deer hunters - it's time to be heard

Which of the following proposed changes to the hunting regulations do you support?

  • No changes - Things are fine the way they are.

    Votes: 31 16.2%
  • Shorten gun/ML seasons.

    Votes: 67 35.1%
  • 2 buck limit

    Votes: 117 61.3%
  • 4 antlerless limit

    Votes: 41 21.5%
  • 3 buck limit

    Votes: 18 9.4%
  • 3 antlerless limit

    Votes: 35 18.3%
  • Delay or change opener for gun/ML seasons.

    Votes: 57 29.8%
  • APRs. 8 pts or better plus 21" inside spread. 1 buck per year like they do it up north.

    Votes: 15 7.9%

  • Total voters
    191

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
^Not in my case. Between myself and 4 adjacent properties, which total nearly 800 ac., we have been not shooting smaller bucks for a number of years. Three years ago the property on the other side of me, a little over 500 ac., was leased to a group from another part of the state. Since that time, we have seen very few bucks and none of any significance. Most weekends, on that side, it sounds like the Middle East.

I feel your pain except we have approx 1,000 by ourself. We have let bucks walk for years and years and somebody somewhere is killing them because we very rarely if ever see a deer one year to the next.


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beard&bow

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I feel your pain except we have approx 1,000 by ourself. We have let bucks walk for years and years and somebody somewhere is killing them because we very rarely if ever see a deer one year to the next.

I don't know how to respond to this.

That's shitty.
 

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
So, do we have a consensus as to what "everyone" wants... :)

Because, if it's big bucks, it simply won't happen unless you have the acreage to manage and
if you do, then you can do that now...Want proof??? Just look at what is posted up by our members...
Don't mean to slam anyone but, we are a pretty good cross section of hunters in the state and there
have been some nice bucks posted and some that could use another year or two...No amount of changing
the Regulations will change that...
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I feel your pain except we have approx 1,000 by ourself. We have let bucks walk for years and years and somebody somewhere is killing them because we very rarely if ever see a deer one year to the next.


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Probably not being killed, it’s just that when a buck gets to 4.5 years old, they change into almost an entirely different animal. Live in different areas and behave entirely differently. Most go almost completely nocturnal and even during the rut are not running around chasing every doe in the area.


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woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
So, do we have a consensus as to what "everyone" wants... :)

Because, if it's big bucks, it simply won't happen unless you have the acreage to manage and
if you do, then you can do that now...Want proof??? Just look at what is posted up by our members...
Don't mean to slam anyone but, we are a pretty good cross section of hunters in the state and there
have been some nice bucks posted and some that could use another year or two...No amount of changing
the Regulations will change that...

well said nchawkeye,,,,,,

what folks should do is look at harvest states for "big buck states",,,,

some fascinating info in this QDMA study,,,,,,

what is real interesting is how NC compares to "big buck states" for age structure of harvest (though I still wonder where they get the data sample) - but even more interesting is how the SouthEast states compare overall

LA and Arkansas are the sleepers!!
 

Banjo

Old Mossy Horns
guess I am biased cause I'm an old style Northern Midwest boy,,,,,grew up deer hunting where you got 1 (that's ONE) buck per year,,,,,if you shot one in bow you were done,,,,and 4 guys could submit for a "party deer" which was any sex,,,,,and not all got drawn,,,,and the "party deer" was one deer,,,,designed for camp meat during deer season,,,,

now it's different there, but I left in 1979 when Uncle Sam called me,,,,

came to NC in 1980 and was always amazed by the liberal (to me) deer limits,,,,,,

still am,,,,,

whatever the new rules end up as,,,I'll be happy to hunt,,,,as the hunt is what drives me,,,every thing else is a benefit!

I’m with you.


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WNCTracker

Eight Pointer
In the west, this is my first season that lasted from September to January with the new late archery this year. We also only get two bucks. I hunt an area surrounded by game lands where seeing a 4 or 6 point is special. For me knowing I had a season that lasted until January made me let some small 8 points walk in early season that I might have taken last year because I knew I had 3.5 months to work on finding bigger deer. So I think a lower buck limit and longer season in my own personal experience has let smaller deer stay alive. If I felt this way certainly many others in the state do also.

