Possible deer hunting closures

The White Tail numbers are way down here in Alberta as well but there is no talks F&W or the province on shutting down the deer season in certain areas. There is however, a strong opinion by hunters here that it should be shout down to allow the population to rebound.

Even if they shut down deer season in your neck of the woods next year - to EVERYONE... The amount of poachers would double if not tripple over night. It's sad but some people just flat out ignore closures and figgire they will do what they want. There have even been a few instances of people in AB being pinned to the ground by other hunters while their buddies steal their harvest as it was being loaded into a truck.
 
Truthfully, a buck harvest has very little impact on population numbers.....it's the harvest of does that reduces populations. I'm not sure why people would ask for an end to hunting seasons.....better management perhaps but ending a season accomplishes nothing but we lose opportunity.
 
Not sure where area 30 or 25 is, but a co worker was up around Gimli. A local guide was told by the CO`s that he could take reservations for next year, but not to take deposits for deer hunting. A small indication that the deer hunting may be closed to some of the paying customers next year.
I`m sure the government knows what a mistake it would be to the economy to shut down deer hunting. Not just the license revenue, but the gas, lodging, equipment....wait a second. That would make sense. I`m sure now that it will be closed.
 
I agree with a bucks only season, but on the other hand, I have come accross numerous does left wasted by hunters who shot in low light or just don't care. If people can't tell a buck from a doe the deer population is doomed. One of my neighbors had one of his young steers shot and left by some idiot. I even know of a guy that shot his own dog thinking it was a small deer. There was even a guy who stopped at a local gas station with his deer tagged and loaded in his truck, the gas attendent reported him, the guy had a small pony tagged.
There are some real winners out there that call themselves hunters!! So it is more than just harsh winters.

ATTN. B.U.M.---this thread is not meant as race bait (sorry you took it that way)
 
BigUglyMan said:
What are my thoughts? Go race bait somewhere else.
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My thoughts exactly. If you want to discuss hunting policy and closures regarding Aboriginal hunters and First Nations just say so, this wink, wink, nudge, nudge crap is annoying.

If they want to shut down all hunting then the Ministry needs to go talk with the FNs. I seriously doubt any charges against an Aboriginal hunter would stand up in court, it is a treaty or Aboriginal right protected by the constitution, but the Leadership can ask for cooperation by its members. The group my family hunts with on Duck mountain are abiding by the no moose hunting request by the province, so it can and is being done.
 
Kenny_G2 said:
My thoughts exactly. If you want to discuss hunting policy and closures regarding Aboriginal hunters and First Nations just say so, this wink, wink, nudge, nudge crap is annoying.
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No one is insinuating any racism here. If you feel that every mention of "poacher" is directed at first nations, you should ask yourself why that's the case.
 
two-dogs said:
lots of our country deer have scooped up their belongings and moved into the big bad city, the violent crime capital of Canada. Lots of wolves and yotes around this year. Quite a few car accidents with the deer running around in the city.
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Not so safe in the city either, I heard on the news that they had spotted coyotes and freshly killed deer in south St Vital! I also saw a coyote one evening by the Walmart on Ellice ave last winter in Winnipeg! I bet a few cats went missing that night!
 
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How is BC doing? I'm just a city hunter out of Vancouver. I've been out a total of six times and saw a single doe, hardly any tracks at all. I saw more elk and moose.
 
I certainly hope this winter is not as serve as last year and allows for a decent survival rate of the deer heard in the coming spring. I was a teenage boy when they closed the seasons for three years in the 70`s and felt like X-MAS had been cancelled each year!...I think if the numbers of deer still remain low instead of cancelling the season implement a minimum number of points that a buck must have to be legal to harvest. This has been done in other provinces and states and would allow for a greater reduction in deer taken while still allowing for an open season to occur!
 
Yukidaruma said:
Not so safe in the city either, I heard on the news that they had spotted coyotes and freshly killed deer in south St Vital! I also saw a coyote one evening by the Walmart on Ellice ave last winter in Winnipeg! I bet a few cats went missing that night!
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I read that story as 'people moving to South St. Vital to be closer to nature shocked by nature actually occurring'. There's always been plenty of wildlife within the perimeter highway. Some are just appalled when nature stops looking like the zoo. Though maybe coyote kills are closer to the way Assiniboine Zoo has been operating this fall, lol. Hell maybe the wolves have just dug out of their enclosure again.....
 
Yukidaruma said:
I certainly hope this winter is not as serve as last year and allows for a decent survival rate of the deer heard in the coming spring. I was a teenage boy when they closed the seasons for three years in the 70`s and felt like X-MAS had been cancelled each year!...I think if the numbers of deer still remain low instead of cancelling the season implement a minimum number of points that a buck must have to be legal to harvest. This has been done in other provinces and states and would allow for a greater reduction in deer taken while still allowing for an open season to occur!
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would never work, would be lots of deer shot and left there if they were short one point! Very few excited hunters are gonna count the points, before pulling the trigger especially those with open sites, impossible to see unless the hunter was a stones throw away in an open area in some cases.
 
two-dogs said:
would never work, would be lots of deer shot and left there if they were short one point! Very few excited hunters are gonna count the points, before pulling the trigger especially those with open sites, impossible to see unless the hunter was a stones throw away in an open area in some cases.
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Using this logic then we should never hold a deer season unless the herd is healthy enough for both doe`s and bucks to be taken on the general tag so people don`t have to be responsible and properly I.D. their target before pulling the trigger! The minimum point system is used all over North America to manage not only deer but moose and elk as well and works quite well at not only managing populations size but trophy quality as well. You are correct their will be the odd fool that shoots a non legal animal, but not as many as you think!
 
My question to the CO and more importantly the managing biologist would be "why deer numbers are down".

Over harvesting?
Natural variations (bad winter etc...)
Changes in predation rates (wolves and coyotes)

Ultimately, I support whatever hunting can be made sustainable. If numbers are low you dont close areas, you lower the number of tags issued to match starting with reductions in antlerless tags.

If there is something catastrophic then we can look at closing an area. If the decision was based on numbers than I expect the report to list the numbers needed to reopen stated in advance.
 
dutchhunter said:
there would be no reason to ever close the deer season here in the southern part of Ontario .we have a lot of deer here on the farm land .Dutch
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Four years ago I thought the same about this place. This is my second season in a row where I didn't deer hunt. Things can change fast. Granted, the weather in your part of the world probably isn't so extreme.
 
3 out of the last 4 winters have been disasters for the deer, before 2011 deer numbers were huge and the roadkill was stupid, now its rare to see a road kill.
 
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