Deer Harvest Numbers

[transfixer]

The way the harvest data is collected now is as good or better than any other way, there is no way to get everyone to report their kills, some people are adamant about not reporting if the process their own, and the odds of running into a game warden leaving your hunting property are pretty low these days, I haven't even seen one in our county in probably 10yrs, I wish they would come around,, pretty sure some adjacent properties are not following some of the rules,

The majority of people today have a smart phone, lord knows enough of them post their kills on FB , so it can't be much easier than for them to register a kill on the app on their phone, Some of the processors should probably be audited by DNR though, as some of them aren't requiring a game check number when someone drops off a deer.

 

[bfriendly]

The way the harvest data is collected now is as good or better than any other way, there is no way to get everyone to report their kills, some people are adamant about not reporting if the process their own, and the odds of running into a game warden leaving your hunting property are pretty low these days, I haven't even seen one in our county in probably 10yrs, I wish they would come around,, pretty sure some adjacent properties are not following some of the rules,

The majority of people today have a smart phone, lord knows enough of them post their kills on FB , so it can't be much easier than for them to register a kill on the app on their phone, Some of the processors should probably be audited by DNR though, as some of them aren't requiring a game check number when someone drops off a deer.

I guess if they report all the game check numbers, the IRS will know how many deer they process, versus how many hey reportedly process. It’s a big circle and it’s kind of like golf. You have to call penalties on yourself cause no one else may see it. You need to report your harvest. I took pleasure in reporting my Alabama doe in Nov.....got them on the ready for next weekend too! ?

 

[jakebuddy]

First the game check is good, better would be to require a confirmation number before a processor can take in a deer they are making money off of the resource it should be required, require game check for crop damage permits it may be a small percentage but that information should be made public. Pass legislation for loss of license for failure to tag deer. I think if your having to do an additional phone survey you already know the process is insufficient

 

[C.Killmaster]

First the game check is good, better would be to require a confirmation number before a processor can take in a deer they are making money off of the resource it should be required, require game check for crop damage permits it may be a small percentage but that information should be made public. Pass legislation for loss of license for failure to tag deer. I think if your having to do an additional phone survey you already know the process is insufficient

It is required for a hunter to provide the confirmation number to the processor, you can be cited if you don't. Harvest for crop permits is supposed to be reported, but not through Game Check. All permits like that are public record through the Georgia open records act. Losing your hunting license for forgetting to report a deer is a great way to recruit new hunters. The phone survey and Game Check serve two different functions that compliment each other, it's not a matter of one being better than the other. Phone surveys can't provide county-level minimum reports and daily timing of harvest and Game Check can't provide confidence intervals on harvest. Additionally, the phone survey provides estimates of compliance for Game Check.

There is not a state in this country nor a method to use that will account for every single deer killed, nor is it necessary to manage deer.

 

[Swamprat]

If it is not necessary to manage deer then why is it in place...Sorry, I am from Florida where all of our regulations are passed by the FWC board of commissioners who most have ties to land development.

I can attest to the fact that if you shoot deer here and self report there is no processor asking for a confirmation number to make sure it is a legal harvest.

 

[jakebuddy]

Processor do not and are not required to get the confirmation number, will you check on that.

 

[C.Killmaster]

If it is not necessary to manage deer then why is it in place...Sorry, I am from Florida where all of our regulations are passed by the FWC board of commissioners who most have ties to land development.

I can attest to the fact that if you shoot deer here and self report there is no processor asking for a confirmation number to make sure it is a legal harvest.

I said it's not necessary to account for 100%, but it is necessary to have estimates obtained in a statistically valid manner. Game Check just gave us an additional source of temporal county-level information.

 

[C.Killmaster]

Processor do not and are not required to get the confirmation number, will you check on that.

The processor is not required to turn away a deer if the hunter won't provide it, but they should be asking for it. The hunter is responsible for providing the number to them.