On another point if I was hunting public where I knew a 6 point is "a good deer" for that land chances are I'd shoot it because I know somebody else would probably shoot him in the next few weeks BUT if a deer has to be a certain size then he is guaranteed to live to grow. This forum always seems to lean towards the eastern and central regions where deer density is high and opportunity to see more bucks is higher to begin with. Take a western hunter who is happy to see any buck, big or small, they're more likely to want to kill the first they see.


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foolish

Six Pointer
Well here what I propose. 4 bucks state wide like it was 3 does with doe days......Sept 1st through the end of January all weapons. All deer must be tagged and taken to a fiscal check station within 24hrs. . Flame away
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Probably not being killed, it’s just that when a buck gets to 4.5 years old, they change into almost an entirely different animal. Live in different areas and behave entirely differently. Most go almost completely nocturnal and even during the rut are not running around chasing every doe in the area.


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I could go with that if we ever seen them again live or on camera or if we ever found their sheds but nothing, they pull a Hoffa on us.


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Cyperry

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Well here what I propose. 4 bucks state wide like it was 3 does with doe days......Sept 1st through the end of January all weapons. All deer must be tagged and taken to a fiscal check station within 24hrs. . Flame away

Lol... I can’t get on board with your proposal, but I dig the “Go big or go home” attitude.


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Ambush

Twelve Pointer
I could go with that if we ever seen them again live or on camera or if we ever found their sheds but nothing, they pull a Hoffa on us.

Good point MJ, even 4 1/2 year old bucks can't hide from deer cams. We have so many cams on our managed club property, even Big Foot would get caught in a photo. One member even has the cellular cams. He'll send me a photo of a buck or bear in his corn real time! The great thing about deer cams is they can show the age history of bucks. No more guessing after you get his photo at 2 1/2. I'd bet your bucks are being killed by somebody.
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
So, do we have a consensus as to what "everyone" wants... :)

Because, if it's big bucks, it simply won't happen unless you have the acreage to manage and
if you do, then you can do that now...Want proof??? Just look at what is posted up by our members...
Don't mean to slam anyone but, we are a pretty good cross section of hunters in the state and there
have been some nice bucks posted and some that could use another year or two...No amount of changing
the Regulations will change that...
I agree. You're NOT gonna change what other folks do. THEY have to want to do it.

So, for me, the "take home message" here is:

If you're in an area where you're happy with the deer population ..., GREAT, keep on doing what you all are doing.

If you're in an area where folks DO NOT let them grow and you want older deer, then you will be miserable if you think you can do something about it in that area. Either quit hunting, go someplace else, and/or help them clean out the deer and see how it goes. If enough people join them, maybe everybody can be miserable. :)
 

25contender

Twelve Pointer
Big bucks don't live as long as they do by being stupid. Trail cameras only cover a very tiny part of their world I don't care how many you have up. Many of the older bucks we kill are never caught on any of the many trail cameras we have up. Just because you have corn and a trail camera doesn't mean you will ever see a older buck. We keep cameras up all year for inventory purposes and are always amazed during the rut at how many never are caught on camera. I think people reley to much on them and dont spend enough time really looking and hunting for those bucks. Staying stagnate or just climing any tree isn't going to do it. Now back to hunting this afternoon!!
 
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Ambush

Twelve Pointer
Big bucks don't live as long as they do by being stupid. Trail cameras only cover a very tiny part of their world I don't care how many you have up. Many of the older bucks we kill are never caught on any of the many trail cameras we have up. Just because you have corn and a trail camera doesn't mean you will ever see a older buck. We keep cameras up all year for inventory purposes and are always amazed during the rut at how many never are caught on camera. I think people reley to much on them and dont spend enough time really looking and hunting for those bucks. Staying stagnate or just climing any tree isn't going to do it. Now back to hunting this afternoon!!

