Ghost
Life Member
Here is a link to our discussion about this season last year if you are interested.....
One Year Ago
One Year Ago
November Anterless season
- Thread starter Tom
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HOWATTANDHAWKEN
PMA Member
Stupid , What a joke! out with it already, It is not necessary! IMHO
No your right, that is where I stumbled in my post. I agree with you that those are two more reasons that I dont like it. I dont waste a year of my life scouting and pattering a big one to have some yahoo come in a week before to mess it up. Like I said before I dont like the season at all, but I would want it changed for the right reasons and not just cause bow hunters only get 57 days instead of 60 before the gun seasons. I also agree that it gives the poachers another good reason to be out there thumping bigs one when they say they are hunting does and I am sure that there are big ones that got shot this weekend and someone is gonna hang it for a week and pawn if off as a 1st season deer.
timekiller
No, you can't pet him.
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I agree ..., deer numbers really seem to be down in eastern ia.
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Seriously??
We don't have the deer numbers of SE or NE Iowa, but I don't think that these bonus season's are exactly pushing our deer to the edge of extinction. I hardly even saw anyone out hunting the bonus season this year. Don't get me wrong I'm not for these seasons either -especially the Nov one.
I don't think they need to be out there during bow season.
I agree ..., deer numbers really seem to be down in eastern ia.
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We don't have the deer numbers of SE or NE Iowa, but I don't think that these bonus season's are exactly pushing our deer to the edge of extinction. I hardly even saw anyone out hunting the bonus season this year. Don't get me wrong I'm not for these seasons either -especially the Nov one.
I don't think they need to be out there during bow season.
hprferryia
New Member
The holiday doe season needs to be eliminated. The woods were very unsafe last weekend. I had a "doe" hunter set up right on a property line, NOT wearing blaze orange last weekend both days. I will not be bowhunting during the last weekend of November until this holiday doe season is abolished. Any bowhunter that continues to go should wear orange on the way to their stand or take the risk of not returning. Simple as that.
BigOLBuck
New Member
not everyone is a bow hunter. i have enjoyed an extra weekend the past 2 years to get out and hunt. haven't harvested anything, but have had a good time. haven't "screwed up" any of our regular season spots either. pretty much just hid by a tree and hoped to catch one moving.
I must really be getting old!! When this Nov season came about last year I was very much against it and I guess I still am for most of the same reasons. However some reasons don't seem quite as important. The poaching issue is valid but I think that a lot of those bucks would be killed next week anyway proably by those same people. I am not saying that it ok because of that but only that it really isn't impacting the deer , or more correctly the buck, population negatively in overall numbers. Don't get me wrong, I think any creep doing this should be caught and punished as much or more than the law allows. The people who would shoot a large buck and just cut off the head would do that also if they were bird hunting, squirrel hunting, or just driving arround at night shinning if the opprotunity presented itself.
As for messing up the other shotgun seasons I also tend to agree but not as strongly as last year. I do think it does have an effect on the 1st gun season but little or no effect on the 2nd. I think that the Nov season lowers the harvest for the 1st season for lots of reasons such as having the deer worked up, and maybe in different areas as well as some hunters then just concentrating on bucks during the gun season. Last year was the first time in 30 years that we hunted the 2nd season but we didn't find the deer to be extra spooky but did find them in some different places that we could hunt effectively. We believed that it was because of hunting pressure pushing them into smaller and less pressured areas.
I am sure that this next will ruffle a lot of feathers here but we must realize that, as some one said, everyone isn't a bow hunter. As bow hunters we have the very best the State of Iowa can offer in length of season, timing of season, weather, unpressured deer, a late cold weather season, and the all mighty RUT. How selfish and self centered can we be to say it isn't fair that some gun hunters mess up this last week end? Come on guys!
