Hunting rules changes coming....

[MRH]

I read through hoping they'd limit the days in December so small game hunters could have more opportunities during the best time of year. Nope, deer hunters will still be hogging the woods. There should at least be a week after Christmas so kids could try out their new squirrel rifles. And a week of fall turkey season before Thanksgiving wouldn't hurt anything, either.

Not sure where you hunt but in all the places I hunt all you need to do is go sit and wait just like a deer hunter and shoot all the squirrels you want to shoot. We have too many squirrels as it is. No reason to shut down deer season for a week just to shoot squirrels. As for us hunters "hogging the woods" we pay a lot of money for our leases and will hunt them as much as we like. As least everyone I know does.

As for a week before Thanksgiving for Turkeys...Man, this is the best time of the year to deer hunt. We deer hunters wait all year for the month of November. I wait all year for that particular week and you want to shut it down for a week long Turkey season? No sir...This is totally unacceptable. Not now. Not ever! Turkeys have their own season.

I'm not seriously upset over your post. Part of it was meant to be in good humor although I am dead serious about not agreeing with anything you said. If you have a problem with deer hunters you'll have to get over it. Think about it. You have all year, deer season included to shoot squirrels. Yeah, deer hunters will be upset if you are set up shooting squirrels 100 yards from their stand. There is a lot of time, money and effort that goes into it. Not to mention time is precious to most deer hunters because our season is 2 1/2 months and most of us cannot possibly hunt anywhere near that amount of time. So the times we do get out there is very important to us. Oh, and since you mentioned the kids, I'd be willing to bet my truck that there are more kids deer hunting than squirrel hunting during that week after Christmas.

 

[howl]

Not sure where you hunt but in all the places I hunt all you need to do is go sit and wait just like a deer hunter and shoot all the squirrels you want to shoot. We have too many squirrels as it is. No reason to shut down deer season for a week just to shoot squirrels. As for us hunters "hogging the woods" we pay a lot of money for our leases and will hunt them as much as we like. As least everyone I know does.

As for a week before Thanksgiving for Turkeys...Man, this is the best time of the year to deer hunt. We deer hunters wait all year for the month of November. I wait all year for that particular week and you want to shut it down for a week long Turkey season? No sir...This is totally unacceptable. Not now. Not ever! Turkeys have their own season.

I'm not seriously upset over your post. Part of it was meant to be in good humor although I am dead serious about not agreeing with anything you said. If you have a problem with deer hunters you'll have to get over it. Think about it. You have all year, deer season included to shoot squirrels. Yeah, deer hunters will be upset if you are set up shooting squirrels 100 yards from their stand. There is a lot of time, money and effort that goes into it. Not to mention time is precious to most deer hunters because our season is 2 1/2 months and most of us cannot possibly hunt anywhere near that amount of time. So the times we do get out there is very important to us. Oh, and since you mentioned the kids, I'd be willing to bet my truck that there are more kids deer hunting than squirrel hunting during that week after Christmas.

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

[Stuckon22]

Lower limits, less doe days, same season length. I hunt in 3 different states in the Fall, Ga. has the loosest system in the south IMO, no accountability, no real harvest data...etc. We could take a lesson from Va. I hunt 4-6 days at a time and usually at least take a deer or two each time even in a county that has low numbers and I do not shoot everything I see. I hope Ga. finds a good medium for the game and the hunters and both multiply and prosper.

 

[hikingthehills]

With the kind of season I had last year I have no problem with this at all. Maybe the population will rebound in a few years so by the time my little girl gets in her teens she can start seeing deer on the majority of our outings!

