License/mgmnt option

[eye1000us]

Ok since I'm on kind of a mini roll tonight!!!

There is always alot of discussion surrounding qdm vs meat hunting etc etc etc.Some want this,some want that and really no one is right and no one is wrong. Basically a matter of opinion.This being the case it sure seems like there ought to be a way of management/licensing that would make most people happy and at the same time control the deer herd so that it attains or remains at the desired level.(btw I am a qdm proponent but to each his own for the most part)

Most areas of our state have very healthy deer numbers that need trimming so why not tailor our licensing to match that scenario?

My thoughts on license options:

Basic Licensing-

All standard deer hunting licenses (regular firearms,archery,muzzle loader,all-season etc)would come with antlerless only tags.These licenses would be relatively cheap,like $15 ( All-Season would be correspondingly more expensive as it is now).

Trophy Buck Licensing -

Each of the licenses above would come with the option to be purchased as a trophy buck license.The trophy buck license would come with an antlerless tag and a trophy buck tag.(trophy sizing yet to be determined). This would be an expensive license, lets go with $100 over and above the price of the Basic License of the same type( ie $115 for a trophy regular firearms license).

Any Deer Tag -

This would be an "apply for" type tag similar to the old doe permitting system expect that it would allow the holder to shoot any deer of any sex or size.Initially there would alot of these available until people got used to the system except there would be a cost applied.

After a couple of years or so the numbers of these could change to reflect the herd balance.This tag would cost $10-$12 (to make up for the money lost on the basic license)

We could sill have additional antlerless intensive harvest and or management tags if needed just like we do now all distributed based on population level.There just may not be as many as there used to be.It might be one person would only get to tag a couple of deer a year in some areas as opposed to the five they can now.

Party hunting for bucks would not be allowed.Only the tag holder could legally tag a buck.

Obviously the whole state is not the same in terms of deer population etc.It may be that there are areas that can't sustain the heavy doe harvest that could occur.For these areas it may be that buck only licenses may be the only thing that works.Seems to me though that something along the lines above could accomplish population control goals.Would allow people to still have a chance to shoot alot of deer while protecting some of our younger bucks in the process.A side effect of this system might be a little safer hunting environment as well.Some people would need to positiveley identify whether the deer was a buck a doe or a trophy not just a flash of brown deer to blaze away at.

Sorry for the long rambling post(hope I make sense),again too much time alone in the woods(if there is such a thing!!!)

[huntnfish]

I do agree that something needs to be done to improve the quality of bucks in the state. This year was my first year deer hunting in ND and I was surprised how many good 2 1/2 year old bucks I saw in the couple days I hunted. I saw more very nice bucks in those two days than I saw in 15 years hunting in MN.