Originally posted by John Scifres:
Cody,
Don't give up. Nobody's fighting with you. Just sharing a conversation.
My opinion can be summed up like this. I don't believe there are significantly fewer deer this year than last year. It is human nature to see the past through rose-colored glasses. We remember the days we saw 20 deer a lot more clearly than the days we saw none. When we measure the present against the past, we always think about the good old days and wonder what happened.
I am sure there are areas where deer populations fluctuate. And there are certainly fewer deer in areas where overpopulation was a problem in the past. That is why we started shooting does.
We have a great, sustainable population of deer here in Indiana. You will have good years and bad years but, in the end, we are pretty fortunate.
Harvest numbers are the data that is used to evaluate trends. If these trends indicate overharvest, then limits should and will be adjusted. Trends are not year over year. They are longer than that. And they are not 5% one way or another. There are just too many variable to allow those type of fluctuations to affect policy.
And regardless of our opinions as hunters, there are many stakeholders here and policy makers have to look at them all. Each one has it's goals and data and the juggling act that politicians perform is never as simple as biology.
Very good post. Cody you have some legitimate concerns and I imagine you are being proactive in your approach, keep on it. When Noble county was a 2 bonus and I felt it needed to be more from what my property, as well as our township was indicating, I sent some emails. I don't think I sent more than 3, but I felt that I needed to learn more so I arranged a meeting with my district biologist to walk my property, share some numbers with him. Part of it was to inquire about depredation permits, whether they were warranted or not. I spent more time "on the ground" with farmers, neighbors etc to see if I was off base, we are now an 8. Funny, but when I first hunted in '74-75 it was a big deal to see a TRACK on my land, then 4 years later, maybe see 1-2 deer all season and I kept right on hunting too, like many others here. Took me 10 years to kill a deer, I had 3 misses, probably so freaked out to actually see one close enough to kill. I am not diminishing your concerns in anyway, just adding to the "remember when" vein. As for all the changes, well I have hung back because I will continue to hunt as my property supports, very simple. I posted on another thread that I welcome more oppurtunity, not because I don't think there is enough, but because I thought it would be fun to hunt in mid-September, why, not sure because more negatives like bugs, can't let a deer hang etc., maybe it is as simple as more green, lighter clothing, it was something other than killing deer. Overall, I cannot begin to comprehend all the "stuff" that goes on surrounding rule changes etc., even if I may not tend to agree with someones' views, I trust that they have wildlifes'best interest in mind. I really don't get all worked up about Indianas' game laws, because it is easier to develope, maintain personal passion within myself and apply it to my land and hopefully it catches on to others' if it is the correct path for them. It doesn't mean I am apathetic or frustrated, what good would either of those two do, what does good is taking personal responsibility towards our own hunting and when that is done one is truly free to hunt.