A 1st season gun hunter has 5 days a year to deer hunt and most have only 2, the weekend, so is it any wonder that they would take advantage of any opprotunity to expand that like the Nov season. Also that they try to raise the sucess ratio by party hunting and drive hunting should not be held against them with shuch a small window of opprotunity. If we bowhunters had only a 5 day season in a post rut season how would we feel and how low would the sucess ratio fall? From some of the comments it seems that there were a LOT more gun hunters that bow hunters this week end which could lead to the bow hunters being shut out virtue of shear numbers. I also know that everyone doesn't think that all gun hunters are slobs, poachers, trespassers, and lazy law breakers, so why is that the picture painted here just to defend one week end of bow hunting?
Even though I did get a land owner tag for this season this year I would prefer that it be done away with mostly because I feel that the deer population, at least in my immediate area, is way down. My weekend hunt went like this, Saturday evening, good stand high sucess in the past, no deer. Sunday AM, same stand no deer. Went for a walk and did see 2 bucks but that was all. Sunday evening different stand on an alfalfa field, saw a doe and two fawns that have been comming into my apple trees in the yard and that was all. It was even after shooting hours when they showed up. For several reasons this has been my only deer hunting this season and this doesn't look good to me.
As for messing up the other shotgun seasons I also tend to agree but not as strongly as last year. I do think it does have an effect on the 1st gun season but little or no effect on the 2nd. I think that the Nov season lowers the harvest for the 1st season for lots of reasons such as having the deer worked up, and maybe in different areas as well as some hunters then just concentrating on bucks during the gun season. Last year was the first time in 30 years that we hunted the 2nd season but we didn't find the deer to be extra spooky but did find them in some different places that we could hunt effectively. We believed that it was because of hunting pressure pushing them into smaller and less pressured areas.
I am sure that this next will ruffle a lot of feathers here but we must realize that, as some one said, everyone isn't a bow hunter. As bow hunters we have the very best the State of Iowa can offer in length of season, timing of season, weather, unpressured deer, a late cold weather season, and the all mighty RUT. How selfish and self centered can we be to say it isn't fair that some gun hunters mess up this last week end? Come on guys!
A 1st season gun hunter has 5 days a year to deer hunt and most have only 2, the weekend, so is it any wonder that they would take advantage of any opprotunity to expand that like the Nov season. Also that they try to raise the sucess ratio by party hunting and drive hunting should not be held against them with shuch a small window of opprotunity. If we bowhunters had only a 5 day season in a post rut season how would we feel and how low would the sucess ratio fall? From some of the comments it seems that there were a LOT more gun hunters that bow hunters this week end which could lead to the bow hunters being shut out virtue of shear numbers. I also know that everyone doesn't think that all gun hunters are slobs, poachers, trespassers, and lazy law breakers, so why is that the picture painted here just to defend one week end of bow hunting?
Even though I did get a land owner tag for this season this year I would prefer that it be done away with mostly because I feel that the deer population, at least in my immediate area, is way down. My weekend hunt went like this, Saturday evening, good stand high sucess in the past, no deer. Sunday AM, same stand no deer. Went for a walk and did see 2 bucks but that was all. Sunday evening different stand on an alfalfa field, saw a doe and two fawns that have been comming into my apple trees in the yard and that was all. It was even after shooting hours when they showed up. For several reasons this has been my only deer hunting this season and this doesn't look good to me.
kbgibby
Threebeards
I agree with Bowmaker's assessment of the November gun season. Not everyone bowhunts. It seems somewhat greedy of bowhunters to complain about the loss of three days when they have had the better part of two months, including the rut, to be out there. They also have nearly an additional month following shotgun season (although it can be a miserable time weatherwise to be up in a stand).
If memory serves, one of the reasons behind this season was to give family groups gathered for Thanksgiving a chance to hunt together. It was also a chance thin out the doe herd a little, to sell more licenses and pick up some revenue that would otherwise be lost.
Looking at Willie Suchy's numbers from last year, about 16,000 licenses were sold the first year. If half were $27 and half were $12, that generated $312,000. [That's at least a couple of CO's]. I realize that many of those licenses would still be sold (for the other gun seasons), but why not give people every opportunity to hunt.
And why drop the price of doe tags and further cut the DNR's operating revenue? For the majority of people, finding time is more of a factor than the cost of the tag, and it's probably easier to find time at Thanksgiving than a week later. Most guys on this site buy at least three licenses ($27 + $27 + $12) and that $66 is a drop in the bucket compared to all the money spent on equipment, clothing, land, food plots, etc.
