deer task force meetings

[howhill1]

my cousins operate a highly sucsessfully processing buisness in our area. they would NEVER take a deer that didnt have a tag on it. but im sure there are some that would.

[EatDeer]

I should have stated not all processers are excepting illegaly harvested deer, sorry. Do you or your cousin know of any state imposed regulations on the processing of deer? I'm interested in how the DNR handles the issue of deer meat processing? 

[howhill1]

i do know that they are subject to the same checks as taxidermists in that officers can and will come to check that all deer are legal and accounted for.as far as licenseing or somthing of the sort i dont know.

[EatDeer]

The IL., state deer task force has concluded the second of three meetings to deal with the over-population of female deer within the state. The task force will have a final meeting Oct. 9,  the group will make the recommendations to the IL., state goverment by the new year.  Dozens of hunters joined the debate to voice thier conserns over the considered management options.  The DNR threw a few new idea's on the table during this meeting. For instance, they are considering making two categories for seperate counties to help manage the deer numbers in certain area's with a larger popuation of doe's. I speculate this would involve the purchasing of multi-able over-the-counter firearms permits for antlerless deer in the proposed counties that need a larger doe harvest. Evidently the task force has dropped the proposal of the earn-a-buck rule.  The reason behind this is(which in my opinion affects the yearly harvest count already) the state DNR has no way to enforce this rule with the current phone check-in system, which has replaced the county by county check stations that was used for decades before.   The state DNR also publicly declared that insurance companies have no say in how the state's deer herd is managed, yet included a Insurance company spokesman on the task force from the start. The DNR also relates herd numbers by county from the deer/ auto accidents, and have included related questions for the online survey the DNR presented on it's website which dealt with the task force options. Seems to me that the DNR is trying to dictate management in a sub-dued fashion, a method that has failed in other states before, and resulted in poor hunter turn-out.     I have to agree with many other resident hunters when they say some of the many outfitters in this state aren't harvesting enough doe's. Also, many resident hunters are to blame as well, for passing on doe's while waiting for trophy buck's.  However, one of the largest conserns is with the effects of decreasing hunter access to the ever shrinking amount of public hunting acres. I have to agree, the state does have the hunters to control the deer population, the problem is just finding a place for those hunters to harvest deer.          

[Lot to Learn]

Thanks for the update, that is good info.  Is there anywhere to find what counties are on the over populated list?

[EatDeer]

Some of the northern counties with confirmed CWD cases are over-populated. As for a list of counties prepared by the task force, I'm not sure if thier is one yet, atleast not publicly announced. Great question, maybe someone else will know more about the considered counties for the proposed over-the-counter tags?

[howhill1]

the maps they had at the meeting that attended was a county breakdown and show by colors the deer densities. red counties were the biggest hot spots. west central was pretty much all red alot ofcounties in the south and some up north. you should be able to find this on the dnt sight . ill do some diggin. i expect to see an over the counter sale of tags this dec for the late season without a limit. i also exoect the season to run ten days. i think they will do this a year or two and if the desired result isnt achieved the oct season will be next. 

[howhill1]

i apoligize i mispoke a bit. the maps show deer related accindents by county. heres the link to info displayed at the meetings.
http://dnr.state.il.us/ORC/Deer%20Task%20Force/DTF_Public_Meeting_Information.pdf

[Lot to Learn]

Thanks, Good info again. I assume the 2nd map, the standardized map is what they will use to determine dva. If so , Greene is certainly there. Sounds like good steps, I still opose the Oct hunt.  How do they propose to grant more access to land?