Doe permits


joeaveragehunter

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In three years our unit in WI has went from earn a buck to herd control to regular unit. Last year there was one free doe permit and unlimited available to purchase. This year there were 250 available for our unit, I was the third person in my hunting party in line and 11 minutes after they were available there were 24 left. I just don't know what to think anymore.

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Was your area a victim of that CWD panic a couple of years ago? Didn't they basically try to wipe out as much of the deer herd as possible in a misguided attempt to control the disease? Probably why there are so few permits available this season.

Man I'm glad I live in a state where the hunting regs are based on sound science and real game counts.

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The CWD zone is down in the southern part of the state near Madison and I'm fairly certain you can shoot as many deer as you want down there. My unit has been 'regular' for the last couple of years and I think it has helped to keep the population up as the doe population isn't getting eradicated. I was pretty shocked to see that we had 350 doe tags available. This reminds me of when I first started hunting 20 years ago. There were a very limited number of doe tags and usually one or two were available among the 12 guys we hunt with. It always went to camp meat for the second half of the season. I'm glad they are going back to this as it works unlike the unlimited number of tags you could get a few years ago.

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That is insane! Surely they could figure out a better way than that.

Up here you automatically get a buck tag and go into a draw for a doe tag. If you draw a doe tag you may kill either a doe or a buck, you don't get two tags. Chances of drawing a doe tag depend on which WMU you apply for. Each WMU has their own percentage based on the post season surveys that each hunter fills out after the hunt is over. It seems to keep the herd where it should be!

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It sounds like there were a lot of people waiting in line for those doe tags to go on sale, and they were gobbled up very fast a few different locations.

In the unit where I hunt here in NY. I apply EVERY year I get a doe tag or DMP(deer mgt permit) every 3 years. We build up points and when you have 3. You get one.

Would you rather that system or the lottery type?

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I just want a dnr that recognizes the change in population before we have gigantic swings in numbers. I want one that has a finger on the pulse of the hunter as well as the herd. I want them to do their job. However, they are gov't employees and well... the gov't hasn't done much well the last few decades except give themselves raises so I guess I will wish in one hand and uugghh in the other and see which one fills up first.

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We have to apply for our DMPs here in NY. They use to be free, now we have to be $10...and that is $10 if you get one or two. Last two years including this one, I've only gotten 1 DMP.

The one forum I'm on, we kepy count of how many dead deer we found post season...the DEC I think needs to figure in how many deer get lost or hit by cars...

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I just want a dnr that recognizes the change in population before we have gigantic swings in numbers. I want one that has a finger on the pulse of the hunter as well as the herd. I want them to do their job. However, they are gov't employees and well... the gov't hasn't done much well the last few decades except give themselves raises so I guess I will wish in one hand and uugghh in the other and see which one fills up first.

If its anything like here you can probably count on the insurance companies and farmers having some influence on those people setting the seasons making their decisions. Had always heard that our wildlife officials use harvest data for setting limits. No one I have asked can find a good answer as to why it is that we have over a hundred days to hunt and can legally take 3 antlerless deer per day in this county, a county that was suggested to have a deer density of 15 deer per sq mile just a few years prior to significant ehd die offs.

Harvest numbers of does may not be quite where they want them to be, might just maybe be possible that they are overlooking the possibility that there are not as many deer as they think and people are not getting as many opportunities on those does.

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Well just last year it came out that the state's bear population was 3x higher than they thought yet it still takes at least 7 years in my zone to draw a tag. I don't have a lot of confidence in our DNR right now to get accurate herd numbers.

Here is an interesting article regarding a survey that was taken last year by hunters and again is happening this year. I didn't realize they had this and will participate this year as the more info they have, the better they should be able to count. It is depressing to see that in my DMU that average deer seen per hour is .09.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/harvest/reports/dhsurv09.pdf

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They changed the quota for Michigan this year as well. For the majority of the Southern part of the state you can buy 5 doe tags per day all season if you're hunting private land. I understand the need to get the population down but 5 per day seems a little excessive especially at $15 each. Last year it was 5 per season if I remember right and now 5 per day. That's quite a jump.

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