Re: Iowa bill to rise non resident deer tags from
As a long-time Iowa NR hunter (who has been denied the past 2 years btw) and loves hunting out there more than almost anything... I still disagree with increasing the number of tags alloted.
If you really want to decrease the numbers of deer, kill more does....it's that simple. For both today's numbers and more importantly, the futures.
And, do it INTELLIGENTLY...don't just make it mandatory for a NR to buy the damn doe tags, (it doesn't mean they will use them)...make it mandatory also for the RESIDENTS (who are always the first to cry "foul" that the NR's aren't doing their part to help the deer herds because they are only coming to Iowa to shoot Big Bucks) to have to BUY & USE them as well.
I believe, the "Earn-a-Buck" program is probably the best thing so far to help control the population while still maintaining the quality of your bucks.
Don't fool yourselves, there isn't anyone reading this that doesn't want to take a trophy buck, and there is nothing wrong with that, but taking at least one doe FIRST is more important as a management tool for the FUTURE of your herd and that includes your trophies (a balanced buck-doe ratio means healthier, bigger deer and a much more intense rut which equals a LOT better hunting) and rarely will it cost you a chance at missing an opportunity at the biggest buck of your life.... especially if you don't set-up for him there in the first place!!
Too many hunters hold off on shooting a doe until after they've killed their buck, (which may not even happen) and find themselves hunting less concentrated (later in the season) and much warier, pressured animals. Killing a mature doe is actually HARDER than a buck if we are really put to the test and honest with ourselves. Killing that one mandatory doe at the first opportunity accomplishes not only our management goal, but it builds your confidence, puts some meat in the freezer and takes that pressure off, and perhaps as another "earned" bonus creates one more reason for that buck to have to be on his feet and looking for love in November. Ya gotta love that!
You can raise the tags to whatever, jack up the price til my wallet bleeds, but if the majority of the hunters, (both Resident and NR) continue hunting for the Trophy Bucks and the does are not being harvested...you won't be seeing all the interest in Iowa in a few years you're seeing now by the NR's, Outfitters, the Governor's Tag's "Holier than all of us" celeb list, and even the cream of the Iowa resident trophy hunters.
Management takes common sense, not money. Perhaps the biggest problem we are all facing today everywhere is that common sense is so damn rare, it's PRICELESS!
This is, my 1st and last post on this subject. It's been one of THOSE days, I guess. Thanks for reading this far if you did.
Good hunting, I hope you all kill the biggest DOE of your lives this season,
....before the Buck of your dreams!
