Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Traxion" data-source="post: 445685" data-attributes="member: 983">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.</blockquote>

Verification: What is the most common fish caught on this site?

Reply to thread

Recent Posts

Friends of NDA