if we had a 3-4 month gun deer season in WI waiting for the right buck would be different. that tends to be more of an archery season 3 1/2 months

when you have 9 days and generally you have to be home in 3-4 because Thanksgiving is Thursday of deer season

put 700K people in the woods opening weekend and you would have to have a mighty big private tract to not notice a change in deer behavior opening weekend.

Im a brown it goes down type of guy. Whatever steps out first could have milk still dropping of its chin to the 30 pointer I dont wait around.. lol if I had a ton of land, where deer were plentiful and had time to hunt I maybe different, but I dont have all that so it goes down.

For me its a mature buck or does. I enjoy seeing and pursuing big bucks so the youngens get a pass

Usually, neither - unless the antlered buck is a really nice one. I have probably already passed six or seven legal bucks. I dont know how many does - I cant tell them apart. Saturday evening, hunting five different locations on my 350 acres, between the five locations, we saw 52 deer. We killed 1 nine pt, and five 8 pts - all but two of the hunters were 15 years old or younger. A dozen legal (3 pt or better on one side) bucks were passed - and a bunch of does. We killed one of our six or so bigger target bucks.

Only way the three doe thing works is with a manual check of the does. Otherwise a lot of folks are gonna be checking three does via the app.

Sportsman94,
True...but the entire game check is on the honor system.

I hate the app or telecheck. I miss the physical check in stations. I was young when they had them, but a lot of interesting stories and nice deer you get to see. Once seen a goat, the check in guy just shook his head didnt say a word and let the guy do it.

I think the online ck system is probably not anywhere near accurate. Not sure the only folks checking are those who take their deer to a commercial processor and must have evidence of being checked

White your probably right. I know a few people have a 2 kill 1 tag policy. 1st deer never counts 2nd gets tagged, just incase they get checked in freezer. Same way if they have a 2nd tag. The 3rd one won't count but the 4th will. The conservation makes it easy to break the rules, might be part of the plan. Get you all caught up in stuff!

I don’t think many of the processors around my neck of the woods check to make sure the deer has been checked already

Ours make sure. GW will check them from time to time

Makes you wonder how many bucks get left to rot because the hunter thought they were shooting an eight point which was the minimum number of points and found out it was a six point after they shot it?

thats a problem for someone with a badge , take down the plate number , you have name and license info , make the report when you go back in the building and let it be their problem.

we had them till a few years ago , stopped needing to go to one in about 2013 but still were some physical locations for Amish ,old folks and such to go to for a while maybe even still is some don't know.

Then you had no worries. Can’t remove “bad” genetics in a wild herd and culling has almost zero effect. Remember half the dna comes from the doe also. So she could be passing on those traits also. You would need a captive herd and monitor each doe’s offspring. Lots of work.

We have point restrictions of three points in Maryland. One of the three bucks (with extra tag) has to meet the point requirement.

In Delaware we get two antlered deer per season. One quality buck tag that has to be 15” outside spread, basically past the ears. And one is hunters choice. Can be any deer you feel like shooting.

If I shoot a buck, I limit myself to only one quality deer per season, per state I hunt. I like to leave the carry handles to the folks who enjoy them. So I focus on crop damage does mostly.

I will say, that’s my opinion and until someone buys your license for you, they can’t tell you what to shoot or not shoot. As long as it’s legal and you have a tag for it. Send it if it makes you happy.


Just be safe out there and always wear a fall arrest harness when using a tree stand.

Lots of does and scrub bucks mostly this is probably the best year for a chance for a good buck that we have had in several years, seen groups of 14 does in one place and 10 in another spot if they get hot it will be interesting.

I'm not much into shooting does anymore let the grandkids shoot the does.I shoot bucks big and small.

Georgia does not require a deer to be game checked if left at a processor or a taxidermist. We hashed this out on a statewide level when game check was first initiated and decided it is the responsibility of the hunter to ensure game check not the processor. Processors do not need to get the confirmation number.

I did hunt non antler restriction co. Seemed tough to me. Would have hated to get a deer down and count and realize it was not legal. I always tried to shoot a skin head if I could but always shot the first legal deer I could in my deer hunting days I shot a few nice bucks because they were the first I would see so I could get back to work the check stations or process duck hunters or shoot some quakers. Buy the way the northeast of Missouri have a good crop of acorns. Did agent work at times but was not an agent as such. Never wanted to be one as their job is tough no matter what you heard. Wetland management was my cup of tea. Never had a duck or goose smart talk me. And if I had if it was season I blow him out of air if legal

Most of the APR’s are three or four points on one side - so you dont have to count all the points. Has never happened to any of my hunters in 30 years - and I am including a bunch of young kids. If a 12 yr old can count points correctly, so should an adult. When our state started an APR, all you heard was excuses and complaints - I was one of them. It took about five years for the apr to show results. 8 pt bucks started becoming fairly common after five years - then bigger eight points. We were soon harvesting as many bucks as we did before apr’s - they were just twice as big as they used to be.