Thread: New Cases of CWD found in Arkansas counties .

Originally Posted by Snubbys

It will spread no doubt, if hunters aren't allowed to control the population then nature will do the job for us. Mississippi has a population of 1.8 million to 2.5 million deer (depending on the source). Take the restrictions off doe harvesting or prolong the overall season period. Never hear a peep about blue tongue, but CWD is all the rage now, keep us all in panic. From what I understand most game and fish officials are hand tied by politics, go figure. Too many animals rights groups out there that would love to see hunting and fishing ended in general. Now mind you, these are the same people that say "why harm animals when you can buy meat and fish at the grocery store, where an animal never suffered".. Lol.

Hunters and fisherman are the true conservationist in this world, the others are to feeble minded to realize it..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

I like this... Let hunters thin the herd from 1,000,000 to 500.000-700.000. You can do this by allowing a First Sat in Nov through all of Dec rifle hunt, and keep the tag limits as they are.

Originally Posted by CrappiePro

I like this... Let hunters thin the herd from 1,000,000 to 500.000-700.000. You can do this by allowing a First Sat in Nov through all of Dec rifle hunt, and keep the tag limits as they are.

I could get more interested with That window. Maybe MRS DP's roses would have a chance too. DP

Originally Posted by CrappiePro

I like this... Let hunters thin the herd from 1,000,000 to 500.000-700.000. You can do this by allowing a First Sat in Nov through all of Dec rifle hunt, and keep the tag limits as they are.

Need the opportunity to harvest at least 30% percent of the population every year, minimum. Mature does are 3 in 1 shot, it sounds harsh I know, but it's nature. Bucks, your focusing on old bucks and culls to eliminate genetic defects or putting meat in the freezer. I'm not aware of Arkansas populations or the harvest rate per year. I do know there are fewer hunters more now than ever, everywhere. You take in consideration most seasons are archery, primitive, bucks only, then pre rut, rut, post rut, then a short window afterwards. Most hunters can't fill there tags or what's allowed harvested in 2 months.. Lol. I hunt both public and a enclosed (state) managed property, high fenced, an area of 1600 acres.. with the land managed by state biologist and privare sector. With an enclosure you learn a lot about deer an they're potentials and weaknesses. And all the movements or natural breeding cycles of deer vary from year to year.. I've seen rut done by 2nd week of November before in MS.. when usually it's first few weeks of December. Not sure of the answer, but while deer can breed uncontrolled, then yes mother nature will intervene, eventually.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Yell County positive and another County has been retested and they said it a a false positive . I feel it is just a matter of time it will spread .

I wish that cull bucks were legal if there were someway to verify that the buck was indeed a cull. I have several big spikes and a really big wide tall 4 point with no eye guards that need out of the gene pool. Also, where I hunt there are lots of 3 on one side/spike on the other OR 4 on one side/2 on the other. There have always been bucks like that for as long as I remember. We usually try to get them out when we see them. My dad took this one out a couple of weeks ago.

GTT

Originally Posted by GoTennTitans

I wish that cull bucks were legal if there were someway to verify that the buck was indeed a cull. I have several big spikes and a really big wide tall 4 point with no eye guards that need out of the gene pool. Also, where I hunt there are lots of 3 on one side/spike on the other OR 4 on one side/2 on the other. There have always been bucks like that for as long as I remember. We usually try to get them out when we see them. My dad took this one out a couple of weeks ago.

GTT

Bring kids under 16 they can do it legally

Here's my take on culling bucks.

You can tell after a few years that a buck doesn't have the genetics to be a real trophy deer. It's good to take some of those deer out. The problem I see with that improving your buck quality in your deer herd is in the doe population. There is absolutely no way to tell the genetics of the does on your property. Like raising horses, cows, etc., the female has a lot to do with the quality of her offspring. In horses, you can take a world champion stud and breed him with 100 mares. You still only get a few good quality horses by doing that and you SEE the foals on a daily basis, you KNOW which mare foaled it, and you eventually realize the ability of the mare to produce good foals. With deer, unless you raise them in a pen, you can't tell which does produce the best quality offspring. By the time a buck has his first set of horns, he's left his mom. No way to know which doe had him. There is zero chance you shoot the weak does on your place. If you kill numbers of does, you may actually take out the GOOD ones. Without literally tagging fawns and does to keep records, your fighting a losing battle. Genetics take decades to correct themselves with buck only management IF that can even be done.

There is much more to having a quality herd on your property also. The ability of the land to provide the right nutrients and food is another factor. Shooting cull bucks is only a small aspect of the equation.