Plus he knows just about every coaches name for just about any sport in the state of Ohio....
I know sumthin
- Thread starter Ohiosam
- Start date
Plus he knows just about every coaches name for just about any sport in the state of Ohio....
Giles took more shit than Mike has yet.....give it time...they just gettin' warmed up!:smiley_devil:
Get the tags cut back a little and bet you gain mass ground in a hurry!
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4-5 years ago that would have worked.
Tonk himself told a few of us talking to him that tag reductions are largely to pacify hunters and don't really accomplish anything as he had to explain to some large farmers who were mad with the tag reductions. There were others there also who shall remain nameless also. When called on it He went on to say most hunters aren't smart like we are to figure that out.
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Today or back then? Today we've largely lost the battle and the war on this buddy. Little late now as the population reduction goals are pretty well met. We hashed it out for thousands of posts on here before. Do a little digging. But the number one tactic to lower the population back then was adding opportunity combined with adding tags. Today with the lower population levels, less of both are needed to maintain said lower goal numbers. Lowering either now will only serve to maintain the current levels. As was explained in the DOWs last Video briefing about "pulling back the reins" and maintaing the levels. Hence the statement of how lowering tags doesn't really matter and only pacifies hunters. So few hunters today utilize multiple tags, the impact today isn't the few guys that shoot 2-3 a year as they're a pretty small number, it's the thousands upon thousands that only shoot 1. Today the only way to stem the harvest and regrow the population would be to limit opportunity. Tonk believes this will occur naturally as hunters quit hunting due to the low deer numbers. As these people stop hunting it will have the same effect as limiting opportunity and the population will naturally rise. That's his theory anyway.
Hunters will quit. Recruiting youth IS becoming harder. I have struggled getting my son to hunt. He has hunted. He DID finally kill his first deer. This was mostly due to Brock setting us up on a slam dunk. Locally, I have attempted to get him on a deer, but we haven't had a lot of success. Many more hunts seeing zero deer than seeing a deer. I feel this is a problem. Having adult hunters quit because they aren't seeing deer is more easily attributed to our busy lives and other "more important" things to do in life. With kids it is not as much of an excuse. They have no bills to pay, they have no drivers license to take them to other activities. The number one reason my son tells me he doesn't want to hunt (on the days he chooses not to hunt) is "We won't see any deer anyway Dad." As a father and hunter, I will not force him to hunt. I feel this is the number one way to turn him off on hunting. I would like to see a change made. In the future, (if deer numbers increase) who will help lower the population? Having no hunter recruitment is bad all across the board. Less tags and licenses sold. Less hunters involved. Less heritage passed on. It will be tougher to introduce the youth in 10-20yrs if the youth of today are not interested. I don't have an answer. I just see this as being a bigger problem down the road due to decisions made today.
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The theory was hunters will quit, the population will rise, people will get interested again, hunter numbers will rise, and the DOW will use them to te lower the population again. A circle.
Personally I think it's going to backfire. I don't think it'll work that way. What I think will happen is hunters will try to better manage the land they have for higher deer populations. This includes habitat, food plots, feeders, getting other hunters kicked out, and leasing. Especially leasing. They're going to lock up land and put in plots and habitat to increase their population. This will cause a bunch of people to quit because they can't afford it. And others to join over hunter leases that are shot out. The deer numbers will increase due to them being protected and fed on leases managed for bigger bucks and better hunting. Some will quit. Others will quit screwing around and lease.
It's quickly becoming a "rich mans sport". People are buying or leasing land and managing it for their benefit. Group hunting is almost a thing of the past anymore. "It's all about me" is really hard to turn around.
Public land needs managed...
Public land needs managed...
OhioHunter88
Junior Member
