SB 2309 Youth Muley Doe

[Ruttin]

Are you paying the landowner property tax? I didn't think so, and what are you contributing to the state to make hunting better.

Plus I do hunt N.D. a lot bird and bow hunting.

Sure am! Nice of you to assume though. I love your types

 

[Ruttin]

Gratis laws should change as well. As a landowner with the required 150 acres, you need to have suitable habitat to hold big game...not 150 acres of a black desert.

 

[Ruttin]

While everyone is worried about the deer populations do the smart and most fair thing and close the season down for a two year period and let the amount of deer increase for those that are complaining the most. If adults haven't shot enough deer in their lifetime that they want to restrict the kids then should maybe find a different sport.

As a kid with less deer numbers according to the G&F today, I had send in my paper application with the adults.

 

[wct12]

S.D and MN both allow nonresident youth hunters to. N.D. needs to get on the ball. If the youth hunters can't even get a chance to shoot a deer. It's pretty easy for them to give up on hunting all together.

I know people before the 11, 12 and 13 year old license thing was an option that got their youth 14 year old license and then didn’t draw another license until they were in college.. not having a rifle tag for 4+ years in your home unit and then drawing one when you live 5.5 hours away isn’t the greatest way to increase hunter retention.

 

[wct12]

As a kid with less deer numbers according to the G&F today, I had send in my paper application with the adults.

Not sure on your age.. but in the last 20 years North Dakota license numbers have been in a steady decline (149,000 to 49,000). I remember as a kid (I turn 30 this year) people getting multiple deer tags, now you wait multiple years to draw at times.

 

[Ruttin]

I know people before the 11, 12 and 13 year old license thing was an option that got their youth 14 year old license and then didn’t draw another license until they were in college.. not having a rifle tag for 4+ years in your home unit and then drawing one when you live 5.5 hours away isn’t the greatest way to increase hunter retention.

Honestly hunter recruitment is not going down.

Not sure on your age.. but in the last 20 years North Dakota license numbers have been in a steady decline (149,000 to 49,000). I remember as a kid (I turn 30 this year) people getting multiple deer tags, now you wait multiple years to draw at times.

I beleive it. Times change. I was part of the hay days with multiple tags. The landscape and habitat has changed so much since then ND needs to reign it in.

 

[wct12]

Honestly hunter recruitment is not going down.

I beleive it. Times change. I was part of the hay days with multiple tags. The landscape and habitat has changed so much since then ND needs to rein it in.

I agree! I’ve saw the numbers and I know it’s not declining but over 20 a 200% decrease in license numbers makes me very nervous especially since I don’t see a big bounce coming in those numbers.

Recruitment numbers might not be down, but I hope to help get Hunter recruitment up in a big way in my life time. We take a pile of kids Waterfowling and have helped quite a few shoot their first deer. The more kids in the outdoors the better off the world will be.

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

I think the apprentice lic is the least of a sportsman worry. So you have a problem with a son in law get over it. If he get a apprentice lic and likes it. It's a win for your grandkids. If you act like a jerk your grandkids may never get a chance to hunt. Your son in law could tell you to take a shit.

I don't have a problem with my son in law and my grand kids love me. I will have a problem if he tries to get apprentice tags in seven and nine years. I hope they are eliminated so he does not have a choice. It is pretty simple. Kids need hunters safety before they hunt deer and should have to wait until they are 14. Earn that right, just like thousands and thousands of hunters before them. Your reading comprehension is lazy. Lazy like how you spell the word license.

 

[woodduck30]

Have to be age 14 to hunt deer? Why? Because thats how we had to do it. Crazy! Those boys down south by the age of 14 have piled up well over a dozen deer by then. You hear less safety issues down there than you do up here.

 

[Ruttin]

I agree! I’ve saw the numbers and I know it’s not declining but over 20 a 200% decrease in license numbers makes me very nervous especially since I don’t see a big bounce coming in those numbers.

Recruitment numbers might not be down, but I hope to help get Hunter recruitment up in a big way in my life time. We take a pile of kids Waterfowling and have helped quite a few shoot their first deer. The more kids in the outdoors the better off the world will be.

I'm not so sure the tide has not already turned for the "worse" in ND already. Less accessible lands, re

Have to be age 14 to hunt deer? Why? Because thats how we had to do it. Crazy! Those boys down south by the age of 14 have piled up well over a dozen deer by then. You hear less safety issues down there than you do up here.