That might be true in y’alls case. Not so much in ours. I can’t remember the last 4 1/2 year old or older buck we killed that most members didn’t already know about. By the time they get to 3 1/2 we give them a name. We do have new older bucks that will show up during the season. I’ve found bucks that gets passed at 3 1/2 aren’t that much harder to kill at 4 1/2. I passed a nice 8 pointer at 3 1/2 and 41/2. His name was mule. Finally shot him at 5 1/2, scoresd 122. I was amazed no other member ever got a shot at him though. Lowest scoring buck I’ve shot at the club. Proved to me that not all bucks have the genes to be mature 150’s. When I got the best inventory of our mature bucks was after the season ended and everyone had quit feeding deer for miles around. Those run down bucks would finally come to corn to get their photo taken In January and February, just before shedding.
 
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oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I could go with that if we ever seen them again live or on camera or if we ever found their sheds but nothing, they pull a Hoffa on us.


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you have too many turkeys. not enough food for the deer. :)

when your friend owner comes to the same conclusion i will be glad to help thin them.

looking at the pics and aerials you showed me it is indeed a hoffa like mystery.
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
When I got the best inventory of our mature bucks was after the season ended and everyone had quit feeding deer for miles around. Those run down bucks would finally come to corn to get their photo taken In January and February, just before shedding.
I had my camera out running 365 for a couple years. I kept feeding corn until almost March and had minerals out. Zero older bucks except very occasionally during the rut.

As Dan Apple put it, it confirmed my worst fears.
 
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Ambush

Twelve Pointer
I had my camera out running 365 for a couple years. I kept feeding corn until almost March and had minerals out. Zero older bucks except very occasionally during the rut.

As Dan Apple put it, it confirmed my worst fears.

If they didn’t come to corn in January & February when it gets real cold and not much food left for them, most likely not there. At least you knew it and didn’t get your hopes up. One year we had two beautiful 3 1/2 year old bucks I named Condor and Rambo. A member corned and hunted the area I knew they lived in. I stayed out of his space. Of course they went nocturnal. After the season I went in and baited near same area. Within two weeks both came in together thirty minutes before dark three days in a row. Next year our president got condor and adjoining club got Rambo.
 
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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I could go with that if we ever seen them again live or on camera or if we ever found their sheds but nothing, they pull a Hoffa on us.


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I have a deer that I only get a couple of pictures a year of, and he’s the kind of deer that if someone killed him, you would know. I think I have a total of 6 pictures over the last 4 years. I hardly ever find ANY sheds of any bucks, due to the high squirrel and rodent population we have.


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MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
I go along with what everyone says about cameras because I occasionally get pics of deer I have never seen, but I still say someone is shooting them or they get runover or something. I have been hunting there since the early 90's and in all that time we have killed or had on camera about 6 or 7 bucks with more than 8 pts.
As many cameras as me and my friend have running we would get pics of some nice ones if they were there. We usually leave them out well into February.

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sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
That might be true in y’alls case. Not so much in ours. I can’t remember the last 4 1/2 year old or older buck we killed that most members didn’t already know about. By the time they get to 3 1/2 we give them a name. We do have new older bucks that will show up during the season. I’ve found bucks that gets passed at 3 1/2 aren’t that much harder to kill at 4 1/2. I passed a nice 8 pointer at 3 1/2 and 41/2. His name was mule. Finally shot him at 5 1/2, scoresd 122. I was amazed no other member ever got a shot at him though. Lowest scoring buck I’ve shot at the club. Proved to me that not all bucks have the genes to be mature 150’s. When I got the best inventory of our mature bucks was after the season ended and everyone had quit feeding deer for miles around. Those run down bucks would finally come to corn to get their photo taken In January and February, just before shedding.

This has been my experience. I can't really explain the two different experiences of Ambush and 25Contender, but we rarely see or kill a deer that we haven't gotten on camera.

Of course we get new bucks on camera at different times throughout the season. Bucks will relocate and roam predictably during certain weeks of the season. We know there will be different deer in August and September than are around in October and November. I also know I'm gonna get a new buck or two cruise through the week of Thanksgiving. It happens every year. But I still do capture them on camera. It's rare when I see a deer from the stand and never get a picture of him either before or after.

