re: The intelligence of deer from different areas

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There really is no way to know because we have basically no data collection program except for DMAP

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Yep and even that data from DMAP is below average at best

This state has a self-reporting issue.

There just aren't enough agents to enforce the regulations. A cultural shift is needed to effect any change, really. Guys aren't willing to "rat" on others they see outlawing. In years past, reporting violations did little good, and many of the guys enforcing the rules were just as guilty of many of the infractions. Now, I think much of that has changed, but there is no doubt that 40-50 years ago ldwf hired many of the guys they couldn't catch. Can't beat em, join em kind of thing. Slowly, very slowly, the mentality is changing.

But it doesn't help that a guy can fill all his tags, and if he were able to do so without reporting any of them, he can go to Walmart, and tell them he lost his license. For $2, he can get 6 brand new tags and start all over. I've been checked 2-3 times in my life for fishing licenses. I've never once been checked for hunting licenses while deer hunting, turkey hunting, rabbit hunting, duck hunting, etc. I'm in my mid 40s, and spend as many days in the field as anyone. I'd imagine others have seen the same. Makes the previously mentioned license scam much easier for guys.

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Agreed. How do you fix it? Raise fines for deer that aremt called in? Not optimal. Idk

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Eventually, all the old timers will die out. They hate change and the tagging program "invades" their privacy

Tagging deer will be the norm and passed on to the next generations

Still will have a bunch of paranoid rednecks and coonasses who will not report though but thats just how it goes

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The cultural difference between LA and MS is incredible. For whatever reason, we've been selectively harvesting our bucks for close to 20 years. I don't know any MS natives who even shoot 2.5 yo bucks.

But I lease 400 acres to some guys from Lafourche Parish. And they happily kill everything they see. They're surrounded by local MS hunters who come to me in tears every year begging me to stop leasing to the coonasses.

But they're nice guys and they bring me shrimp and trout fillets. And they always have something good cooking if I stop by for dinner. So, they're safe.

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It really is an interesting difference in culture/opinion.

I, for one, would rather let bucks develop and not shoot young bucks. However, is that really the "right" way? The certainly arent the best tasting deer.

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Agreed. How do you fix it? Raise fines for deer that aremt called in? Not optimal. Idk

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if you really want to be hard-legged, then the state would not give you a license the following year if you didn't report...but then that would lead to false reporting most likely

Wait for all the old folks to die like suggested earlier.

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That's the mentality that makes the MS guys shake their heads.

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There is still plenty of ground checking going on in MS. Certain areas of the state are better than others. His point, I think, was that "better" is a relative term. Just because average buck age and class may be going up doesn't mean the way the overall population is being managed is sustainable.

Been several articles written over the last few years suggesting MS must harvest a lot more deer or there's serious risk for a population crash, especially with pigs cutting into forage.

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Another important issue facing the deer herd, and partially tied to the wild pig epidemic, is the long-term habitat damage from chronic overpopulation. The degraded habitat results in a lower carrying capacity, which leads to both smaller and fewer deer.

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LINK

Not advocating for brown-it's-down at all, I cuss it as much as anyone, just saying that there has to be a happy medium, and measuring tape isn't the end all be all of herd health.

In Mississippi, I run into hunters on both sides. Some say to protect the does, which I don't fully understand. In our first year of our club we're killing nothing but 3.5 year old bucks and does. We've killed 4 does on 600 acres, which isn't much, but we're trying to keep the population somewhat in check while letting the bucks mature. I haven't nailed down what all of the neighbors are doing yet. But some old timers have told me shooting does is not the way to go. It seems to me that you're better off trying to shift the buck to doe ratio closer to one than lowering it. Oh and BTW, a doe tastes plenty good.

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But some old timers have told me shooting does is not the way to go.

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The definition of old timer is taking on a few different meanings in this thread. My dad's definition of an old timer remembers when it was rare to even see deer tracks, and these are the guys who won't shoot does but think anything with horns is fair game cause it only takes one buck. A lot of my dad's generation on the other hand grew up running dogs and will shoot damn near anything. Others who were running still hunting clubs around the inception of QDMA only remember being shocked at how many does they were told to shoot else they would be "dropped from the program" and now think you have to blast every one you see if you ever want to have good bucks. Decades of campfire talk have made it a pretty big mess. There's no one size fits all right answer.

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There's also a big humidity difference between South Louisiana and the midwest, I've heard that matters with thier ability to pick up scents.

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Never thought about it that way but it makes sense. The same reason dogs keep their nose wet