joelweb
Well-known member
Nobody is saying we want Montana managed like Utah. We just want an uptick in quality and some adjustments could be made to increase the survival of mature animals, while still allowing considerable opportunity.
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You will notice the upswing in the buck harvest starting near the time the drawings and limited quotas began. Also before that tags were either sex. We did not have a doe season for quite a few years after that.Gr8bawana
AThat "choose your weapon" season structure is employed presently in some states. Can you verify the results which you suggest would occur?
Regarding the part I bolded. A retired warden/biologist I met a few times was asked how to best help out the local mule deer herd. His response, "Limit them to open sighted 30-30s and two wheel drive trucks that we all used when we had lots of deer."
There is some truth to that though! Look at all the gadgets we've come up with in an effort to guarantee success.
I feel like in a lot of cases if you could dig down to the real issue, the problem most guys really have is that it takes too much effort to find and kill a big buck. The quickest way to shut up 80 percent of those complaining is to ask them how far they walked.
Taking a quality deer in Montana is up to the hunter. We have quality deer right now. Guys that hunt hard and know deer still kill good bucks.
Nobody is saying we want Montana managed like Utah. We just want an uptick in quality and some adjustments could be made to increase the survival of mature animals, while still allowing considerable opportunity.
How's that working out for you in Region 2? Would you say there's still "considerable opportunity?" And aside from 261 and 270, are you seeing a noticeable number of mature animals? Or is FWP largely polishing a turd?
Dang near all of R2 is on some sort of restrictions now. If it works as easily as some claim, results should be there.
Region 2's problem is overall deer numbers, not deer quality. There are good bucks here, but there aren't a lot of deer. Regions 1 and 2 are different than much of the state because the vegetation is so different.
I primarily hunt Region 3 (also some in Region 4). I generally find a mature buck every year, but they aren't common. Every forky gets popped in mid-November as they stand next to a road with their lip curled.
Not killing does wont do anything to improve age structure in the bucks. In many areas of the state (not all) habitat quality is an issue. Quality winter range is getting scarce. Not shooting does could result in more deer, but addtional deer will only cause more degradation to already stressed habitat.
Also, NOT shooting any does can lead to an older age structure among the doe population. This in turn can lead to a LESS productive breeding group of does, which equates to fewer bucks.
So what exactly is a Boone and Crocket doe??? I may have taken one or to before....