Change the legal hunting age. Problem solved.

 

[Traxion]

I don't have a dog in the fight as I'm in SD, but it has been an interesting read. Deer numbers in ND are certainly a fraction of what they were 15 years ago from all accounts I have heard. SD is in a different game as we've not gotten beat up quite as badly. Some areas have had bad EHD but our winters are much milder in most cases. I'd say deer numbers are still down some, but I still easily got a double tag last fall. Nothing compared to the triple tag days though. Mule deer pockets seem to be steady if slightly decreasing. I understand the unwillingness to shoot mule deer does. There are some areas I know that you'd be hard pressed to get an opportunity at a whitetail. It kinda sucks for a kid to live in that country and not get a reasonable shot at a mule deer. I'm with a few of the others, I'd rather see those tags taken out of the general allocation than make it harder for them to hunt.

Why? Hunter retention IS an issue, for a couple reasons. First, your casual hunters are pretty much gone. Those guys that hunted a couple of times a year for craps and giggles. Access is harder, tags are harder to get, and people are less connected to the rural world. I've especially noticed this waterfowl hunting. There's no casual hunters left, and while the numbers overall are not hugely lower, those who are out there are serious. Competition is higher than ever. Second, I have young kids and my friends do too. With all the sports bullshit these days and other activities, only about 2 of 5 of the guys I hunted with in college hunt. Maybe 1 of 2 actively take their kids hunting, the other guys take long out of state trips each year and do nothing at home. Kids have grown up with instant gratification and find riding around in the truck or walking the prairie to be boring as shit. And even if they do like it, many parents won't prioritize it because they think their 3rd grader must play every sport every weekend to "keep up" and make the NBA. SD kicks out a ton of professional athletes by the way.....LOL.

SD does youth season right, albeit with more deer to work with. A LONG season, September to January, gives families the opportunity to get out an hunt when they can fit it in. The areas that have adequate mule deer have any antlerless deer tags, the areas that don't have whitetail antlerless tags. If I truly want to take my kids hunting, I don't have a license or time barrier. Long term for the health of hunting, I think this is how it should be if the deer population can handle it. If that comes at the price of a few old guys not getting a tag, so be it.

 

[Ruttin]

I don't have a dog in the fight as I'm in SD, but it has been an interesting read. Deer numbers in ND are certainly a fraction of what they were 15 years ago from all accounts I have heard. SD is in a different game as we've not gotten beat up quite as badly. Some areas have had bad EHD but our winters are much milder in most cases. I'd say deer numbers are still down some, but I still easily got a double tag last fall. Nothing compared to the triple tag days though. Mule deer pockets seem to be steady if slightly decreasing. I understand the unwillingness to shoot mule deer does. There are some areas I know that you'd be hard pressed to get an opportunity at a whitetail. It kinda sucks for a kid to live in that country and not get a reasonable shot at a mule deer. I'm with a few of the others, I'd rather see those tags taken out of the general allocation than make it harder for them to hunt.

Why? Hunter retention IS an issue, for a couple reasons. First, your casual hunters are pretty much gone. Those guys that hunted a couple of times a year for craps and giggles. Access is harder, tags are harder to get, and people are less connected to the rural world. I've especially noticed this waterfowl hunting. There's no casual hunters left, and while the numbers overall are not hugely lower, those who are out there are serious. Competition is higher than ever. Second, I have young kids and my friends do too. With all the sports bullshit these days and other activities, only about 2 of 5 of the guys I hunted with in college hunt. Maybe 1 of 2 actively take their kids hunting, the other guys take long out of state trips each year and do nothing at home. Kids have grown up with instant gratification and find riding around in the truck or walking the prairie to be boring as shit. And even if they do like it, many parents won't prioritize it because they think their 3rd grader must play every sport every weekend to "keep up" and make the NBA. SD kicks out a ton of professional athletes by the way.....LOL.

SD does youth season right, albeit with more deer to work with. A LONG season, September to January, gives families the opportunity to get out an hunt when they can fit it in. The areas that have adequate mule deer have any antlerless deer tags, the areas that don't have whitetail antlerless tags. If I truly want to take my kids hunting, I don't have a license or time barrier. Long term for the health of hunting, I think this is how it should be if the deer population can handle it. If that comes at the price of a few old guys not getting a tag, so be it.

