Do you have deer check stations here in indiana there are we have to check in all deer taken.This is a way for indiana to be able to do a decent job at following the herds.
No. That is part of the problem. There is little to no recorded data on what is harvested or the numbers on our herd. Only select WMA's have check stations, and most that do do not require game to be checked at all times.
That is one reason they are looking into tag systems and harvest call-ins
it is needed
I will admit, the FWC does have alot of things to improve on, but this is just my opinion, WE , as in the "resident Florida hunter", as a group, bear alot of the blame for any problems with the system. And we need to make the improvements from our end first , before we keep constantly complaining and crying about "THE FWC BEING IDIOTS" or such.
For point, here we are, some people saying they need to put more check stations, and more biologists onto the WMA'S, yet I will be willing to bet a huge protion of those saying that are the same ones crying the most that our license fees may go up and whatever. Well, building and maintaining those stations, paying those biologists, thats not a not cheap endeavour. Where will the money come from? Keep this in mind, even if the license fees do go up, we will still have it cheap compared to places like Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and so on. Not to mention, that for our money we get about 6 times the season as those places and are allowed more deer. pretty much as many as we want thru the season. verses, the 1 or 2 buck limit many other places have for the season.
Back to the check stations,,, I have been to many areas that may not have a true "checkstation" but do have like a sign in sheet, or general comment sheet, that they ask you to let them know of any game you have taken, or seen, not to mention any other wildlife observed. Once again i would be willing to bet money that it would probably be a high estimate to say 30% percent of the people using the area can "be bothered" to do something as simple as filling that out. I will admit, I have had nights i didnt, and i should have, it would have only taken an extra minute. Now imagine the data that could be in front of the FWC if just 90% of us did it 75% of the time. After that happens then we can complain when they screw it up.
And saying "look at Indiana" Look at Ohio",( which by the way, Ohios gun season is always a few weeks after the rut is over) or any of those other big buck mecas. Dont,, Florida is a totally unique situation. things that work there are not going to work here. Also, we have too many people, that are the ones who are crying into the FWC's ears,(and driving all these stupid changes) who keep saying they have to do something, we need more large racked bucks, well they will never be happy, we will never have those deer,,,,, we dont have the soil with the nutrients to grow those monsters, and beyond that, there are 4 different subspecies of deer here in florida, and they are not the same animal as in these other states. It's like comparing a grey hound to a great dane. I have heard guys on other forums totally tearing the FWC down because "they need to put in food plots, do this do that" on the WMA's.
I am gonna address this to Iluv2hunt because he hunts alot of both private and public ,,,, Are the deer that your getting on your game cams, or seeing or and killing on your different private lands you hunt, really as a whole that much better than the ones you see and kill on public land? Cuz I have seen you post some nice deer, but I see no noticable difference between the quality between the 2. Now you put alot of time and money and sweat equity into your lands,,, what would it take for the FWC to make a quality difference that would far surpass the difference you are getting? ( I say far surpass because they would have to to shut people up).
These complainers are always saying if the state did whatever that we would start having B&C class deer regularly. That is BS. If that was the case then we would see alot of entries from places like Ross Hammock Ranch and the multitude of other High dollar, well managed game ranches. And how many of their deer that do make the B&C entry size are truly "Florida Deer" one of the Florida subspecies, not an imported or crossbread deer? ( Remember the story last fall about the idiot from Tampa area that poached the big breeder buck from that game farm last summer and got busted when he took the head in to have mounted and the taxidermist noticed the punched ear? do you think that deer was a Florida subspecies?, doubt it)
To sum my little rant up,, before any of us Bi**H any more about the FWC and some of the , yes in many cases, stupid changes they are making, how about first lets look back at ourselves and see what we can do to improve things . Changes we can make to some ingrained habits we have, that would be a betterment to this lifestyle we love. Are we truly doin everything right? could we do better?, Are we helping that new guy, teaching him to look at the larger picture?, Think not just of what we want now, but what could be done to make things better for tommorrow? If we see a guy with , what is in our mind, bad habits, or a skewed perspective on these issues, try and talk and reason with them, and at the same time listen to their perspective, they might have some things to teach you, and may change your perspective on issues and changes to be made to the system.
I see your point about thrr deer but any real level of proper management will help the herds better than little or none.On another forum(florida forum) I had a guy tell me that he would never give up his right to shoot bucks,period!I have seen some very good bucks taken in Florida if they are allowed to get o the age needed to have good racks.The deer in Florida will never have the size of northern deer but with management more could make it to the age class for better racks if thats what ppl want.
Check stations would not cost any extra money because if they followed the lead of other states as in the use of ma n pa shops,tackle shops and others that would become the check stations.
This will take a while to respond to to express all my feelings, and I have had some beers, so it will respond in stages.
First off I have never said in any post on any forum that the FWC is run by a bunch of idiots, because that is not true. These folks probably have more degrees than I do so calling them names is not fair.
Do I think it is run properly? Hell no. It is not run the way it should be.
Are we ever going to have 150" deer commonly in Fl? No..
However, with some changes and different management we can have a good population of deer with a good buck to doe ratio and some good healthy bucks.
Let me start by saying that there are some work groups of folks who have volunteered their time coming up with ideas for changes to our qouta system/bag limits/hunting zones/etc.
For the first time the FWC is listening to these folks and are probably going to implement some of these changes.
I wont get into the changes here. I have a good friend who is on the panel who I will get to sign up here and explain all of them. I wont even try, but they are very good that I think most of us can agree on.
Here are some of my thoughts in no particular order.
First off:
FWC has started the process by making permits not transferable. This will put a damper on the "gamers". However there is still a loophole in it. You can utilize the guest permit and still apply in everyone's name and go as their guest.
Now lets start at bag limits. Florida has the longest season and largest bag limit in the USA. On an average of 120 dayseason you can legally take 240 deer per year. Yes that is ludicrus, but still I hear of some people killing 15+ deer per year. Now I have a house of 4 people and we struggle to eat three per year.(with a hog or 2).
I feel there should be a season bag limit per hunter. How its implemented, whether it is ear tags, or a phone in system, or whatever it needs to be done.
Bag limits can vary for each DMU (deer mgmt unit). The panhandle can handle a larger doe harvest than other areas. Just an example, 3 bucks and 1-2 does.
I think 5 deer per hunter is more than enough. You can still kill and eat all the hogs you want too.
Next is antler restrictions.
Yes I am for them. Personally I would want the whole state to be 3pt on one side or better. Or a fork horn rule(for the record I AM NOT a horn hunter)
It would let all of the 1st year bucks get a pass.
So you are taking some does to balance the herd a bit and letting bucks get bigger
Next problem is enforcement. Right now as it is I spend over $100 to hunt and fish in FL every year. I have said many times I have no problem with a higher fee or a "deer permit" or whatever you want to call it if the money will be utilized wisely to go towards: der harvest data collection, herd status data, check stations, more FWC officers, food plots, research, etc, etc...
So to answer your original question: No, what I do on my private land has probably little to no effect on my deer herd. I am trying to do QDMA on an 800 acre piece of land for free ranging whitetails. I probably spend, out of my pocket, around $1,000 a year on corn, soybeans, mineral supplements, lime, fertilizer, food plots, feeders, rope, chain, cable, protein pellets, etc etc.
I killed a registry buck last year. Did my money make that deer bigger? Probably not. However, I enjoy it and take pride in it. Running a tractor mowing pine rows, fertilizing natural browze, putting suplements out, it is my passion in life (besides my family)
I feel there are smaller things the state can do first before they get into planting food plots. Above mentioned is a start
I'll post more later
