I think overall we need to…

ERO number

019-0159

Comment ID

32690

Commenting on behalf of

Individual

Comment status

Comment approved More about comment statuses

Comment

I think overall we need to be more sensitive to the habits of hunters and the local deer populations by management unit. By this I mean many hunters both bow hunt and rifle/ shotgun , muzzle loader hunt. In my area 69A there is only an open season for bows. Why shouldn't we provide a separate tag to be purchased for that area and still allow a tag for rifle season to be purchased. The impact on the deer population I think would be minimal as most bow hunters are looking for bucks and usually wait until late season for a mature buck when they are hungry trying to put on needed weight after the rut. The financial gain from the additional tags can be used towards supporting other initiatives for deer. In my opinion this would also reduce illegal use of tags during both seasons. We could also eliminate group hunting for bow hunters which will further help the deer population. Controlled hunts could also be a separate tag to be purchased again increasing revenue and provided additional opportunity for deer hunters.

In controlled hunts land owners are guaranteed a tag if they own 50 acres of land I believe a similar rule should apply to rifle hunts. The amount of land could be larger perhaps 200 acres or one tag per camp that owns a significant amount of land.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts as an interested hunter.