I agree. The deer herd should dictate opportunity. No entitlement like this SB states....did I say the word entitlement?...i hate that word!!

 

[Coyote_guy]

Have to be age 14 to hunt deer? Why? Because thats how we had to do it. Crazy! Those boys down south by the age of 14 have piled up well over a dozen deer by then. You hear less safety issues down there than you do up here.

Should at least be old enough to have you learner's permit for driving..so gramps and dad can suck down a few busch lattes haha.

Muley doe tags for youth season is a stupid idea though.

 

[Kurtr]

I don’t think age should factor in that should be a parents decision. My kid shot his first deer a doe at 10 they got rid of the 12 year old requirement here . They are allowed only antlerless here at 12 they can get in the regular draw to shoot antlered deer. At 10 he handled the rifle helped cut it up and drag it out just fine. Some kids might not be ready then that’s where a parent has to be a parent.

 

[Ruttin]

I don’t think age should factor in that should be a parents decision. My kid shot his first deer a doe at 10 they got rid of the 12 year old requirement here . They are allowed only antlerless here at 12 they can get in the regular draw to shoot antlered deer. At 10 he handled the rifle helped cut it up and drag it out just fine. Some kids might not be ready then that’s where a parent has to be a parent.

I like the thought but an age is needed. Some 40 year old parents can't handle a gun the way a well taught 10 year old can.

I need should say 40 year old "repoducers"

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

Have to be age 14 to hunt deer? Why? Because thats how we had to do it. Crazy! Those boys down south by the age of 14 have piled up well over a dozen deer by then. You hear less safety issues down there than you do up here.

Basically yes. If hunting is a "tradition" then the work put into hunters safety and the anticipation of turning 14 is part of that. I have lived down south and hunted Georgia and Alabama in the early 1990's. At that time they did not require hunter safety and more than a few of those good old boys could have used it. I think they require it now, guessing that is for a reason.

 

[cooter00]

My son took hunters safety last weekend 2 day course every one passed they all took the test together the hands on part wasn't even close to what we had to do. Don't think that class has anything to offer anymore. My son new everything they taught hes been hunting beside me since he could walk thats how they learn.

 

[gillraker]

If N.D. didn't ever have another outbreak of EHD the Whitetail population would never rebound anyway. There is no habitat to support a growing population. It's not hunters, it's no habitat.

I agree to an extent, but not whole heartedly, the area I have deer hunted for the last 20 years has always been marginal deer country(lots of pasture land) and some ag fields. Since the EHD outbreak a few years ago, I have not seen a single living whitetail deer in the area! There never was a large population, but generally would see over 20 head of whitetails during the season, some years a few more, some years less.

For that reason I don't support shooting mule deer does (as well as whitetail does), the area I hunt only offers any antlerless deer(either species) and from my observation and hearing from other hunters in the area, the mule deer population has been taking a significant hit the last several years. I agree we definately need more habitat on the landscape, but we also need to let these deer herds rebound.

 

[measure-it]

I'll stick my neck out:
Yes, the mule deer doe tags thing IS about $$$:
more G & F income from tag sales (some anyway--they don't get any general funds)
more income to local businesses (gas, food, lodging, supplies)
Don't think that that's all:
Agriculture has a lot to do & to say about hunting. Too much!
State tourism has a lot to say & to do about hunting. Too much!
State Legislature has a lot to say about hunting. Too much!
I'm all about youth hunting/retention, but youth tags should be limited whitetail doe tags only, and only if the herd can handle it:
no mule deer tags for youth--population can't handle it.
whitetail doe tags only--if the population can handle it.
Buck tags only for the regular draw:
1st any-deer is excitement enough, be it a nice doe.
Buck harvest is a new acheivement for later hunter experience.
All gratis tags should be limited to 10% of that unit's allocation (ALL big game animals.)
Moose & elk gratis tags should be once-in-a-lifetime for landowners also.
Gratis tags are valid on their land only for the season's first 4 1/2 days...then anywhere in their unit(s) only as listed on their gratis application.

 

[Rowdie]

In my little corner of the world, I seen 10-1 Muley doe vs any other type of deer...just saying.