I reccon its over

[deerslayer11]

Over slept this Am. Wont be able to go again due to work. Another season has come and gone. Had a lot of fun, just getting hard for me to get into it here in SC anymore...

[NitroHunter]

I guess I'll go Sat and kill a little time.

ds, is it because of no big deer in the area you hunt or are you just burnt out on hunting close to home?

[deerslayer11]

Ill post an Email Mike got from the DNR in a few minutes... It will pretty much explain most of it...

[deerslayer11]

What Mike sent
> Message From: William M. Posey Jr
> Subject: Deer Populations
> Submitted on 11/25/2008
> Comment/Question: I have now gone hunting in Illinois for the past 2
> years. My first trip i was able to kill a 125" 8 pointer with my bow.
> This year between me and my buddy we seen over 200 deer in 7 days. At
> least 75 of those 200 deer were bucks. 7 of those bucks were Pope and
> Young deer. I wish we would take pride in our herds here in SC that
> would produce that kind of activity. I dont know if our limits are to
> high, the season is to long, or if we need a size limit on the racks or
> what our problem is but i do know that their deer are far more plentiful
> and not nearly as spooked as ours. I have about 200 acres of family
> land that i hunt. There is very little pressure compared to other areas
> and i have not shot a buck in 4 years. I only shoot 8 pointers or
> better and only if it is something i think that i would want to mount.
> Can you please send me a brief explanation of what the experts in our
> state have to say about this topic. I notice that our deer seem to be
> going more and more nocturnal and i feel like it is years and years of
> heavy harvesting with long seasons. As much as i live to hunt, i would
> rather see the rifle season cut down drastically to ensure that the time
> i can be in the woods would be a productive and enjoyable time. I
> understand that you all are facing a tuff situation with many people in
> our state wanting to kill anything that walks by, but i feel we owe it
> to our future hunters to produce a herd that is healthy, grow to
> adulthood, and huntable. Thanks for your time and i look forward to
> your response.

What he got back...
Subject: RE: Deer Hunting
> Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 08:45:39 -0500
> From: [e-mail]
> To: William M. Posey Jr
>
> William,
>
> Can't say that I disagree with most of what you are saying. The one
> thing that I would ask you to remember is that DNR has very limited
> authority over seasons, bag limits, etc. SC is a political state and the
> legislature sets most of the rules (yes, even related to wildlife). Our
> history (right or wrong) has been to have long seasons and liberal bag
> limits and as you know, the chances of having mature bucks is slim when
> that happens. It is very difficult to implement change because just like
> you said, there are some people that want to shoot every buck they see
> and the socio-politics and tradition are hard to overcome. This is
> especially true in the coastal plain where you have the August 15 opener
> and no daily or seasonal limit on bucks. Again, DNR had nothing to do
> with this situation.
>
> DNR is interested in looking at the future of our deer management
> program here in SC and will likely be making recommendations in the next
> 1-2 years. We will have to see if any of the recommendations are
> accepted.
>
> Give me a call if you want to talk about it. Also, if you hear of DNR
> making recommendations for change that is when you need to talk it up
> locally.
>
> Charles Ruth
> Wildlife Biologist
> Deer/Turkey Project Supervisor
> SCDNR
> P. O. Box 167
> Columbia, SC 29202-0167
>
> 803-734-8738
> 803-734-6020 fax

Its hard for me because I remember hunting in the early to mid 90s... Some of yall remember all the deer I killed back then. Every time you went you saw deer. A lot of deer more often than not... And you saw larger bucks a lot more frequently.... Seems like I see less and less deer each year. I know Im still holding my own, but if I were the hunter then I am now Im sure Id have a bunch on the wall instead of a big stack of hacksawed antlers... I like to shoot deer as much as any man alive, but after seeing Illinois even I am willing to pass them up...

[NitroHunter]

I think the one buck limit we have here in KY has really paid off.
You still have people that shoot at the first buck they see and to be honest I don't have a problem with that as long as it's the only buck they take.

I do think the check in method that we have here is a joke, and it is untelling how many deer are killed and never reported just so they can go out and kill another buck.

Seems like I see better bucks every year, but seeing and killing are two different stories.

[deerslayer11]

They did away with check ins here about the time we started seeing drastically less deer... Coincidence?

[NitroHunter]

Jan 2, 2009 21:18:39 GMT -5 deerslayer11 said:

They did away with check ins here about the time we started seeing drastically less deer... Coincidence?

Not hardly.

How in the world do they keep up with the harvest numbers and have any clue as to how the deer population is doing?

I think we have a good system as far as herd management goes, considering I can remember when deer were reintroduced to this area and if you saw a glimpse of a deer or saw a track it was considered a successful season.

[deerslayer11]

Turkey hunting here has gone to crap the last 3 or 4 years too. Every since Coyotes showed up.
At least pigs started showing up some....

[rjk187]

I got til the 15th and im goin out for a couple of days here in a little while.