Re: Potential 3 point Rule -- United Hunters of Florida (UHF)

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Date Posted: 04/22/07 10:46:50am
Author: Markm
Subject: Re: Potential 3 point Rule
In reply to: Russ Chastain 's message, "Re: Potential 3 point Rule" on 04/20/07 10:11:38pm

It's Funny that the FWC doesn't mention anything about the older the deer the better the breeding or did this not wash? this would make more sense then having a weight increase..

Then we have mention of poor soil content, how will this play on the Bucks being bigger in size?

Georgia has had a point rule in place for some time now, yet i haven't heard of any change in harvest records since they went to this new rule, it would stand to reason that If in fact as the FWC says they become smarter, then your not going to gain in Harvest, there's a reason spikes are shot! Take the spikes out of the eqation and your Harvest records will be down, and never will it come back!

The FWC likes to use WMAs that they do Full QDM on as prime examples, They say that it's to costly to do QDM in it's fullness on all WMAs But give no actual figures... yet want to go to three point rules... They have the equipment the knowledge and i have even asked that Hunters themselves be given an opurtunity to do some of the labor, yet it's "no we can't have that"!

I see many good reasons to raise the point rule but "it will get better in time" doesn't fly with me. Just a few short years ago we were asked to come up with ways to get more hunters in the woods, LOL i guess this will help with that too!

By the way, Tosohathee is on that List, I'm in favor of that WMA going there because of the way hunting is done in regards to harvesting deer!

Archery--- either sex, one buck per person, it will be one three pointer.. no matter how many Qp's you hold, your hunting license is put on the list, your done for Archery.

Muzzleloader the same i think. I'm not sure if they combine your harvest with Archery!

General Gun--- still the same, either sex

Young, old and trophy hunters, can have a fair chance at harvesting a deer, horns or not in Toso, with the three point rule, anything smaller is considered a doe..
This is has been that way since that WMA has been in existant, the deer harvest is good and the challenge is still there! i see this WMA getting better!

One other thing... the FWC Biologist
that is on the Deer Management Team believes we have
over harvested bucks in Florida overall.
-----------------------------------------------------------
This comes from the same people who put the limits of hunters allowed on each WMA in place, Due to how many deer are needed to be harvested! I have to ask one question... Did they really know what they were doing then or don't know what they are doing now? Where is this infomation coming from? Harvest numbers from each WMA.. they say they don't have a acurate count of herd numbers never mind a Buck to Doe ratio!

I think every hunter in Florida wants to make hunting better, but we also want some SERIOUS Data collection so as we can Gauge what rules are doing what! We don't need POLITICs to be the deciding vote...

Mark

>I see no advantage to this idea. They say buck kills
>will fall and then climb. If that is true... then so
>what? Why make the ruling? Who really cares whether
>their deer is 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 years old? I don't.
>
>Last December I shot a small-rack 5-point on a Florida
>WMA. It aged 2.5 years, but it was a fairly small deer
>for its age and it had a small rack.
>
>Two things stand out in my mind about that... 1) I
>sure am glad I didn't have to count his points before
>I shot - it had been a looooong time since I bagged a
>buck on a WMA, and 2) I didn't give a hoot how many
>points he had.
>
>I have hunted on a WMA that has point restrictions,
>and I had to let two very fine bucks (IMO) walk away.
>That sucked. "Get them next year," some will say, but
>getting drawn for those areas is next to impossible
>for those of us who are honest with the quota system.
>
>Wayne is right that taking does will make for a more
>healthy buck-doe ratio. All healthy whitetail herds
>have a good balance of bucks to does. It's foolish for
>Florida's wildlife managers to think it our state is
>immune to that rule.
>
>But I personally think a 2-buck limit is too low,
>unless you're also allowed to also take some does.
>
>Russ
>
>>Guys,
>>
>>Let me take a minutes to explain a few things they
>>have told us. Mind you I am not agreeing with them
>>just want you to see their reasoning. FWC Biologist
>>that is on the Deer Management Team believes we have
>>over harvested bucks in Florida overall. He mentioned
>>breaking the state up into Management Units instead of
>>the zones we have now. Rules may be different from
>>Unit to Unit like in other states. He has said that
>>the initial harvest of bucks will drop when and if the
>>3 pt rule is put in place, but will gradually go back
>>up as the younger bucks live longer and more of them
>>make it to maturity.
>>He also said they have found that when they go to a
>>fork horn rule they end up hygrading or killing off
>>the bucks with the best possibility for nice racks
>>which they may do with any kind of Horn Ruling.
>>Knowing that deer biology is different from South
>>Florida up through the Pan Handle, there are deer in
>>this state that are spikes from 1.5 years old through
>>2.5 years old because of being born late in the
>>season. Some does in the panhandle don�t even drop
>>fawns until late August. Their philosophy/theory is
>>if you hold off and don�t shoot a deer until it has at
>>least 3 pts on one side, you can be assured it is
>>between 2.5 to 3.5 years old. Thus giving the younger
>>bucks a chance to mature and get smarter. Also the
>>body size will be bigger on 3pts than spikes or fork
>>horns.If you shoot a fork horn, you�re still killing
>>bucks that are between 1.5 and 2.5 years old.If you
>>take out Does just to be taking meat, your cutting
>>back on the number of fawns born for recruitment. The
>>FWC isn�t willing to go full blown QDMA and put out
>>food plots on public land because of cost, they are
>>convinced that roller chopping and burning provide
>>more food per acre for deer. They aren�t willing to
>>make a horn ruling law so people on private land would
>>have to follow it too. So everything you have to let
>>walk these guys on the property next door can shoot.

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