Not enough people complained to the people that mattered, its that simple. The fact is most hunters just like to bitch about a problem but always expect someone else to be the sharp end of the pencil. I think this can be applied to mankind in general, but I'm really starting to think that deer hunters are some of the most lazy people around. Another thing to consider, even in the hardest hit EHD counties, the kill was only slightly down. I can only imagine how much the kill/ hours hunted ratio went up in those counties last year. I think the average hunter just doesn't give a dam and isnt smart enough to self regulate. On paper though it looks like EHD didn't have much of an impact. Its the unrecorded metrics that really matter or should at least.
That's how I see it. They could care less about the damaged / affected areas. The only place they care about are the cities where the deer are abundant and slamming into people's fancy cars and eating there precious gardens . Those are the people they care to please not your typical hunter that's concerned about the herd.
I think that's an easy assumption but I don't believe it to be true. If sportsman overwhelmed DOW, like lines out the door at the open houses, thousands of calls and emails, had some type of organizational presence that couldn't be ignored then change would happen. I am 100% confident on this one. The problem is we are unorganized and not enough of us truly care to stick with it. I'm not talking a few dozen pissed off hunters from a web forum. Im taking about thousands of hunters in an overwhelming presence.
I'm aware of what you are talking about. I have my own story that may be even more extreme then that one too. Trust me i have been down this road before and have paid the personal price. But like I wrote above, its going to take more then a few dozen pissed off hunters to make a difference. I never once said it would be easy but its absolutely possible. It doesn't need to be approached as a conspiracy theory (even though I agree 100% that its not a theory) rather then simply hunters being unhappy with certain regulations. The DOW invites hunters to comment every year on their regulations, how many have done that? Every open house I have attended was a ghost town and I was the only one there upset with anything. Why on earth would they change regulations because of one guys perspective? Make a line out the door for hours and get the local news media there, they would he forced to talk. I absolutely fall in the category of not having the time or energy to lead an effort, so I'm as guilty as anyone else, but too say its impossible for change just isn't accurate. Like I said, most hunters simply don't care enough to lift a finger.
I've been to the open houses multiple times for multiple reasons but primarily to help push for straight wall cartridges.
I must got the feeling that they have them to say they listen but no one of any consequence is ever there and i was at the one in Columbus many years in a row (actually where i met @Jackalope) so how does any idea get any traction?
You have to form up and stand together like Seth is saying. Shit, I could start a thread about starting my smoker today and having a fire. More people would show up at my hous today than do at an open house. And then we'd sit around and bitch about nothing changing!
Here’s my theory. The public meetings regarding solar array projects are packed with protesters because there are in fact huge numbers of people who oppose them, and feel strongly enough about it to attend the meetings. I personally don’t believe that a similar proportion of hunters are upset about the current and prior management decisions made by the DOW. Yes, like you said, there are people on the forum(s) and various Facebook groups being vocal. But I have not witnessed or heard that same sentiment from the masses, at least not in my part of the state. Deer hunters are divided because they don’t all feel the same way. Waterfowl hunters are no different. You can’t rally the troops and present an organized force if they’re not sharing a similar point of view. The sentiment seems common when you read it online over and over… but who’s to say that isn’t biased? Angry people are usually more vocal than happy people. It’s human nature.
Using that same theory, yes we have it better today then we did in 1900 as well. Is that really a fair or accurate way to guage success though? Or should we always be looking toward the future rather then the past. I believe in sound biological management of deer, which means keeping the herd just under carrying capacity. We aren't anywhere close to that. I've walked thousands or acres, probably closer to tens of thousands of acres of prime private property (for work) the past 10 years, and I've saw a total of one property that had defined browse lines and too many deer, and it was in the city limits. This is just one man's view and there are others who believe differently and that doesn't make either of us wrong. I run into hunters constantly down in my part of the state bitching about DOW but none of them have ever went forth with their concerns. I also know people who see 2 deer while driving down the road and think that deer are everywhere. As I say about any political situation in a democracy, we get the government we deserve.
I totally agree that in most areas, the land itself could support more deer. The problem is (which you’re well aware of) is that the state isn’t just managing the deer population for hunters and carrying capacity. Whether we like it or not, public safety, property damage, and agricultural impacts are also considered. The degree to which all of those factor in… well, that’s another debate. The fact is hunters are still seeing deer and still being successful. Whether it takes them 10 minutes or 7 months to achieve that success, I don’t know. Maybe it is taking them longer than say, an average hunting period from the 2000’s. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Sometimes challenge and struggle is a good thing.
