doe havesting

[fishane]

Just to set the record straight for all of you fellas worried about seeing Mr. Big and not being able to shoot. In Wisconsin, and I would hope in Minnesota if Earn a Buck becomes law, any anterless deer from the year before counts toward Earn a Buck. Shoot a doe in 2006, and Mr. Big comes out the first night of bow season in 2007 and you can kill him legally. This should calm some people down. If it doesn't perhaps you are not doing your part to control the deer herd.

[fishane]

My last post seems to have quieted some of the others who post on this forum. Also be aware that this is a recent change in WI. Earn a Buck is not good or bad, it is just another tool available to the DNR. In some areas (especially where it is all private land) it may be necessary to use Earn a Buck to assure a sufficient number of antlerless deer harvested. Let us not forget that as hunters we like to see deer, but having so many deer that we all get to see some every time we go out is not sustainble from a habitat standpoint.

[harvey lee]

fishane, I would agree in some areas and conditions I believe a program like that just might work or help.

[lawdog]

That's the thing, we need to do these things by specific area. Earn a buck here would be entirely non-sensical since we don't have enough deer the way it is and we shouldn't be doing a population reduction type of management hunt as if we were overrun with deer. Where there is overpopulation problems then the earn a buck or even drawings for buck tags like ND does may be the answer. I understand the desire to have a simplified system, but one size just doesn't fit all areas in this vary diverse state.

[Tenpoint]

While I can't argue with your logic, I still have a problem with being told what and when I have to kill something. To take an animals life is a personal thing. I do shoot does as well as bucks, I just don't want to be required to do it. I personally find it easier to swallow being told what I can't shoot (point restriction) than what I have to shoot. (Earn a Buck) I realize to that Earn a Buck would work to reduce deer levels, while antler point restriction would do more to balance the herd structure, so maybe I am off base. I agree with the other posts. Different approaches will be needed for different areas.

[bigbucks]

I would definitely say Naye to point restrictions, because that judging on the fly thing is just too difficult for the average hunter. I have no problem with Earn-A-Buck where the population's too high. If the population's really too high, getting that antlerless deer ahead of time shouldn't be too hard. Having said that I don't have my EAB sticker for WI going into this season, but I only hunted two weekends there last year & the late December one it rained most of the weekend. There will be at least two long weekends before gun season there this year...

[Zehn0004]

i believe that you should have to harvest a doe to earn a buck tag. There are tons of does and not enough big bucks. There should be an antler size restriction as well because many let small bucks go on by and then the next person will harvest that animal and it never has a chance to reach its prime. Its just like slot limits look at mille lacs, you can go out there and catch many 8lb walleyes in a single day. i think it would work.

[Jameson]

Too bad it doesn't work like catch and release fishing. Can't shoot and release a forkhorn. I am against a point restriction law. A point restrictions law would end all deer drives for an ethical hunter. Too big of a chance to shoot an illegal animal.

I have done all my deer drives only in shotgun zones. Perhaps point restrictions would not be too restrictive on a rifle hunter. Bowhunters IMO would be the least effected with a point restriction law. So, a good compromise IMO is to have point restrictions only during non-shotgun/rifle hunting dates.

[stmichael]

It would not bother me not to shoot a trophy buck, I have been in zones where it is Buck only, then to see a dozen does go running by... In the past 8 years, I have seen one doe too far away to get a decent shot when it was intensive harvest. Bucks only I see does all the time. I have no problem shooting a doe, I shoot only for meat. It does not matter to me. I have only rifle hunted, I am hopefully getting into Bow this season. I hope to get a few does this year.