Here's the regulation:

It is unlawful to fail to immediately record the confirmation number generated by the department's harvest reporting system on the harvest record for each deer or turkey killed. It is unlawful to transfer possession of a deer or turkey to any private or commercial cold storage or processing facility without first providing the harvest-reporting confirmation number to such facility unless said deer or turkey is exempt from reporting requirements.

 

[jakebuddy]

That’s what I’m saying! what good is the regulation

 

[C.Killmaster]

That’s what I’m saying! what good is the regulation

Plenty good, it puts the responsibility where it should be. We had issues with hunters dropping off deer after hours at processors and not providing confirmation numbers. Should a processor get a ticket for the hunter failing to provide the number?

 

[Swamprat]

If it is a illegal deer per reporting requirements then yes....processors are just as guilty. You don't have a number then turn it away but also realize the processors are making hay at this time so any deer coming in is money for them.

 

[jakebuddy]

Yes they should they are making money off of wildlife! I don’t understand how that’s a bad thing.

 

[transfixer]

I think if a hunter drops off a deer without a confirmation # , then the processor should contact the hunter and inform them they can't process the deer without it, if we're going to have the game check then it should be enforced, a processor should HAVE to have a confirmation # for ever deer in their facitility . Otherwise there is no point , once a hunter knows a processor isn't requiring it or keeping up with the numbers, then that hunter has no reason to call it in, or register it on the app.

 

[Thunder Head]

That's what I suspected. During that time most of the Georgia Piedmont had an irresponsibly high deer population that had to be reduced. One of the issues I see a lot are unrealistic expectations for how many deer there should be.

Boy I sure do miss those days of irresponsibly high deer numbers.

I could get permission to any piece of private ground and have a good chance at seeing deer.
Now most of those propertys have very few deer if any.

 

[GSPEED]

So I tried a little math. DNR says that there was 1 million deer in Georgia at the beginning of season and 381,629 deer was harvested and there’s 50,000 car related accidents with deer on average so that’s 431,629. So that should leave 568,371 deer. If 400,000 are does and fawn survival rate is .54 then add 216,000 back to the population you get 784,371. We lost 215,629 deer so by there numbers all the deer will be gone in 5 years. This doesn’t take into account poachers numbers. That will take care of that irresponsibility high deer population pretty quick and our unrealistic expectations.

 

[Pig Predator]

So I tried a little math. DNR says that there was 1 million deer in Georgia at the beginning of season and 381,629 deer was harvested and there’s 50,000 car related accidents with deer on average so that’s 431,629. So that should leave 568,371 deer. If 400,000 are does and fawn survival rate is .54 then add 216,000 back to the population you get 784,371. We lost 215,629 deer so by there numbers all the deer will be gone in 5 years. This doesn’t take into account poachers numbers. That will take care of that irresponsibility high deer population pretty quick and our unrealistic expectations.

Did you take in account that the majority of does have twins and that 15-20% have triplets?

 

[kmckinnie]

Let’s not put the burden spin the processor ! They are not a DNR officer. The burden falls on the hunter. The processor can have a form to fill out. If he skips that and a officer checks. Well he has the name to verify to see if reported. These records at the processor can’t be held the responsibility of the business to make sure it was reported.
Anyway just a little of it.

 

[DAVE]

I suggest all you hunters unhappy with low deer numbers do the right thing and stop hunting, in an effort to increase deer numbers or stop wasting your years by hunting in unproductive areas that you refuse to leave. It is not healthy for you to stress over what your neighbors are killing and worrying about DNR reporting procedures. Georgia has some of the best hunting and most opportunities in the southeast thanks to the management of the DNR.

 

[GSPEED]

Did you take in account that the majority of does have twins and that 15-20% have triplets?

I just looked it up and .54 was the number given for Georgia.

 

[GSPEED]

I suggest all you hunters unhappy with low deer numbers do the right thing and stop hunting, in an effort to increase deer numbers or stop wasting your years by hunting in unproductive areas that you refuse to leave. It is not healthy for you to stress over what your neighbors are killing and worrying about DNR reporting procedures. Georgia has some of the best hunting and most opportunities in the southeast thanks to the management of the DNR.

Already there!