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party hunting

B

Bowdon

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One thing that have seen this year with party hunting and the new electronic licenses is a thing that the man next door who works at a bait shop near here was telling me. He said a shotgun hunter came into the shop and ask the owner if he would like to have a doe and he said yes so, he bought a license and took the deer then he said about 2 hour latter a old man and his wife came in an bought two land owners tags and after talking to them found out that the same shotgun hunter had shot two more does and was giving to them so, this so called hunter has shot three does and more than likly one for himself and was giving them away. All they would half to do to stop this is after the season open you can not buy a license over the counter and stop this shooting them and than buying a license.
 
BUB, I am strictly a mzlder and bowhunter these days, however I've seen a bright side to party hunting too. When I used to slug hunt I always intentionally played the dog and walked on every drive. I always let my older relatives who might be enjoying their last hunting season fill my tag. Now that some of them have died, I have very fond memories of watching them smile as they explained the details of the hunt which they shot the deer I placed my tag on. When my sons are old enough, I very well may slug hunt again to let them fill my tag too.
You tell me how that is promoting unethical hunting.

Bub, Either people are ethical or they are not, and making party hunting illegal won't change that.

God bless you Ervin and thanks for the memories!
IaCraig
 
I have learned it's kind of a sore subject! I put a post up earlier this week, asking almost the same questions. And I got all sorts of responses. There are pros and cons, but I don't think there is an answer to it. There are good and bad things about it, it's just who you talk to!
I do agree it's not the best way to hunt, (a large group any way). I do hunt in agroup, a group of 5, and I find it to be very challenging and fun. But I agree, it can be unsafe, and unethical! So, for some people it's hard to take a stand on either side.
good hunting!

[This message has been edited by jason (edited 12-13-2001).]
 
i have heard way too many stories about injured deer while people were party hunting just cough up $50 and buy a treestand.
 
have a question for all... would you stop hunting if party hunting was not legal anymore??? i feel party hunting promotes very unethical hunting and have witnessed several incidents over the years to come to this conclusion. there are several other issues to this question so please reply.
 
Personally party hunting is not how I prefer to hunt, but I feel obligated to my family and friends who have helped me tag many deer over the years. I will most likely start gun hunting with only one or two friends once my father decides to give it up if I go at all. I prefer to bowhunt anyway, then if something goes wrong it is all on me.
 
Buckwheat, either people wait for clean shots withing their abilities or they don't. This goes for any kind of hunting, and a tree stand has nothing to do with it. If there truely is a higher percentage of crippled deer during slug season, I'd guess its because we have too many people participating who only pick up their gun 1 or 2 days a year.

I can't believe I am defending party hunting so this is my last input to this thread, but I hate stereotyping.

[This message has been edited by IaCraig (edited 12-14-2001).]

[This message has been edited by IaCraig (edited 12-14-2001).]
 
I feel that as a deer hunter you mature as time goes by and your experience increases. I used to hunt deer with every legal weapon available and in every season. Today I prefer to bow hunt and shotgun hunt on stand only. I am a landowner and the thing I hate about party hunting is tresspassers. I have no problem with guys enjoying the hunt, so long as it is legal. Every year, with over 300 posted signs out, I have to patrol the land. This is a big bunch of crap. This year I caught a guy going over my gate with 2 posted signs on it. I should have punched that nimrod right in the face. We have to police our own ranks. Just because you hunted this property for 20 years doesn't mean the new owner will allow you to hunt. These are some of the negative things about party hunting. If enough people start complaining about party hunting, things will change. My advice to all you folks who enjoy this type of hunting is to keep it clean and play by the rules. Be very critical of all members in your hunting group. One idiot can ruin it for all.
 
I dont think that party hunting is a very good way to hunt. I hunt in a group of five and this year we got two deer. I think that hunting in groups of 15 and 16 and up is just too dangerous for the hunters and there is too much of an advantage over the deer. One of the deer we got was shot in the butt, we had to walk through the timber again to finally get the deer. There are probably alot of people who dont do that, so there probably are alot of deer that are un-found.
 
