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Poll Question #12: LOT acres requirements

Should qualifying acres for LOT tags be changed?

  • No, keep things the way they are (2 acres)

    Votes: 10 13.5%
  • Yes, 10 acre minimum

    Votes: 16 21.6%
  • Yes, 40 acre minimum

    Votes: 34 45.9%
  • Yes, 80 acre minimum

    Votes: 14 18.9%

  • Total voters
    74
Program is so abused & beyond the intent of the law. A buck tag for 2 acres…. Sorry, I know I’m offending some with this opinion (I don’t mean to) … it’s ridiculous & never was intent of law. That law wasn’t even meant for “I have a cabin with 10 acres” to be able to shoot a THIRD buck!…. It absolutely was written for FARMERS to be able to have more flexibility to reduce deer #’s impacting their agricultural production. & I do believe, if those same people wrote the law with today’s realities- it would be for a doe only & only for Ag producers. I know the whole history of that law, why it was written & when. I also know how many complaints, abuses & how little justification we have to say “here’s a 3rd buck tag for your 5 acres”. Not meant to piss folks off on other side of issue & I do respect your view…. Just believe this law/rule is completely off base, not with intent of law & abused constantly & no justification for it.
 
This corresponds to a pet peeve of mine!! Seeing all the u tube land managers say 5 acres is all you need??? I think min to hunt and realistically have a decent chance of not running onto the neighbors every yr is 20 acres and should be for lot tags also!

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Program is so abused & beyond the intent of the law. A buck tag for 2 acres…. Sorry, I know I’m offending some with this opinion (I don’t mean to) … it’s ridiculous & never was intent of law. That law wasn’t even meant for “I have a cabin with 10 acres” to be able to shoot a THIRD buck!…. It absolutely was written for FARMERS to be able to have more flexibility to reduce deer #’s impacting their agricultural production. & I do believe, if those same people wrote the law with today’s realities- it would be for a doe only & only for Ag producers. I know the whole history of that law, why it was written & when. I also know how many complaints, abuses & how little justification we have to say “here’s a 3rd buck tag for your 5 acres”. Not meant to piss folks off on other side of issue & I do respect your view…. Just believe this law/rule is completely off base, not with intent of law & abused constantly & no justification for it.
“Farmers flexibility to reduce numbers”
Doe only tags then. 1000 acres of corn fields only don’t hold many deer in the winter. Those smaller pieces (especially up north here) hold A LOT more deer then you pry realize
 
2 acres is rediculous. My problem is with the original intent of the law and the validity of it in modern times. It was originally about population control. It was never about letting large rec ground owners getting an additional trophy tag. The people who passed this bill would think a landowner who wanted to increase the deer heard was a fool. A dead deer was a dead deer. The sex didn’t matter. It was never the intention of the original law to give an additional trophy tag to a landowner who does everything he can to increase the deer population while limiting hunting pressure and increasing the overall population on his land. It was not meant to be a “bonus” trophy buck for owning a lot of land or having lots of likes on your YouTube channel. It was meant to kill stuff. Didn’t matter whether it was a buck or a doe one more dead deer was good enough. It’s turned into trophy tag and access killer especially with the floating tag. I enjoy the crap out of my never ending tag and unlimited opportunities to kill the largest buck on my land but if it’s good for me it’s good for everyone else too and we all know how that ends up. Most hunters want more deer and more access. People like me getting additional tags does not help that.

Nobody “needs” to kill three bucks.
 
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I voted for 40 acres but think the real number should be 35 or something in case someone has a farm with the roads or a farmstead taken off it for the official acre count
 
Keep as it is or eliminate it for everyone. There isn’t a single person shooting 3 deer on their 2 acres let alone 3 bucks. They aren’t affecting your age class.
I’d vote for spending the time and money on a quick investigation of the 213 hunters who tagged 3 bucks last year. It wouldn’t take much time or effort to look up their properties. If any of them were less than say the 40 acres being proposed, follow up and see what they have. I am 100% for eliminating the bs tags. I’m sure there are some 40 plus parcels that wouldn’t qualify if they were really looked at.
 
I’ve fought with this one on size. I do believe 2 acres is to small but what is the correct size? Acreage size still seems to small but like stated above with roads or easements, etc. taking ground I could see 15 acres or 35 acres to allow for that.
 
Just get rid of them....no one is going out and spending money on 40 acres of ground just to get a free tag-it's just a bonus as they intended the purchase as probably an investment or privilege they wanted to have growing up.
What about the guys that have only timber but still pay full property tax and didn't put into forest reserve, that paid tax should qualify them for a LO tag. Ground in forest reserve is already getting the tax break and shouldn't receive a 2nd bonus by getting a LO tag.. one or the other.
Good point about being under 40 since there are homesteads on some parcels that kick it below and most of the time the ground surrounding the parcel isn't available to be purchased because adjoining owners won't sell.
Eliminate the tags and that eliminates all the variables...seems like an easy solution
Not very many people will stop hunting because they didn't get a free tag, plus if they could afford 40 acres of ground a $30 tag a year shouldn't be an issue....
 
I believe you need to make it all or nothing. Decide the minimal acreage, let’s say 20 acres, and roll. You can’t make it an obnoxious size because you cut the guy out that started at nothing and got enough penny’s to rub together to buy their piece of heaven. You need to treat the 30 acre guy the same as 3,000 acre guy or you’re perpetuating only the rich man’s sport.

As far as LO tags. I don’t look at them as an additional buck tag to fill. I look them as access to a season to continue hunting. I cannot tell you the last time I killed 2 bucks let alone 3. Everyone is different and I enjoy the chess game of picking one deer and hunting only for that specific deer. The landowner tag also extra days to play the chess game. Again, that’s me and why I like it. Access to days not access to another horn tag.

I am against the floating landowner tag as I think that’s to much and could possibly limit access for permission. I have not heard it so it is just theory to me but let’s say now with a landowner having a floating tag I would think human nature is to tell people no to hunting their land because they have a valid tag Oct 1-Jan 10. Again, just my theory on that tag and no proof so could easily be wrong.
 
getting rid of that landowner tag will save a huge number of bucks. most guys won't ever shoot 3 but they also won't shoot that 2nd one and end their season
 
I appreciated the floating tag last fall and was determined not to put it on just any ‘ol deer. Now that I’m responsible for managing a farm, I’m very reluctant to spend much time hunting so I enjoy the flexibility it provides. I miss the days when I could sit in a stand all day and focus on hunting instead of stressing constantly about what I could be working on. It changes your perspective.
 
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