoosa,
Carroll, Chattooga,
Cherokee, Coweta,
Crawford, Dade,
Elbert, Floyd, Gordon,
Green, Jackson, Jasper,
Jones, Hall, Haralson,
Heard, Lamar, Lincoln,
Madison, McDuffie,
Monroe, Morgan,
Newton, Oconee,
Oglethorpe, Paulding,
Pike, Polk, Putnam,
Spalding, Taliaferro,
Upson, Walker,
Walton, Warren,
Wilkes,

Either-sex
Oct. 31-Nov. 15
2015 and Nov. 23
2015 - Jan. 1 2016,
& Nov. 5-13 2016
and Nov. 21 2016 -
Jan. 1 2017

Good point. Thanks for pointing that out on Page 35 of the document.

Glad to see first week of firearms buck only

x2, me too.

So would this mean you couldn't shoot a doe until October 31st?

Not even during bow season?

What was posted is only about "Firearms" which started back on Page 32 with the title of the document section topic:


"391-4-2-.27 Firearms Deer Hunting."

I believe this is rifle season dates. Bow and muzzle loader should be the same.


I do have a question for Charlie...can a bow still be utilized to kill does during those closed rifle season dates? I didn't read everything word for word and this doesn't stand out to me.

Section topic is for "Firearms" & Archery stays either sex like usual in the past which includes using a bow during firearm season.


"391-4-2-.27 Firearms Deer Hunting."







http://www.gohuntgeorgia.com/sites/...A Hunting Regs ProposedChanges2015-17 (2).pdf

SUBJECT: NOTICE AND SYNOPSIS OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING

March 27, 2015


Page 32


Page 33


Page 34


Page 35

 

[C.Killmaster]

I believe this is rifle season dates. Bow and muzzle loader should be the same.


I do have a question for Charlie...can a bow still be utilized to kill does during those closed rifle season dates? I didn't read everything word for word and this doesn't stand out to me.

There's a separate regulation that state's that deer of either sex may be taken with archery during the archery, primitive weapon, and firearms deer seasons. The primitive weapons season is also either sex for muzzleloaders.

 

[C.Killmaster]

Your data states zone 6 is the one with the only declining population so why is it not then under the 96" rule. It looks more like to me yall are trying to get in line with the Alabama SE 8 foot minimum but trying to push it thru as a biological concern.

I think that was one consideration since it's two states and one body of water, but the biology is also a concern. Honestly, I'm not the most appropriate person to field more in depth questions on that matter. I was merely pointing out that there was no insinuation that alligators breed at 4 feet in one part of the state and 8 feet in another.

 

[HOGDOG76]

I think that was one consideration since it's two states and one body of water, but the biology is also a concern. Honestly, I'm not the most appropriate person to field more in depth questions on that matter. I was merely pointing out that there was no insinuation that alligators breed at 4 feet in one part of the state and 8 feet in another.

When you enact a 8 foot limit on a stable population under the guise of protecting breeding females but leave a four foot limit on the declining population you appear to be insinuating just that otherwise this is just a arbitrary backhanded political deal with Alabama dnr.

 

[GASeminole]

This is moving in the right direction

 

[Throwback]

This is moving in the right direction

That's generally what happens.

 

[Dixiesimpleman32]

Anything about youth deer week being either sex? I hope our young hunters are able to shoot does during youth week.

 

[GTHunter007]

Anything about youth deer week being either sex? I hope our young hunters are able to shoot does during youth week.

I don't think any of these rule changes affect anything other than doe days during rifle season and closing season dates. I think safe to assume the kids can still let it rip during muzzle loader week with their rifles. If we can sit beside them and shoot a smoke pole at a doe, they will still be able to with their center fire.

 

[Atlanta Dawg]

There's a separate regulation that state's that deer of either sex may be taken with archery during the archery, primitive weapon, and firearms deer seasons. The primitive weapons season is also either sex for muzzleloaders.

If I am reading this correctly-the mandatory call in for deer and turkey does not take place until "On or after September 10, 2016". Is that a correct statement ?

 

[shdw633]

If I am reading this correctly-the mandatory call in for deer and turkey does not take place until "On or after September 10, 2016". Is that a correct statement ?

I read it that the call in begins with turkey season in March 2016. So it wouldn't be for this deer season but would start on the next turkey season and continue on from there.

 

[Atlanta Dawg]

I read it that the call in begins with turkey season in March 2016. So it wouldn't be for this deer season but would start on the next turkey season and continue on from there.

Yes-after reading it a couple more times I too came to that conclusion. Starts in March of 2016 with turkey followed by Sept 2016 for deer. Thanks !

 

[GTHunter007]

This is moving in the right direction

Amazing the DNR can actually progress and make changes that affect our hunting for the better. Read on here for 10 minutes and its their fault and the green trucks have been out shooting people's deer from their back porch at night and over corn.