I hunt with 12-14 friends and family opening weekend every year. We have never wounded a deer and not looked for it. If you wound a deer and just say OH WELL then I guess you aren't a hunter. I shot a 10 point that would have scored in the 150's and lost him. I still feel bad about it, but it wasn't because of lack of effort. We searched for 10 hours trying to find him. No snow and trackinf through a plowed corn field just didn't equal success.
 
Party hunting is a plus. If it weren't for party hunting, then deer drives would be gone. I for one enjoy time spent with my family, strategy planning meetings, and both congratulations on a good shot or ribbing on a miss. I hunt in a group of no more than 4 guys, and have shook my head after watching groups of 20+ guys shoot up the woods without knocking down a single deer.

I see nothing wrong with me, my brother, and my old man all hunting until three deer are dead. If you don't like groups of 20+ guys, then don't let them on your land. If it's not your land, then don't attempt to create some claim to it.

I've seen deer walking with puss oozing from their body in various places, broken legs, guts hanging out - but not all from shotgun hunters not following up. About 1/3 of them had an arrow (or at least a piece of one) stuck in them.

In reply to a post above, the DNR is issuing the doe tags because they feel the need to regulate the population - it has nothing to do with how much one person can eat. If someone wants to hunt, and someone else wants the meat, then what's wrong with that? Sounds like good conservation policy to me, let the DNR do their job.

With CWD, anthrax, and other diseases affecting deer herds across the nation, I think it's time we dropped the "more is better" mentality and started listening to people who really know what is going on.
 
Each hunter should shoot and tag their own deer. I don't think it is right for one person to kill a bunch of deer and then use other persons tags. If someone just wants some meat, get an extra antlerless tag, fill it, and then give that person the meat. I think the party hunting system is abused by some greedy hunters who want to kill more than their fair share of deer. Wonder how many tags get filled for people who never set foot outside the house?

I definitely have problems with large gangs of push hunters. I witnessed a push drive across the road from my property two weekends ago. Over 50 hunters completely surrounded a wooded creek bottom and finger ridges. Dogs were illegally turned loose. Sounded like the invasion of Afghanistan. These guys were deer killers, not deer hunters. I called the county CO since they used dogs but I'm sure he was too busy to respond. I have no problems with a handful of friends who want to conduct push drives on private property but have no support for the large gangs that turn deer hunting into warfare.
 
I used to practice the "herd and slaughter" method of deer hunting. I don't any more because I hunt closer to home and because it was getting out of hand. What started as a dozen or so eventually grew to 2 dozen or so. New people every year who would get lost, some people would not be drivers, not much organization, but I miss the commaraderie. I knew that if one year I didn't get a deer but used my tag that maybe the next year I'd get to fill mine and somebody elses. It all worked out in the end.

My point? Let those that choose to party hunt, party hunt. Closer enforcement of EXISTING LAWS may help curtail the taking of deer by a wife that isn't even in the same county, if you know what I mean. I know the DNR guys are swammped during deer season and can't get all of the violators but they do try.

The 'Bonker
 
thank you ollie. let me clear-up one point. i am not talking about the "way" someone hunts (although i too associate party hunting with driving deer) but the fact that all of us could go hunting and i could shoot all the deer we had tags for. i believe this promotes large groups of people to hunt together. i too have witnessed several incidents where i feel party hunting has caused a lack of respect for the deer - and it is no longer deer hunting but deer killing. we all are hunters but i will tell you honestly, i do not want to be associated with a person that has no respect for the game he hunts, no respect for the property in which he is hunting and no respect or consideration for the other people in the woods. i have seen too many times a farmer who has had a bad experience with those kind of so-called "hunters" and now associates me with them. we should all stick together as hunters but we do not need the help from those i have described. i feel many of these people need to slow down and enjoy the outdoors, try to learn about the game they pursue and enjoy the feeling of making a great one-shot kill.
 
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