I'm sure that some bucks are shot during this season, but I doubt it's a serious problem. Poachers don't care whether there's a season on or not and will be hunting right through the rut when the big boys are most vulnerable.
The overlap in seasons does create some safety concerns, but I would think bowhunters would welcome something that would get the deer moving again post rut. And it's nothing like being out during the regular shotgun seasons. If anyone has a right to complain, it would be the people who hunt first shotgun season.
As for reducing the doe herd, the real problem is access. With all the leased and private land "managed" for "trophy bucks," we have doe sanctuaries. Deer numbers explode but selling more licenses can't address the problem and it just puts more pressure on areas where there is public access. It's no wonder the average guy hunting public ground or a small farm isn't seeing many deer.
If memory serves, one of the reasons behind this season was to give family groups gathered for Thanksgiving a chance to hunt together. It was also a chance thin out the doe herd a little, to sell more licenses and pick up some revenue that would otherwise be lost.
Looking at Willie Suchy's numbers from last year, about 16,000 licenses were sold the first year. If half were $27 and half were $12, that generated $312,000. [That's at least a couple of CO's]. I realize that many of those licenses would still be sold (for the other gun seasons), but why not give people every opportunity to hunt.
And why drop the price of doe tags and further cut the DNR's operating revenue? For the majority of people, finding time is more of a factor than the cost of the tag, and it's probably easier to find time at Thanksgiving than a week later. Most guys on this site buy at least three licenses ($27 + $27 + $12) and that $66 is a drop in the bucket compared to all the money spent on equipment, clothing, land, food plots, etc.
I'm sure that some bucks are shot during this season, but I doubt it's a serious problem. Poachers don't care whether there's a season on or not and will be hunting right through the rut when the big boys are most vulnerable.
The overlap in seasons does create some safety concerns, but I would think bowhunters would welcome something that would get the deer moving again post rut. And it's nothing like being out during the regular shotgun seasons. If anyone has a right to complain, it would be the people who hunt first shotgun season.
As for reducing the doe herd, the real problem is access. With all the leased and private land "managed" for "trophy bucks," we have doe sanctuaries. Deer numbers explode but selling more licenses can't address the problem and it just puts more pressure on areas where there is public access. It's no wonder the average guy hunting public ground or a small farm isn't seeing many deer.
R
Renobber
Guest
To me, in my view, I think it would be worth waiting the extra 5 days and and buying a doe tag for 1st or 2nd (whatever you hunt) so that way if the oppurtunity does come by and a good buck comes by you can harvest him. More in likely if you party hunt anyway you are going to have (or someone in your group) will be able to fill the doe tag.
Don't most party hunters just want to fill their tags anyway? Most of them are out there with their family and friends anyway, having a good time, killin deer its an Iowa tradition and I hope it always stays that way.
Don't most party hunters just want to fill their tags anyway? Most of them are out there with their family and friends anyway, having a good time, killin deer its an Iowa tradition and I hope it always stays that way.
Skully
PMA Member
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Don't most party hunters just want to fill their tags anyway? Most of them are out there with their family and friends anyway, having a good time, killin deer its an Iowa tradition and I hope it always stays that way.
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You hit the nail on the head! Pursuing mature whitetail bucks with a bow is a true passion of mine and very important to me, but so is the comradary and special time spent with friends and family each year. Homemade venison chili and BBQ deer roast sandwiches for lunch and beer and cards after the hunt. That's the way its always been done in my family and will be when my sons are grown, every chance we get!
Don't most party hunters just want to fill their tags anyway? Most of them are out there with their family and friends anyway, having a good time, killin deer its an Iowa tradition and I hope it always stays that way.
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You hit the nail on the head! Pursuing mature whitetail bucks with a bow is a true passion of mine and very important to me, but so is the comradary and special time spent with friends and family each year. Homemade venison chili and BBQ deer roast sandwiches for lunch and beer and cards after the hunt. That's the way its always been done in my family and will be when my sons are grown, every chance we get!