phade

You do realize this strategy has already been tested in Reg 8 and the DEC has already dismissed this, right? The 8C system was set up this way and their experience was very poor (for whatever reason) and they did away with the ability to get additional buck kills as a result. They actually got rid of the bonus either sex tag to encourage MORE antlerless harvest. So, in their mind, offering this up is likely too much admin work, and that they believe it won't result in more antlerless kills. I tend to agree, because most people will kill what they kill now, just in a way that allows them a second tag. DEC tested the potential to expand the Bonus DMP program (Phase 1) in 2013 by exploring the impact of issuing Bonus DMPs in WMUs 1C, 3S, 4J, and 8C as antlerless-only rather than either-sex tags as they had been previously. This was an important step to reduce the workload of administering the program and focus hunters on antlerless deer, a critical factor for potentially expanding the program. However, results of these trials suggest that expansion of any Bonus DMP program would not yield the desired increase in antlerless take. Harvest reporting data also indicate that hunters are not limited by the availability of antlerless tags in the WMUs of the rule change.

We keep saying that, but in reality, our damage done not agreeing is minimal to the DEC. We can disagree all we want but were not changing the rules no matter how much the DEC says we have a voice. We dont, and the DEC does what they want to their agenda. So we can disagree all we want, but in the end it still doesnt change the result.

ill let you have the last word on it and i wont post on the matter after this, because your dna is hardwired to always be right and resist change. Good day curmudgeon.

More deflection and more of the same for you. Your wide brush strokes are getting old, as is this mentality that anything outside of your personal comfort zone is a fad, or is a change to resist against. Your inability to get over the resistance to change is exactly why hunting quality never gets better in NY. Try to play the game and critique the DEC but under the veil, your ability to dismiss change really is as bad or worse than any poor sap who decides to pass a doe during the rut.

Yep. I shoot slick tricks and grim reapers. I shoot the razortip 1 and 3/8. Killed quite a few deer with them starting in 09 or so.

More of the same from you. Complain and dismiss anything that changes. Whine about this antler fetish and say my statement is further evidence of the mentality that handicaps the dec when i put my money where my mouth is proving your BS is just that. My mentality is exactly what the DEC needs. You should ask Curmudgeon if his name is for sale, Doc is getting a bit misleading.

So, we'd have to choose when to shoot our buck too. Gun season likely would be nothing but doe killing because our archery season will have included the buck kill. Fair is fair.

I find it reasonable. You get the choice. Just like i would.

I like to think I am hardcore, but I was indeed froze out that morning. Nothing worse than 33 degree freezing rain. Even hardcore people slip up once in a while. At least the steak and eggs were good.

You gotta get out our way for a hunt with us.

Of course they know, but they also don't care. They don't release the data necessary to box them in to hold them accountable, allowing to do as they see fit. I'm not much into the roll over and die mindset, but I can't certainly blame people for it in this situation.

I will call you out on that wide brush stroke. How many antlerless did YOU shoot in the affected WMUs? I shot four this past season. Four. Not one, not two, not three....but FOUR. Bow, gun, and MZ. And I am not unique. My phone fills up with tons of people who lay down the does in these WMUs, even in bow. Debate all you want, you can go pound sand if I choose to pass on a doe in the first week of Nov. this season. I killed more than my "required" contribution to get the job done and will likely do so again this year. My mentality is precisely what the DEC needs - one that gets the job done, yet demands more of an organization that is inept and one that needs to work toward not being so. Compare that to people who complain, yet pass off everything as not being "the way things were" and displaying fear-mongering of taking a buck tag away to better manage a resource as if some social liberty is being compromised to the detriment of the old guard - and basically refusing to acknowledge that the management discipline is about as far from a fad as one can get. Quite frankly, its those people with their head in the sand that slow down the ability for adaptations that should be discussed or considered given the conditions. Add in the mix an agency who shoves it down our throats, and it's a pretty bad spot for people with my mentaility. You and the DEC make great partners in their current state. I like to think I'd be a great partner with what the DEC should be.

Can you share that to my FB page? Nice shot.

If I see a hot doe during the rut and there is no buck behind her trailing - I am going to ANCHOR her to the ground with an arrow. Her being dead right at my stand is like having instant bait for the rest of the day.

Definitely agree on the boots comments. Spend the money on the right ones and the time to find them.

That is really cool.

So far, only 35% would hunt at the same frequency and intensity or higher. 65% will hunt other units, not hunt at all, or reduce their time in the stand for that period.

In all honesty I don't the numbers change the plan of attack for righting the ship. The problem with not having the data is that nobody can attain what the DEC wants.

The states that have most recently implemented OBR were not in maintenance mode...they were fixing the same problems we're in now. Bad doe management, bad buck management, bad management overall, etc. KY and IN.

You are overblowing this out of proportion. People shoot lots of does overall as a hunter group. Just not as many as the DEC wants, despite us not knowing that number should be. Everyone that I know in-person in this thread being vocal about OBR or taking a look at the way we manage buck tags, took does last year IN THE WMUS affected. That's not broken. What's broken is the system and the DEC and that's what people have a vested interest in resolving. People in large have the right mindset (meaning intent), but its butting heads with an agency that isn't willing to dance.

Doc knows everything, lol. Lots of know it alls here, me included.

Being forced to pass on a buck of a lifetime is a good thing with OBR imo. Next year, they might think a little harder on shooting bucky jr. when its the firat buck that walks by. Tons of other states have done this, most recently IN and KY, and their hunters are still living and participating just fine. Compare that to even the crummy poll I created where more than half of the people are reducing or majorly changing their hunting habits due to the two week rule.If they do shoot bucky jr. and they are happy with it, then I am as well. Remember only 5k hunters shoot a second buck out of how many hundreds of thousands of hunters.

If the pics are black and the time stamp (if you entered the time correctly) show it to be a night shot that seems suspect. Either the filter isn't dropping down or the IRs are not firing. Sounds silly, but, lock yourself in the closet with the lights off....set the cam up, and set it to time lapse to trigger. Take your phone, turn down the screen birghtness, and turn the phone camera on and point at the game camera. The IRs firing will be picked up by the phone screen. If it isn't picking them up, you know for sure. PS Don't ask how I know this.

See if you have the latest firmware version: http://browningtrailcameras.com/customer-service/ For the not taking night pics at all, is it taking black pics like the IR is out or its not sensing the triggering person/animal? The blur on that pic is due to the fact that pic should have been in IR as a transition shot. Nearly 8:00 and the blure and grain is from the loss of definition in low light. Just as you see on TV hunting shows in low light. Firing the IR with the filter down would have limited that blur and gained definition.

And you still won't get it and need to have a fancy attorney sue for it, such as the recent Safe Act rate of compliance!