It's only that simple when you only care about getting what you want.

What some seem to keep forgetting is that deer hunting in Indiana isn't only for the select few who wish to rewrite the regs the way they want.

It's for all deer hunters.

Most of the hunters who keep pushing this agenda, wouldn't dream of giving up bow hunting in the November woods for the sake of the buck herd they profess to want to protect. Yet these same hunters want.....no... they expect gun hunters to do the very thing they won't.

And until these hunters are willing to make a major sacrifice like sitting out November (which I'm pretty sure they never will) then this continued quest to shorten/move the gun seasons seems a bit selfish and self serving to me.....

Just as it has for the last 4 years.

And I respect that position completely.

Truer Words Were Never Spoken .......

Best post in the thread

Brew do u ever have anything to say besides agreeing with somebody else? Can you not make your own decisions? This isn't about being selfish. This is about how to grow mature bucks. IF that is your goal EVEN if your a gun hunter you know that by changing the gun season it would help. Bow or gun hunter it shouldn't matter. I do both but my goal is to kill a mature buck. And unlike a few I know what can greatly increase my odds. So if your goal is mature bucks but you don't want to change the gun season I believe you are the selfish one or youre just not too bright

Brew I appreciate the sentiment, but I have a feeling the rebuttal will soon be posted.....


Oops....it appears the rebuttal was posted while I was posting this reply.....

Even as it frequently seems to pit one weapon group against another, I doubt that the average deer hunter, regardless of weapon used or season used in, will willingly give up anything, for any reason. If everyone keeps it all in perspective and realizes that there are just so many other more important things in life, the rules, regs and outcomes shouldn't really get folks all worked up. Just think what it was like 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. Its not all that bad now.

literally the dumbest post I have ever read. that is all.

what kind of person with one bit of intelligence would say bucks sizes are not determined by hunting seasons but rather by habitat and genes.

How bout this get rid of deer season all together in Indiana and lets see how big the bucks get.

Parke So if you expect gun hunters to have their season moved and/or shortened to protect the bucks, wouldn't it make sense to not bow hunt during the time when bucks are the most vulnerable to help accomplish your goal and let them breed in peace?

Both sides, all sides, gun or bow or crossbow can be characterized as selfish. I'm not sure the use of the selfish really applies because it many ways that word is overused in the context of what is being discussed. Sure, bow hunters are selfish, as are gun hunters, as are crossbow hunters, as are muzzleloader hunters but not in the pure context of one being more so then the other. People wanting their way isn't really selfish anymore, but instead its the way society is. Using the word selfish makes it more personal then it should be. With the gene pool in Indiana and the nutrition available, yes, all you have to do is let deer get older to have, in general, bigger antlers. Not materially the same in states that don't have great nutrition. Even characterizing what is a mature buck is an interesting discussion because to simply say its a score of "X" Is a bit ridiculous because some bucks might never get to that "X" even if they died of old age.

Funny in a way how deer hunters appear to want to rely on the DNR to solve their problems. In the waterfowl world, there is tremendous argument over seasons and the DNR takes it on the chin frequently. But, when it comes to actually finding ducks, many of the "elite" (MY WORD) waterfowlers scoff at the idea that the DNR has to put effort and energy to public properties for the guys who don't want to put the effort to finding or making their own waterfowl heaven privately. Those who depend on the DNR are often called "welfare hunters". Now, I'm not suggesting that's fair or appropriate or even applicable to deer hunting but what guys should do if they don't like what the DNR is doing is they should buy, lease or whatever enough ground to control their own destiny. After all, its recreation and I'm not sure the government should be responsible for providing recreation.

a mature buck isnt defined by score I think people would agree its a combination of score, age, size.

This gets funnier every off season.

delaney Exactly........

If you only want to hunt mature bucks, by all means have @ it. We've had a one buck rule for years, so build on it. Pass on young bucks, get your neighbors to go along with your management ideas, set up a sanctuary and never step foot in it, ease up on the number of does you kill. Do whatever is legal and you think is right on your ground.

But it's unrealistic to expect a certain segment of deer hunters in Indiana to go along with giving up part of their season to help feed your trophy hunting obsession and besides.....

When did this "It takes a village" nonsense creep into deer hunting?

BUT, we're on page 7 and it pretty much hasn't gotten overly personal or nasty yet. THAT is a credit to everyone!!! But, I'm sure its coming.

Yup. I am just here to copy down Bo's raspberry muffin recipe.

Picked a gallon of them this afternoon--bumper crop this year!!

I went yest after work to pick. I also got a lil over a gallon in about an hour... and that was having to tromp through some tall thick brush to get to 'em too! LOTof poison where I was, that's for sure!

I just copied that recipe I'm goin Saturday to load up. And yes surprisingly it hasn't gotten personal yet......

It was just matter of time for the "chicken Little" crowd to chime in!!!

I think it's been a pretty good discussion in general with a seemingly growing subtle acknowledgement that it's mostly a situation of personal idealism differences as opposed to something being wrong. Heck, it's kind of a mirror image of Congress. Just don't know who the conservatives and liberals are since both want the government involved to help them out.

Hasent gotten Personal ?? That was until you said ALL SIDES I didn't do it

Would you all shut up! I'm trying to kill a muskrat here!

I think for us deer hunters the seasons are fine. For you buck hunters it just makes for a bigger challenge and a more meaningful reward when you do kill your buck.
Good luck on the muskrat gundude!

Simple, yet so very true. Out of the 50 states Indiana's not doing to bad producing mature whitetails with our season structure for those that choose to do the work to put their tag on one. For the meat hunters, nobodies missing any meals that I know of.

^^^^^^good post^^^^^^