 

[GeauxLSU]

And now for the law of "unintended consequences". I started deer hunting 36 years ago and while I've missed some seasons, not most. I hunt my private property in Banks County. This is the WORST year for sightings and pics. With the new regulations there are only THREE days this entire year I can shoot a doe. My freezer is empty. I normally only try to shoot one deer per year. If I shoot a doe I'll continue buck hunting but I don't shoot something that's not bigger than what I already have so the chances are very slim. Given that I normally wait to shoot a doe because I always just 'know' that buck is about to walk out and follow here when I see her, it's often late in the season when I finally get 'hungry' and they are largely nocturnal. Then I go without. Couple that with the fact I don't shoot does with fawns, I'd say most years are only slightly better than 50/50.
Given that I only have THREE days this year here is what happened....
First doe day was 2 weeks ago. I sat until last light and shot a doe with 4 minutes of legal light left. I NEVER do that as I always figure it's not worth the risk and there's always tomorrow or next weekend. Given the very few sightings I figured that might be my only chance. I shot, she did the 'death plunge' (stood up on her back legs and then lunged head down forward). Never found her or any sign. It was about a 40 yard shot. Trust me, I didn't miss and it was fatal. Got so mad I even drove all the way back the next day (even though I knew the meat wouldn't be good) just to search and never found her.
Fast forward to last Saturday. Saw one small doe in the morning and let her go. In evening at the exact same spot as two weeks prior a 'doe' comes running our and does a half circle running directly at me. I bleat and 'she' stops and looks right at me at about 40 yards. Wide ears, so I take the shot. She's almost directly facing me but is quartering so I squeeze it between the shoulders. It was a #$%^$$%^** button!!! Adding insult to injury, I busted the opposite shoulder! I was so mad I cleaned jerked him in the back of the truck (I ain't that big a boy, but granted, even though an early birth from the length of the 'antlers', I doubt it weighed 80#).
Prior to this year, IHAVE NEVER SHOT A BUTTON IN MY LIFE NOR HAVE I EVER LOST A DEER (I've never taken a shot other than standing broadside).
I realize I'm just one idiot but from someone who would have taken zero or cleanly taken one, I've now taken two and STILL don't have what I'm after so may wind up taking three.
Again, yeah this might be an unusual circumstance but simply confirms my disdain for the 'logic' of doe days.
Rant complete (for now, season ain't over yet).

Only silver lining is processor (Dormineys) contends his numbers are slightly up over last year (so hopefully might lack of sightings is a very localized and temporary phenomenon), which of course confirms that 'doe days' have zero impact on harvest.

 

[Shovelhead]

Put a bounty on yotes!!!!!!!

 

[swampbuck62]

REDUCE BAG LIMITS NOT DAYS!
my 2 cents .. When I moved to GA in 1979 I think the limit was 1 buck and 3 doe and the hunting was great, over the years they tweaked and changed things to what we have now and the hunting is just flat out not as good..We are killing some great bucks just not as many.

In TN where I own land the state is broke into DMUs [deer management units] each unit has diff regs and bag limits. In unit L where I own land the buck limit is 3 a season and the doe limit is almost unlimited 3 a day which is rediculous in many counties in unit L.. Also with a 3 buck limit TN does not produce near the quality of GA,KY,MO or even AL.

As lawed as TN system is I would not mind seeing GA broke into seperate DMUs, some counties can take a heavier harvest then others some have more deer then others, but there also has to be a way to get better harvest data,if a man processes his own deer that deer is never counted..

KY AND TN MAKE YOU REPORT A DEER [telecheck]BEFORE YOU CAN GET ADDITIONAL TAGS..

I think a big problem is many people don't report their kills and the state of GA really has no idea how many deer we have..

 

[Patronus]

How about catching and jailing poachers while we are at it. I was doing my usual route this morning down the road through the COE park and saw a red lump off to the side of the road. A closer look showed it to be the skinned carcass of a deer minus the back straps and hindquarters. I guess somebody didn't want to answer any questions at the processors.

 

[testdepth]

It would also be nice to prohibit hunters from shooting BAMBI. There was a guy here on base this year that shot a 40lb doe and that's a whole body deer before field dressing. My English bulldog weighs 55lbs!!

 

[militaryrednek]

It would also be nice to prohibit hunters from shooting BAMBI. There was a guy here on base this year that shot a 40lb doe and that's a whole body deer before field dressing. My English bulldog weighs 55lbs!!

but bambi tastes amazing!!!!!