phade

BH209?

I picked up some basic cams for now. They caught the person...a young-ish female.

The bucks pester the younger does so much in the rut that they get thrown off their normal behaviors and the alpha doe isn't there to return the group to it.

The only time I ever want to take an alpha doe is when she becomes a hinderance to your hunting - ie she knows your stands and can pick you out. Otherwise, she'll keep that doe group on the regular with patterns you can use to your advantage. You can work around harvest numbers with does that fall in line w/the alpha and only letting one or two get a pass to supplant the alpha. All else is on the table.

Yes, do some research to find quality stink bait and cast out a line. If you are casting and letting them sit (ie poles rigged up in a holder and just relaxing on the waterfront at night), buy some of the super small size glow sticks (usually ones made to go inside balloons) and attach them to the pole so you can see when a cat starts to take the bait. It's a fun way to keep the kids involved, and helps me as an adult, know when to put down a beverage to reach for the pole, lol.

Again, don't shoot does older than yearlings. In time an alpha will set up shop.

My thought process is to let alpha does live or let an aspiring alpha doe come to fruition. I'd be passing on adult does this season and shoot yearlings only.

The DEC admitted that it was overdone in the 2003 off-season. I know this because I penned the article for NYON after talking w/Hurst and Batchellor (he wasn't in his most recent role at that time), and I forget who else. That's why the DMPs were cut back well into the double digits the following year nearly statewide. They admitted that their efforts and the winter weather played a role pretty openly at that time. When the harvest goes from 308 to 180...something significant happened to cause it. The DEC still quotes the 2002 winter/DMP allocation situation today in their explanation of the overall DMP process. And also, almost worthy of a slap in the face is this "DMP Trivia" they post online. Look at the year where the most DMPs where issued. Even that chart shows that the number of DMPs issued 5 years later were a mere 56% of what was issued in 2002...that chart is a good reflection on how long it actually takes a herd to rebound with active hunting and other mortality factors taken into account. The DEC needs to have a pretty solid plan or we're potentially being setup for a repeat.

OTC really is the answer...big impact, low investment, no changes to hunter opportunity.

My party of three who hunts within these WMUs in question shot 15 deer last season, 13 of which were antlerless. Past three seasons or so...we average about that number overall. Now we'll be limited on harvest opportunities...awesome. Don't think we not the norm or close to it...hunters in that area are usually pretty responsive to filling tags.

Opening day is much quieter with rifle...have done two fresh rifle opening days now (in WMUs that converted) and wow, it's night and day.

That boat has sailed, as alluded to Doc's "if it aint broke, don't fix it" response when the noise around the harvest/pop numbers was questioned a year or two ago. The DEC has shown zero appetite to discuss their methods beyond the fact they believe in them 100%. I think most people right now are wanting to short term address the season changes because its an immediate impact. Pee into the wind or just pee on yourself...at least in the wind, some of it misses you.

That's partially true, but not proven in real-life as you alluded to with having similar harvest numbers. If you look at the DMP over-issue back in 2002 or so, it took several years for the harvest numbers to climb back into a relative range that wasn't such "dire straits." One fawning season didn't fix the mismanagement.

Iowa, pretty much all is said w/that.

And you better believe when money is to be made by a new #1 that is shot with tech outside the regs for B&C, they are going to have serious issues. For example, when someone shoots a 250" typical (I know I know) with a lighted nock or a less than 30" ATA bow and it's not allowable in their books, the B&C will either crumble from their perch if they resist or swallow their pride and let it in, at which point they also fall from their perch. Just because they set a measurement standard doesn't mean they set a fair chase standard that goes beyond their books or commonality.

I am completely stymied why you give B&C so much credibility. I don't give a rat's butt what they consider allowable into their private recordbook. You want to see an archaic group crumble - wait until a new #1 is shot using this technology.

I own and move enough trail cams my wife doesn't notice. She will notice a drone because I will inevitably do something very husband-ish with it at some point, like flying it into the shower as she is washing her hair.

Of course it's against their fair chase, they raised stink about lighted nocks. Where's any legit rationale for that? Finding your arrow? Pay them to get your buck scored, pay them to get your buck entered into their private recordbook, and somehow they can determine to you what is fair chase even if you don't submit? I think not.

Iowa....that freaking profile pic is why I'm locking down my third preference point. Good luck w/the fishing!

These ones have GPS locaters and a "fly back to home base" mode if anything goes wrong, ha. If I get one I'll probably just have your son fly it...I suspect he could be a master in a few minutes as compared to me or you.

Is a major advantage bad? I'm not making my own flint broadheads, so maybe my Grim Reapers or Thunderheads are a major advantage. Darn those precision machinists making surgical quality broadheads. It's circular. Every generation goes through it.

Hunting season from what i read. Drones add value to me on recovery and in scouting. I want to talk my wife into letting me get one, but not there yet.

People said the same thing with all of the other developments that have changed hunting in the past starting at the point where it was no longer solely about sustenance on a life/death basis. Your argument is circular to a degree because it never stops. I think we all agree that sometimes change isn't the best course of action, yet at the same time, is inevitable. At that point, we just have to deal with it.

Kind of easy when other states had already banned them by that point....drones mms cams, etc. have been illegal in states prior to NH this year.

As much as I think ethics and morals come into play, the effort to resist change should be spent wisely with regard to hunting. I am not a tech wizard or geek, yet I have a smartphone attached to my hip and use MMS cams. The cams keep me engaged in hunting in ways that keep me hunting when free time is at an ever-increasing premium. I'm in that transitional generation that grew up as a kid just as the first home PCs were really getting to mass market. I still remember what it is like having to talk to my best friend's parent's when I called them on their house phone. The following generation doesn't know life without the internet and personal technology. Keeping a pursuit to the ethical standards of yesteryear is one surefire way to limit growth or sustenance of the hunting population. I am sure there are lines drawn somewhere, but we need to realize technology is here to stay in the sport and in reality, always has been in some capacity - cams on bows, rifled barrels, etc.