Thoughts on your states wildlife management?

[hitman]

West Virginia has been doing a good job, a long archery season, liberal amounts of deer allowed and a great program of getting the black bear numbers up. We are having a big problem now, the state is trying to take away from the DNR the overseeing of deer farms and giving control to the dept. of agriculture. The DNR has done a great job of keeping diseases out of state but I'm afraid that will be lax with the Dept. of Ag.They want to sell deer meat the same as livestock. We have a battle going on over this legislature.

[Wallydog]

In Illinois the DNR have hired sharpshooters killing deer over bait at night to "manage" the deer herd. Interestingly they havent dropped the amount of permits they sell to the public. Add to that mix a bad outbreak of EHD and we have a mess. Seeing a deer while hunting is back to what it was in the 60's.

[Todd Cook]

Georgia overall does a pretty good job. We have over one million acres of public hunting land. Some of it is managed quite well, and some of it is not. I think funding plays the biggest role in that. I have met several game wardens that obviously cared about what they were doing, but wish they had a little more to work with.

We have quite a few archery only public areas,and I like that. I'm no biologist but I think we kill too many does. Our deer population is nothing like it was 20 years ago.

I love the fact that we can hunt deer, bear, turkey, hogs, alligators, rabbits, squirrel, and more in the same state. I would like to see more deer though.

[northener]

Minnesota....... C grade  

Tough job today helping outdoor enthusiasts. lobbyist and special interests groups making the most noise and generally their moral compass is not facing true north.

Land of 10000 lakes so fishing takes a front seat here in Mn. and rightfully so.

Wolf population is out of control in the NE part of state wiping out deer population. Moose really struggling, Elk,what elk? Bear pop declining. Deer #'s really low. Upland birds go up and down with the weather.

I feel we have done a poor job at bringing in the young, all states need to have youth programs to continue on the heritage of hunting and fishing.

[Bigriver]

WI is heading in the right direction, they are at least starting to change things up, no doe tags in northern units, getting into the new century with backtag & registering  changes to name a few.

Our previous governor "diamond jim doyle" and a super bloated government agency, had it completely screwed up. Our great governor is trying to right that ship.

County meetings to actually try and address deer population on a more manageable scale are a step in the right direction after years of doing things "cause thats the way we always did it".

Wolfs and predators are still a problem, along with the inclusion of crossthings in the archery are a problem.

[Bighornangler]

In New Jersey we have zones. I live in zone 5 located in Sussex County. In zone 5 we have unlimited shooting of does. We use to have a lot of deer in this area, but now the numbers are way down. For the first time in my hunting career, expanding over sixty years, I did not see one deer this year while hunting. In spite of the low numbers, we still have unlimited shooting of does in zone 5.
The rabbits and grouse, which used to be plentiful, are all but gone.
The state has been buying a lot of land in the last 10-15 years most of which is open to hunting.  The only problem is, at least in my area, these lands are sadly lacking in game. There are many reasons for the lack of game, but number one in my opinion is the change in habitat and the lack of food.
All in all, the management of wildlife by the Div. of Fish & Game , in my opinion, leaves something to be desired.

[bowtough]

Soon there will be no deer in Il. Sad but when it is all about money the wildlife suffer. Too many permits offered too many guys killing three and four deer a year. Farmers keep tearing out fence rows and drainages to plant more crops. I am starting to feel like the American Indians did when they saw the great Buffalo numbers diminish to practically nothing. God's word tells us "That the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil". It certainly bears truthful in Il. Makes me wonder where Chicago will get its revenue from when no one is buying permits any longer because there are no longer any deer to hunt.      Hurts my heart! Gary.

[the rifleman]

Forgot to add that Ohio, which has not allowed rifles to be used in the state for deer for at least 40 years (probably a lot longer than that though) in another breakthrough of pure genius began letting hunters use straight wall rifles including 45/70 this past season.  I guess their logic is that rifles are more safe now that the state's population has increased from the mid 1900s.  Just checked out the proposed rules for next year and I believe we will continue to see deer numbers and the quality of our hunting decline.

[Jakeemt]

MO has an excellent conservation department. Absolutely independent of the positions in Jeff city. They do a wonderful job and I cannot say enough! I am utterly satisfied with them.

Hunting in many areas in Iowa is a joke, I pushed years ago for tree stand laws in Iowa and got them.  The head of the DNR hated me, but once they went out and looked for themselves it happened.  Now there are paid politicians pushing for crossbows, WHY? Simple they are getting paid to have that opinion. There are select lakes in Minnesota that are limited to wilderness status, that are not in the BWCA. I am going push to have public lands become granted wilderness status,a place for pure wild adventure, no cameras, no tree stands left over night, and hopefully no early muzzleloader,(they are hardly anything like muzzleloaders anyway), no crossbows and no organized hunts and no gmo corn. We need a rekindling of what Aldo Leopold practiced.

