Guys im from Iowa and im seeing this totally from an outsiders point of view not living there. I’ve never heard of buffalo conuties deer until recently from this site. We’ve got big deer down here too and everyones after them for wallhangers because thier impressive to look at and thier very smart and hard to get. Guys who hunt just for the table go to where they’ve heard the highest counts are or to where they know there are decent numbers in herds to fill thier tags. We’ve got alot of hunters down here too and the guys that shoot bigger bucks usually do thier homework or just get lucky. Im for quality deer management only if there gets to be an unbalanced herd of over population of does too keep disease, crop damage or whatever down. I hunt a few diffrent areas and i see the deer come and go and i do my homework remembering where and when i see the bigger bucks, not scores of them but a few braggers and i know a guys lucky if he shoots a big one. My thoughts are this, decesions is these counties to balance herd populations are a must. To balance herds so a few more hunters see a few bigger bucks isn’t a bad idea per county but your going to have to get everybody to realize that its taking of does only to bring up the population of bucks and to keep it constant, just like walleyes. Too me it all comes down to the hunter, Is the county he’s hunting have enough bigger bucks or should a doe be taken to try to raise the population of bucks in the next few years. Mans hand comes into play here in making a decesion on what to shoot just like the dnr would do if more and bigger bucks were desired. If theres a desire to get a wallhanger than take a doe in these counties to let the bucks get bigger if theres not enough of them. I”d have to pass on the smaller bucks in hopes for a bigger one this year or maybe it would have to be next year. I know the real braggers are the smart ones that everyones been after but can’t find them, let alone the ones that are rearely seen at all. To me its up to the hunters, to make the decision to pass in hopes that he’ll see him next year or two and take a doe or tell the dnr to try to raise the quota on does to let the bucks get bigger. A decesion has to be made to let the smaller bucks get bigger and older if theres more hunting pressure in one area more than another. Im just like everybody else and look for those out of the way places where no one has hunted for a long time but thier hard to find because of other fellow hunters. I select harvest bucks only if thier big enough for me. I know other guys who do this knowing that the smaller ones will be impressive and alot smarter in the next few years. Every area has thier older and very smart bucks, those are the ones im after because i know im going to be lucky to get him and don’t worry to much about anyone else getting him eigther because thier smart and have learned what keeps them away from danger. I’ve got just as good of a chance to get him as the other guy if im doing things right and have done my homework. To drive hunt for deer and expect to shoot quite a few bigger bucks is in a reserve where real control of the herd is monitored yearly. Im after the bigger older bucks that aren’t protected from anything but disease and over population by the dnr. I like to keep things left up to me and left alone as much as possible by the dnr, they’ve got alot to do too. I make the selection on the size or kind of deer i’ll take to keep a few real trophies around too. This is what other hunters and myself think down here and it seems to be working. I live in a metro area of 175,000 people, 225,000 within 25 miles of me.
December 5, 2003 at 5:01 pm
#284150