The fact they put the December doe days back in place proved they were paying attention and making changes. 2 years of that, data is in and now a new "shift" in those changes will be targeted to see if things can be further affected. Everything in managing whitetails is a sliding scale. No one answer is a quick fix, and what sounds good always must be backed up with results. So time is required to let it play out. Here we are, the great experiment in GA, all deer hunters as one with DNR working together to find that happy medium where an even smaller number of hunters feel hunting is poor while more are satisfied.

If anyone screams next fall before season is over that DNR is not doing anything to help us sustain our deer herd just skim over their drivel and learn to wait it out.

Maybe this new plan causes more does to die...maybe not.

Maybe this plan makes doe numbers plummet and our population explodes in 2 seasons. Who knows for sure. We HOPE we have an idea of what this will do but until it plays out, no one will be sure. So lets sit back and let it take place. Hunt as you would regardless of any changes but let the days dictate when you fill your freezer or adorn your wall with a new set of head gear.

Simply instituting doe days while almost every GA hunter is in the woods, sends a clear message the open season on does is over and people need to value them over just 70 lbs of meat in the freezer. 10 doe tags is not a recommendation, it is a tool for those who need it. BIG difference.

I personally am looking forward to the results of the surveys come 2016. I have a feeling these new doe days are closer to the right final solution for bouncing back some numbers while still allowing land managers with abundant populations harvest their quotas late season without the need for special permits.

I simply giggle at the idea a bunch of pure rifle hunters who show up for opening weekend of rifle season and are all trigger happy wanting that first blood now have to wait until prime time to draw said blood on a doe. On November 1st where I hunt I wouldn't shoot at a doe until Thanksgiving if you paid me...now that will be the first opportunity for a lot to actually take one. Do you realize the amount of pressure on our deer herd that will be reduced the last two weeks of October as the rut ramps up??

 

[Gadestroyer74]

I like the changes like the call in system aswell

 

[elfiii]

Bibb, Chatham,
Clarke, Columbia,
Douglas, Dooly,
Fayette, Forsyth,
Fulton (south of
Hwy 92), Gwinnett,
Hancock, Harris,
Henry, Macon,
Meriwether,
Montgomery,
Muscogee,
Randolph,
Rockdale, Talbot &
Troup: 86 days (all
season)

 

[JBowers]

When you enact a 8 foot limit on a stable population under the guise of protecting breeding females but leave a four foot limit on the declining population you appear to be insinuating just that otherwise this is just a arbitrary backhanded political deal with Alabama dnr.

Alligators are a shared resource on Lake Walter F George and this necessitates collaboration with our conservation partners in Alabama as well as with the USFWS (Eufaula Refuge). In working toward a joint management effort, specific scientific data was available concerning breeding females on the Lake unit. This data indicated that a percentage of females less that 8' are breeding and productivity data suggests that breeding females are likely being overharvest. As such, consensus among biological staff from both agencies and the USFWS was that we need to establish some protection of this segment of the resource. Thus, the 96" minimum. Alligators are among the more difficult species to manage biologically because they are long-lived, slow to reach sexual maturity, females do not breed every year, and recruitment of young is generally low. These critters are the opposite, biologically speaking, of most game species. This proposal in the best interest of that population ensuring its long-term conservation and the ability to maintain a harvest opportunity.

Concerning Zone 6, if we had specific data similar to LWFG then this would be a consideration there as well. No too mention, there are substantial differences in habitat quantity and quality between LWFG and Zone 6.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Honest question, no smart-aleckness intended at all-but how exactly do you go about measuring a live alligator? Seems a bit iffy. What if someone kills one and finds that it's only 95"? Do they then have to make a choice between a big fine and jail time, or dumping it back in the lake and wasting it, then go kill another legal one?

 

[Atlanta Dawg]

Wow !!!

How about that !!! Talk about lucky !! Congratulations !!!

 

[HOGDOG76]

Honest question, no smart-aleckness intended at all-but how exactly do you go about measuring a live alligator? Seems a bit iffy. What if someone kills one and finds that it's only 95"? Do they then have to make a choice between a big fine and jail time, or dumping it back in the lake and wasting it, then go kill another legal one?

How bout when that 95 incher is sexed as a male so you have not even affected the breeding size female population the limit is being enacted to protect.

 

[shdw633]

Honest question, no smart-aleckness intended at all-but how exactly do you go about measuring a live alligator? Seems a bit iffy. What if someone kills one and finds that it's only 95"? Do they then have to make a choice between a big fine and jail time, or dumping it back in the lake and wasting it, then go kill another legal one?

I would think that the thought behind this would be no different then the thoughts behind having a trophy club dictate a 120 inch minimum on their deer, or the counties that have minimum 15 inch spread rules, you simple can't shoot the ones that are close, you only shoot the ones that are definitely over that size, usually by several inches.

 

[Sargent]

So, I have a question regarding orange for primitive weapons season:

Is this just to be consistent, or did the DNR see too many close calls with muzzleloaders?