Whitetail doe season... is it time to take end it?

[horshur]

It is like hunter retention and recruitment is a dead thing..

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Was out for a hike on winter range last two days (like every weekend) looking for preds. Sat I was in a traditional Muley area and saw 4 mulies and 30 whitetails.
Today I was further north in what used to be Muley habitat but has been taken over by whitetails since the die-off in '96/97. Been hiking this area for about 16-17 years and have not seen that many whitetails in those years and I didn't really cover that much ground. Easily saw 50-60.

Just my my personal observations.

SSS

[Bugle M In]

There was a time when there were no computers, no internet or cell phones as well.
No quads, less roads, no instant access to information.
Business was easier, less competitive.
Might as well wind that back as well.

Times change.
There is a saying in business bownut..."adapt or die".
WT do this well.

Bye the way, I run 22 trail cams not 20.
I do this in pursuit of a monster whitey in an area that most claim WT are shot out.
I haven't killed a buck yet (the buck)...found them but haven't killed em.
I could easily close on an any buck scenario most days.
I assist numerous friends and newer to hunting contacts get their WT every yr in this area.

I take the time to share my real time field experiences on WT to help others on HBC hunt WT more effectively as I have seen them become more of a challenge since the GOS doe season. This comes with significant time and investment on my behalf with the primary objective to simply help others.

If you take exception to my investment and legal methods on finding WT where they are purportedly wiped out, I don't know what to say.

I can easily pull down all my threads that are here to help others if you personally disagree with how I hunt WT.
I will always find high level success with any species I hunt regardless of the regulations I need to hunt within.

The way I see it I have 2 options.....
1) work a little harder and smarter to achieve/maintain success (and share it)
2) complain

I always pick option 1
You?

Please don't take those WT threads down, as I know most here really like those threads.

[dana]

Was out for a hike on winter range last two days (like every weekend) looking for preds. Sat I was in a traditional Muley area and saw 4 mulies and 30 whitetails.
Today I was further north in what used to be Muley habitat but has been taken over by whitetails since the die-off in '96/97. Been hiking this area for about 14 years and have not seen that many whitetails in those 14 years and I didn't really cover that much ground. Easily saw 50-60.

Just my my personal observations.

SSS

SSS, just wait, that will all change. The wolves are there now. They are going to multiply and multiply and multiply. The same wolves that ate out my areas are there now. The collars prove it. Get ready! Things will change! I can go to areas where I could glass 25 mature muley bucks on one hill this time of year. Not to mention the many young bucks in the mix. And what do I see now. SFA!!! I can go to areas where in a short 20 min hike, I would see 15-20 flags at this time of year. Hike those same areas now all day for 3 days straight, you will probably see 2 flags. I could see 200 muleys in one field by my house. Now, zero!!! It was easy to spot whitetails in the fields. 4 here. 6 there. Another 5 here. Now, you have to be damn lucky to see any whitetail. One field I used to see as many as 10 on any day of the year. It has been 4 years since I saw a whitetail there. What has happened here, is coming to your areas! And if you don't believe me, I will be nice enough to say 'told ya so' when it happens.

[.264winmag]

There's a saying an ole timer elk hunter told me once. "10% of the elk hunters kill
90% of the elk harvested". Those numbers seem to be fairly accurate for wt in many areas. A buddy has yet to punch a deer tag in my new stomping grounds after one or two trips a season for 6 Years. According to him there's no effin deer around there. I purchase 3 deer tags a year and rarely have one left uncut.

An area I grew up in region 4 has super high winter kill rate. Was tough huntin there 20 yrs ago and is the same today with/without the wt doe season. Same guys shooting the same #ers, same guys complaining there's no deer.

We've 8-12 full time resident wt on our property. And yes even the does the wife can tell apart and has names for. She can walk outside with a bowl of grub and they come running to her. I open the door and they're gone. They are pretty smart...

[.264winmag]

Was out for a hike on winter range last two days (like every weekend) looking for preds. Sat I was in a traditional Muley area and saw 4 mulies and 30 whitetails.
Today I was further north in what used to be Muley habitat but has been taken over by whitetails since the die-off in '96/97. Been hiking this area for about 16-17 years and have not seen that many whitetails in those years and I didn't really cover that much ground. Easily saw 50-60.

Just my my personal observations.

SSS

Never ceases to amaze me too, the number of wt that show up in our valley-bottom. Literally hundreds in a short drive. That's after hearing countless gunshots first and last light for all of October. It's actually sickening sitting there listening to them that I don't hunt wt in oct the last couple seasons. A guy wonders if they'll be any left. Then January rolls around and there they are!

[.264winmag]

SSS, just wait, that will all change. The wolves are there now. They are going to multiply and multiply and multiply. The same wolves that ate out my areas are there now. The collars prove it. Get ready! Things will change! I can go to areas where I could glass 25 mature muley bucks on one hill this time of year. Not to mention the many young bucks in the mix. And what do I see now. SFA!!! I can go to areas where in a short 20 min hike, I would see 15-20 flags at this time of year. Hike those same areas now all day for 3 days straight, you will probably see 2 flags. I could see 200 muleys in one field by my house. Now, zero!!! It was easy to spot whitetails in the fields. 4 here. 6 there. Another 5 here. Now, you have to be damn lucky to see any whitetail. One field I used to see as many as 10 on any day of the year. It has been 4 years since I saw a whitetail there. What has happened here, is coming to your areas! And if you don't believe me, I will be nice enough to say 'told ya so' when it happens.

You're talking population decimation due to predation then, not hunting?

[Wild one]

Truth of the matter is the WT doe season will have different results in different parts of B.C.

In areas of strong WT populations of a large range I see no issue with it and actually see positives

But this is not what all of BCs WT populations are like. There are many places WT are in more fragmented pockets do to the habitat. These are not high populations and are easier to impact

The issue is not a B.C. WT doe season it is how it is applied to majority of B.C. when only a portion of B.C. holds strong populations of WT

[Wild one]

Take 4,8,7b, and parts of 3 these regions hold strong WT populations

A large portion of 3, 7a do not so why manage these areas like they do?

[dana]

You're talking population decimation due to predation then, not hunting?

There is this common belief that is preached on this site that wolves don't eat whitetails. There is also this common belief that when someone posts concerns about the health of the herd, they are lying and must be silenced. There is also a common belief that all wildlife are doing 'wonderful'. There is another common belief that since all wildlife is doing 'wonderful' we must have very Liberal seasons. It is also a common belief that hunters have zero impact on wildlife so therefore anyone that vocalizes a need for change, must be silenced! And around and around we goes!