2015 Deer Season Bonus County Numbers

Re: 2015 Deer Season Bonus County Numbers #47269 07/10/2015 04:57 AM 07/10/2015 04:57 AM
Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,057 Southern Indiana J jjas Hoosier Hunter
jjas Hoosier Hunter J Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,057 Southern Indiana	Delaney Quote Why does it seem that these discussions almost always end up a weapons issue? It seems that at times the "deer" herd becomes secondary to weapons. The big picture, in my opinion, should be about how many deer are being harvested, what the average harvest per hunter is, how to limit harvest when needed and what the intended number of deer per habitat mile is targeted by the DNR. I believe the problem is hunter density, unwillingness to not pull the trigger or release the bow, or the vast lack of the majority of those who hunt deer to really give a crap about the deer herd except when they are wanting to shoot one. First of all for me, this thread isn't as much about equipment as it is, how that equipment is being used to harvest deer. You want data? I've posted data that shows.... What percentage of hunters are killing how many deer. See page 28 of this report. http://www.responsivemanagement.com/download/reports/IN_Deer_Report.pdf That (as a percentage of harvest) bowhunters are harvesting more deer during the season, while firearms hunters are harvesting fewer deer since the new regs were implemented. You want data that shows hunter density? Here you go.... web pagehttps://www.qdma.com/articles/hunter-density-across-the-u.s Indiana is listed as having 10.8 hunters per square mile, while Iowa is listed as having 0-4 per square mile while Illinois and Kentucky are shown as having 5-8 hunters per square mile. That's a lot of hunters in Indiana, and as I've pointed out several times, even if there were ZERO bonus antlerless permits, with the present license structure, every hunter in this state could still kill 4 deer per season. You want to know what the intended number of deer per habitat mile targeted by the DNR is? I wish they (the DNR) would... Give us that number, tell us where we are now, and let us when we reach that number. As far as taking the "politics" out of the posts on the forum, I can't see a way to make that happen. There will always be hunters who favor certain pieces of equipment and see their views as correct. And that means debate is going to happen. What I would like to see...is less tolerance for the personal attacks and foolishness that seems to crop up every, single time subjects such as those you listed above, are discussed/debated. It might not lead to more agreement, but it would certainly lead to fewer derailed threads.