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I don't want to violate any of the site rules, so please keep those in mind with any comments. This is just something I've been pondering lately and would like to hear some other folks thoughts.
We have a pretty generous season in most units that go through the entire rut, as in clear until Dec 1st, and this has been called out by some whitetail clubs that are concerned with the age of the bucks being taken...as in too many young bucks are harvested resulting in a lack of mature bucks. "Word on the street", i.e. gossip, says they are basically disappointed in the lack of big racked bucks opportunity (amazing what a driving factor this is now days for most hunters!). F&G admits they can't easily check the health of Idaho's whitetail herd since aerial tactics don't work due to all the timbered areas in the state. They have already shortened the season in our 10a unit, which is a very large unit and gets a ton of pressure. They shortened it to a Nov 20 close and will use it as a "test unit". A survey was sent out last spring and the results show that around 70% of those polled are satisfied with the current seasons as they are (of course everyone likes the longer seasons).
I have been thinking a lot about this since I enjoy hunting deer so much. I do know that I see a lot less "big" bucks than I used to when I was in my teens (during the 80's). By "big" the above whitetail clubs are taking about 150 class and up, which I agree with as being a darn nice buck in our area. So, this gets me to thinking what has changed?
1. The two main units I hunt used to have a Nov 20 close date when I was younger but are now a Dec 1 close date. More of the rut is hunted.
2. Technology! It used to be a rare thing for someone to be able to consistently take an animal at "long range". Sure there were folks that would throw some lead at deer that were over 400 yards away, but most didn't try. Those that did sometimes hit them and most times didn't. No one had laser range finders, ballistic reticles, and shooting apps (no cell phones!). I believe this to be one of the biggest factors today that we are facing. I very regularly see Facebook posts or other social media that shows someone posing with a large racked animal that they shot from between 500-900 yards from them. This is a lot more shooting than hunting/woodsman skills to get close like used to be the norm. The long range game is gaining in popularity like wild fire around here, everyone has a specialty rifle set up for it. Heck I have one myself, long range for me being 500 yards or less, but still. This was before I became so obsessed with archery (or maybe more obsessed) and black powder hunting. Now I'd rather shoot a doe at close range than a buck at 500 yards.
3. For lack of a better phrase, hunting tactics or satisfaction. It used to be that people hunted mostly to put meat in the freezer and there are many of us that still do. But I feel that the majority now hold out for a big buck over all else...they won't shoot a deer unless it's a buck. I'm on the fence here, as I hold out for a while for a buck but always ultimately want to put meat in the freezer. I love making breakfast sausage, jerky, and eating backstrap. But I mainly hold out just so I have a longer season and can be in the woods longer than just the first week.
4. Property access. I believe this has mostly gone the other direction to favor the deer. It used to be that nothing was posted and as long as you shut the gate you could go most anywhere you wanted. We knew most of our neighbors and everyone let everyone hunt on their property. Now days everything is posted and you dang near have to encounter the land owner suffering from a heart attack and perform CPR on them and save their life before they would consider letting you hunt on their place...and half of them would still say no. Access was ruined slowly over the years as more and more people found that someone had tore up their property mudding, shot it up, stole stuff from their cabin, cut the nice red fir they'd had their own eye on as firewood, etc. Plus, I just find people to be way more private these days than they used to be.
Anyway overall I think the F&G is going to have to address the long range people are capable of shooting now days and shorten and/or restrict some seasons. I at least hope they will consider making more "short range" specialty seasons in more units, such as archerly only and muzzleloader only. I'd hate so to see them go the way of Washington, with 9 day seasons and antler restrictions. We'll see.
We have a pretty generous season in most units that go through the entire rut, as in clear until Dec 1st, and this has been called out by some whitetail clubs that are concerned with the age of the bucks being taken...as in too many young bucks are harvested resulting in a lack of mature bucks. "Word on the street", i.e. gossip, says they are basically disappointed in the lack of big racked bucks opportunity (amazing what a driving factor this is now days for most hunters!). F&G admits they can't easily check the health of Idaho's whitetail herd since aerial tactics don't work due to all the timbered areas in the state. They have already shortened the season in our 10a unit, which is a very large unit and gets a ton of pressure. They shortened it to a Nov 20 close and will use it as a "test unit". A survey was sent out last spring and the results show that around 70% of those polled are satisfied with the current seasons as they are (of course everyone likes the longer seasons).
I have been thinking a lot about this since I enjoy hunting deer so much. I do know that I see a lot less "big" bucks than I used to when I was in my teens (during the 80's). By "big" the above whitetail clubs are taking about 150 class and up, which I agree with as being a darn nice buck in our area. So, this gets me to thinking what has changed?
1. The two main units I hunt used to have a Nov 20 close date when I was younger but are now a Dec 1 close date. More of the rut is hunted.
2. Technology! It used to be a rare thing for someone to be able to consistently take an animal at "long range". Sure there were folks that would throw some lead at deer that were over 400 yards away, but most didn't try. Those that did sometimes hit them and most times didn't. No one had laser range finders, ballistic reticles, and shooting apps (no cell phones!). I believe this to be one of the biggest factors today that we are facing. I very regularly see Facebook posts or other social media that shows someone posing with a large racked animal that they shot from between 500-900 yards from them. This is a lot more shooting than hunting/woodsman skills to get close like used to be the norm. The long range game is gaining in popularity like wild fire around here, everyone has a specialty rifle set up for it. Heck I have one myself, long range for me being 500 yards or less, but still. This was before I became so obsessed with archery (or maybe more obsessed) and black powder hunting. Now I'd rather shoot a doe at close range than a buck at 500 yards.
3. For lack of a better phrase, hunting tactics or satisfaction. It used to be that people hunted mostly to put meat in the freezer and there are many of us that still do. But I feel that the majority now hold out for a big buck over all else...they won't shoot a deer unless it's a buck. I'm on the fence here, as I hold out for a while for a buck but always ultimately want to put meat in the freezer. I love making breakfast sausage, jerky, and eating backstrap. But I mainly hold out just so I have a longer season and can be in the woods longer than just the first week.
4. Property access. I believe this has mostly gone the other direction to favor the deer. It used to be that nothing was posted and as long as you shut the gate you could go most anywhere you wanted. We knew most of our neighbors and everyone let everyone hunt on their property. Now days everything is posted and you dang near have to encounter the land owner suffering from a heart attack and perform CPR on them and save their life before they would consider letting you hunt on their place...and half of them would still say no. Access was ruined slowly over the years as more and more people found that someone had tore up their property mudding, shot it up, stole stuff from their cabin, cut the nice red fir they'd had their own eye on as firewood, etc. Plus, I just find people to be way more private these days than they used to be.
Anyway overall I think the F&G is going to have to address the long range people are capable of shooting now days and shorten and/or restrict some seasons. I at least hope they will consider making more "short range" specialty seasons in more units, such as archerly only and muzzleloader only. I'd hate so to see them go the way of Washington, with 9 day seasons and antler restrictions. We'll see.