Northern zone, do you think it starts to early?

[Frank]

I was thinking that the northern zone starts to early, but I grew up in the southern zone where you could see deer rutting during bow season. I hunt northern zone and dont get a chance to hunt the rut with my bow. I have to travel back home to hunt the rut with my bow. Just wondering what your thoughts were?

[Fantail]

This might be biased but one reason I picked up an NZ lease was to try & fill an unused tag from last year last week of Sept. Perhaps if there was a central zone of sorts to balance it out but it is what it is.

[Frank]

Yeah i like to fill those tags too.  I wonder if it would hurt to make archery season go until november 10th or so.

[VenaticOutdoors]

I think the NZ season opener is timed well.  I think the problem that some people have with it is the lengthy gun season.  Generally, there are only two weeks of archery season followed by a week of muzzleloader and seven-eight weeks of rifle season.  This segment of the season is way too long - if archery went into the rut as it does in the Southern Zone I think you would see deer populations rebound and a more abundant buck population.  In our area, deer learn to not even enter a field if they want to survive.

[Fantail]

Well since I'm into Archery I wouldn't mind if Muzzleloader opening was a little later, but having picked up a new CVA I'm starting to wonder about that. If I wasn't into Archery and picked up a smokepole just so I could hunt my land in NZ when the season opens as it is, then yeah I'm sure I wouldn't want that to change either. Nothings says you can't use your bow after the 16th, but on the other hand SZ bow opens the same day. And those guys (in alot of zones) have to deal with fall Turkey hunters. I'm not going to try and disect the NZ season to understand why they are set up the way they are. Better yet I'll try and take advantage of them if I can before I can't get up to camp anymore and the snow flies becoming a problem even for the Jeep.