3 week gun season?

[DeerCamp]

I was talking to my uncle the other day who lives in Canton, MI. He said the other day he was driving to work,listening to the radio and heard that the DNR is considering having a 3 week long gun season! Said that there was to many deer, the economy is down so this gives people help to fill the freezer and so that people can hunt more than a few days who have to work all the time. They werent sure if they were going to just add this on to the gun season or have it before bow/whenever. I dont really care for this..I say keep it to 2 weeks and dont scare the living daylights out of the deer. I was wondering what your take is on this? And if anyof you have heard anything about this? I looked on the dnr website and didnt find much of anything..

[Demoderby4]

I didn't hear anything about it, but I agree. I really wouldn't care for it. We have the Muzzleloading season after gun, which where I am at gives the deer a 1 or 2 week break from the chaos of gun season, which is nice. And that adds another two weeks to the season as it is. To me, another week of regular shotgun would add a lot more useless stress and pressure on the deer. Plus with the early season doe hunt, (which i think is the 17th-21st this year for my area, i forget if it changes for the other zones) the buck restrictions, and the ease of obtaining a doe permit over the counter; we already have a lot of ways we are trying to limit the deer herd and i don't think another week would help much to accomplish that. Plus idk if many people would be willing to "brace the cold" if it went another week. A lot of gun hunters I know just go the first week and then hang it up for the year, i don't think another week would make them change their mind to get more of them back out there.

I like the way we are set up right now with the season length. I think if they really want to control the population add a "earn a buck" law just for a few years, it doesn't have to be long term, I think that would help a lot. But that's just me, i know a lot of people are against that as well. But like I said I don't think another week would benefit anything really, it would be cool to hunt one more week, but it's not necessary imo.

[drdaven]

Demo,

I agree with the earn a buck.  Heard that Wisconsin just dropped their program though.  Didn't hear why just that they have discontinued it. 

I wrote a letter to the editor of Michigan Outdoor News on this same subject last fall.  Basically, complaining about the lack of time from gun to muzzleloader followed by the late doe season.  The true blue gun hunters often gripe that the bowhunters have an unfair crack at all the 'good' bucks before they even get the chance to be in the woods.  They feel that the bowseason is wayyyy to long and should be shortened up.  I just ask them if they have ever tried bowhunting or for that matter, have they ever tried to get the deer within 25 yards before they even move their gun to their shoulder.  Figure this would be a close equivalent to drawing the bow.  Most of them just shrug their shoulders and never really answer.

I love to bowhunt, which is silly to even try in the late season, but I do it anyway.  What can I say...I am a glutton for punishment.

Sure hope they don't try to steal time out of the early bow season to make up the time for the extended gun season.

[buckhunter21]

Hello all...I'm from Wisconsin.  I saw this so I thought I'd chime in.  As far as EAB goes, we have a lot of disagreement over here about the use of it.  I think if it's used in a conservative manner, it can be an effective tool.  Over here, we were seeing units have EAB year after year after year.  This combined with the herd control tags being given out like candy, we had hunters shoot every doe that they saw.  Pretty soon no one was seeing deer, and who's to blame?  Well, we the hunters are since we are the ones doing the shooting.  What we should have done, if the DNR wanted to keep on putting these programs out there, was to be able to know your area, and determine how many deer should be harvested.  If the DNR gives you 10 tags, does that mean you should shoot 10 deer?  No, but there are quite a few hunters that believe this.  As far as being used correctly, I can see EAB being used one year, two years in a row max, then letting off a couple years.  This was not the case over here, but the DNR got wind of where we were coming from and as far as I know they ditched it for this year...We'll see what happens in the future.  Best of luck!

[Demoderby4]

I agree buckhunter, i wouldn't wanna see it used for a long period, like you said one year at a time or for a couple years and then a couple off, i think it can be effective if it is used right, i don't want the same thing to happen here that has happened in WI, It seems a lot of the people on here from WI don't like the policy after the deer herd seems to have shrunk by a ton, and I can see why, im not bashing on you guys, i understand I just think if it is used more conservatively it would make a great improvement to the states deer herd

drdaven

yeah i hear hardcore gun hunters say the same things, and i used to think the same when i didn't bow hunt, i thought that the bow hunters had the advantage of getting more and bigger deer, but when you look at the numbers, that totally isnt true at all lol and i agree, that would really suck if they take away a week or so for bow and give it to gun season.

[drdaven]

Buckhunter,

Thanks for the input.  Good to hear it from someone who has been there. 

I know that it would work right where I live, but not very many miles away, it would be devastating to the population.  I have no idea how the DNR would be able to regulate it.  It truly would be up to the neighborhood hunters to police the herd themselves.

Thanks again.

[Wanderer]

I grew up in Wisconsin where there has always been the 9 day gun season. Sounded like a war on opening morning. I thought that was normal deer hunting. When I moved to Alabama, I found out that they had a 74 day gun season with a 2 deer a day limit. Sometimes I would hunt for 3 days and never hear a shot. People don't feel the " I gotta be there opening morning or I'll never get one" syndrome. It's rather enjoyable. I also began passing on a lot more bucks because, what the hey, I've got 10 weekends to get it done. I'm not sure that a longer season necessarily decimates the deer herd. Alabama usually has an annual kill that comes in slightly behind Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for total numbers. South Carolina has an even longer season and they've not run out of deer yet either.

[DeerCamp]

humm 74 days..lol thats almost the whole season here.. I dont know though..I still dont really care for the idea. I feel that there is already an early doe season, rifle, muzzle loader, and a late doe season.  Thats plenty of time to get some meat in the freezer. And you cant forget about the youth hunt..I know that only helps the kids, but hey its meat in the freezer. i just feel like it would put a dent in the population, the first few years, and it would really hurt us.. I could be wrong.. And as far as gun hunters complaing, its hunting, and thats the great thing anyone can do it..So why not put a bow in your hand too?

[69Viking]

ORIGINAL: Wanderer

I grew up in Wisconsin where there has always been the 9 day gun season. Sounded like a war on opening morning. I thought that was normal deer hunting. When I moved to Alabama, I found out that they had a 74 day gun season with a 2 deer a day limit. Sometimes I would hunt for 3 days and never hear a shot. People don't feel the " I gotta be there opening morning or I'll never get one" syndrome. It's rather enjoyable. I also began passing on a lot more bucks because, what the hey, I've got 10 weekends to get it done. I'm not sure that a longer season necessarily decimates the deer herd. Alabama usually has an annual kill that comes in slightly behind Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for total numbers. South Carolina has an even longer season and they've not run out of deer yet either.

I also hunt in Alabama and have to agree with Wanderer. I don't think a longer gun season is going to change the number of deer taken, just when the hunter chooses to take them. I like the fact I can hunt several weekends and not have to burn up all my vacation to hunt a short 2 or 3 week season. I also don't think bow hunters should get anymore time to hunt then gun hunters. I hunt both so don't think I'm partial one way or another. Some people can't or just choose not to bow hunt so why should they be punished for being a gun hunter. It's just my opinion but I honestly don't think a week longer gun season is going to hurt anything. Good luck this year either way!