And as with MJ, there are quite a lot of bucks that show up on our cams at some point, only to disappear never to be seen again. Some are moving around. Most are dead.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I use to run a bunch of cameras, I got plenty of pics of new bucks all through the season on many of them. I also had some cameras in places I knew where good places to hunt, mostly bottle necks. Seemed like I never got any pics of good bucks there. Not getting any pictures made it hard for me to hunt places I knew where good. I decided to not run the cameras and just hunt the buck sign I would find. I had much better luck and I did not have the disposition that I thought was wasting my time. The one place I still have a camera out is my mineral site, that I also feed at during fall and winter. I have seen a good number of deer use that area when hunting over the years that the camera did not capture. I do believe cameras can be good tools and give you a good inventory of what is out there; however, by no means do I think it is a complete inventory. In other words don't let cameras dictate how, when and where you hunt, if the sign is there and the pics are not. When I ran a bunch of cameras, I had pictures of 60% of the bucks I killed. The 40% of them I had no pictures of and 2 of those 3, were shot within 50 yards of a camera. This is from one area that I have hunted the past 8 years. I think, I prefer to hunt without cameras. Kinda like Christmas when you were a child, it's nice to be surprised!
 
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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I find it very interesting that only 60% here would choose a 2 buck limit. There is also a poll on NC deer hunting for just the 2 buck limit. Out of 269 people there 54% want a 2 buck limit, 46% want a 4 buck limit. These to polls are a long shot from saying the vast majority want a 2 buck limit.
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
Are the polls a cross section of all NC hunters, or is it skewed toward those who still have a 4 buck limit? If so, what do those who have the 2 buck limit say? I don't know the answer. Does anybody?
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
Hey, here's an idea. For those who say "ya gotta PAY to play" ...

What if buck tags were sold at a premium? Maybe everybody gets one or 2 with their license, and then you pay $$ for up to 4? And you can buy them "as you go".

How much would you be willing to pay? $500 ... $1000 per?
How much would this lower lease prices?
How much more $$ would go to NCWRC instead of landowners leasing land?
How many less young bucks would be killed because NOW they're "not worth $$ it"?

Just brainstorming and throwing it out there. I don't know ... good idea? Bad idea? Good if modified to ... what?
 
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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I don't know about the polls Greg, like on here I suppose it was deer hunters. The other was ask of people that hunt ENC, but you never know who responds to any poll. I will admit neither was random.

I would have no problem with the NCWRC charging $100 dollars for a 3rd buck tag.

I do also think that having to physical attach a tag to a deer would help from people abusing the system.
 
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Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
If they want to grow horns in nc and thats what it is looking like.....
All buck tags should be pay to play in the 300 to 500 min or more range.
Stick with what they are talking about now with two bucks and pay up front before season starts for the buck tags.
Why not? Want big bucks? Pay to play.
 
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FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
If they want to grow horns in nc and thats what it is looking like.....
All buck tags should be pay to play in the 300 to 500 min or more range.
Stick with what they are talking about now with two bucks and pay up front before season starts for the buck tags.
Why not? Want big bucks? Pay to play.

If the trophy hunters get their way I hope deer hunting in NC does follow the same route as bear hunting in NC has taken.

<>< Fish
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Next thing is they put a limit on how many additional tags can be sold each year which will further drive the value of those tags up.....may not be a road we want to go down.....two buck limit and no kind of restrictions on antler size is still a great compromise in my eyes......we have to be careful....it can become a slippery slope in a few short years
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Hey FishHunt....I probably missed it somewhere along the thread.....what county is your club in? Just a curiosity question...
 

Zomdeer78

Button Buck
How many on here actually kill 4 bucks every year. I'm sure some do but most do not. I don't think a 2 buck limit is a bad idea. I would also like to see bigger deer but if I had to pay alot to kill a buck I would go to another state where deer are bigger. There are areas where the population is doing great but not everywhere in the state is. There is people that is not going to follow the rules no matter what the limit is. I have shot 1 buck this year and he was a old buck but was only a 5 point. I have not shot my limit on bucks or does in many years. I think there is alot of responsible hunters out there. Maybe the new rules will make it better for all of us. All changes are not a bad thing.

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