[fmscan]

New York has a few problems, one is they cut back on gamewardens in the field, next they have a lot of deer and then issue a lot of doe permits which does nothing for areas that access for hunter is not allowed, so all the pressure is on public areas that are over hunted. Another thing is that you can get nuisance permits to kill deer and turkey if you are a farmer cuz you have crop damage... I know farms that take over 30 deer in SEPTEMBER at night with any weapon, if you POST your land and do not allow hunters then don't complain about crop damage! Of course if you and your buddies like to kill deer at night, before the season in multiples then you like the current system.

[Leland]

If the WI DNR would take the money their wasting on ads trying to recruit new hunters,and put it towards managing the deer herd numbers,the hunters will come.Who's going to buy a license if you don't see a deer all season.The only reason the crossthingy's were allowed in the archery season was to make a buck off selling more licenses.
I understand that it has to be somewhat run like a business,but you have to get your priorities right,do the right things and the right things will happen.
Leland

[chinook907]

Wildlife management in Alaska can be a bit cowboy but so are other aspects of life here.  Don't agree with every reg but neither do the reg makers.

The seasons and limits are generally pretty liberal and the populations generally dictate it.

[doubleo]

I use to dream about shooting a big buck! But now I only hope I see a deer! End of story!

[SheltonCreeker]

Well I have skimmed thru this and it seems like I have experienced something different than what others have in Illinois. Illinois has in the last 2 years reduced the number of gun tags by eliminating the late gun season in certain counties. We have been hit hard by EHD state wide 2 times within a 5 year span. One of the largest problems with that was the biologists within the state didn't get the info they needed to come up with good deer herd numbers. That's where the state dropped the ball. John Q Public didn't have a place to report EHD deer. Our CPO's are busy trying to uphold the law it adds greatly to there work load to have the public calling them to report deer they have found dead on there property. Most people didn't report these deaths at all. So I believe that put the IDNR at a great disadvantage when trying to come up with realistic numbers. Now having sat in a meeting with former IDNR director Dr. Marc Miller I believe while he was at the helm he tried to do things from a biological stand point which IMHO is what all agencies should be doing. But as stated before lobbyist are greatly involved. So hunters aren't the only group the IDNR hear from, insurance companies, ATV users, Ag industry etc. I do think there are some huge contradictions within our state. I know of at least 3 farmers from within my community who receive "nuisance" tags each year. They are allowed to shoot non antlered deer during the fawning months killing the doe and unborn, or leaving the fawn to die shortly there after. This has happened consistently over the last five years when I know deer numbers have been down. With all that being said I think the IDNR does a decent job. I like the IDNR model as far as the finances. Hunters support the IDNR. Therefore I believe that gives us a voice and a seat at the table. I don't agree with everything they do and absolutely despise certain things. But overall having talked and hunted with people from other states it could be worse. We do have a new governor and as always politics will play a huge role in the IDNR future. The future scares me much more than the past.

[PUDDLE JUMPER]

I will add that I would like to see a reciprocal agreement with states that border Ky. An Illinois hunter can hunt here far cheaper than I can hunt across the river. But I still pay up, just not every year.

[Mark R]

Unfortuneatly money,insurance co's., and deceptive marketing trumps the environment and especially our government officials,not to mention not enough DNR personell that are hired on merit and not by being politically connected,just my thoughts I could be wrong

[joe ashton]

Colorado has a great Dow. Doing a tough job, being pulled in every direction by countless groups. All wanting the job done their way..I don't know how they do it.
They get a thumbs up from me. (I hope they see this and I draw my deer &elk tags)
Joe

[Carcajou]

New York's archery season is a joke, 2 weeks long in Northern Zone, Then relentless pounding of muzzleloader and then rifle season thru mid-December. Plenty of State land , and few wardens to enforce game laws..Introduction of Crossbows and GUN youth season During Archery season, has IMO ruined NY as an archers paradise. I travel to neighboring states now to bowhunt. It is legal with Sportsman license to kill 5 deer, and a lot of "hunters" manage to kill many more illegally. Deer sightings down in many areas due to Nuisance Permits..neighboring farms that sponsor this program, are void of deer..should I go on??

[Carcajou]

New York's archery season is a joke, 2 weeks long in Northern Zone, Then relentless pounding of muzzleloader and then rifle season thru mid-December. Plenty of State land , and few wardens to enforce game laws..Introduction of Crossbows and GUN youth season During Archery season, has IMO ruined NY as an archers paradise. I travel to neighboring states now to bowhunt. It is legal with Sportsman license to kill 5 deer, and a lot of "hunters" manage to kill many more illegally. Deer sightings down in many areas due to Nuisance Permits..neighboring farms that sponsor this program, are void of deer..should I go on??