Your thoughts?

[Mulieaddict]

Two hunters got a pilot to fly them into the far north for elk hunting. They were quite successful in their venture and bagged six big bucks. The pilot came back, as arranged, to pick them up. They started loading their gear into the plane, including the six elk. But the pilot objected and he said, "The plane can only take four of your elk; you will have to leave two behind." They argued with him; the year before they had shot six and the pilot had allowed them to put all aboard. The plane was the same model and capacity. Reluctantly, the pilot finally permitted them to put all six aboard. But when the attempted to take off and leave the valley, the little plane could not make it and they crashed into the wilderness. Climbing out of the wreckage, one hunter said to the other, "Do you know where we are?" "I think so," replied the other hunter. I think this is about the same place where we landed last year!"

Ive been told my first post should include a joke


So as a guy who hunts mainly region 3 and 5 I got to thinking about how lucky we are to have such amazing mulie hunting. Now as a younger guy I dont know what it was like many moons ago but ive heard many stories that suggest the hunting was much better. My question to all of you out there is how would you feel if there was no or a shortened any buck season in 3 and 5? Before you get your panties in a knot hear me out.
Everyone knows these regions are getting very popular during any buck season which is understandable. Now if it were 4pt only all season the crowds would be a little more spread out and a little less dangerous in some spots.
This yr i had a guy shoot over top of me which was a little worrisome.
We all want to shoot the monster mulie so if we had a 4pt or better all season for a bunch of yrs just think of the growth we could get out of these animals.
The other option is to try and get more new hunters to be a bit more picky with there deer, LET THE LITTLE GUYS GO!
This is just some thoughts and i would like to get some of your opinions on this. Let the bickering begin!!

[hunter1993ap]

great first post! haha. I would have to agree, although I have no studies to back up my theory but if there was just a 4 point season I would think it would be more of a quality hunt. I know from reading that the any buck season has nothing to do with sustaining a heard but quality is a different story. besides a reg. change I would like to see more roads closed and more habitat restoration. ie controlled burns and mabey thinning out some of the new growth logging that is a rats nest. the big difference from the past to now is the access. there used to be little to no access and no quads. people had to go way out of there way to access certain places that now are car worthy. just look at google earth and you'll see the mess of roads , I would love to see a satellite image from thirty years ago to compare. would be shocking to say the least. another note, is the winter range is not what it used to be, each year more development happens and less winter range is available. I was pretty shocked to see how much construction is enveloping the winter range. in regards to the any buck season, you have to make everyone happy, so canning that isn't going to happen imo.

[monasheemountainman]

Male elk are bulls not bucks

[Mulieaddict]

Thanks tips! I just copied and pasted the joke

[boxhitch]

There will always be a small faction of hunters that prefer quality over quantity , while the majority are still happy putting meat in the freezer.
Glad to see the province is making moves to harmonize seasons where possible , to help spread out the perceived increase in pressure by more hunters.

[Blainer]

I pramarily ONLY hunt the 4 point season.
I like the idea of any buck season for youth and new recruits.

[Bugle master]

It's funny you brought this up cuz I was thinking about it the other day. I only shoot mature deer whatever the size of the horns. The thing I've noticed in reg 3 is the amount of big mature 3 point bucks that will never or have never been 4 points. The problem with the any buck season is it ends in oct before these big 3s come out and play for the rut.
I am not a fan of the any buck season for the reason of the little guys being shoot before they get a chance to mature. I know they have reasons for the season and I'm not going to bitch about it. This is just IMO.
id like to see any buck season cut back to half the length it is now or be taken out all together and replaced with LEH seasons for 3 point of better in November. The reason I say LEH is to limit the amount of tags on the 3 point or better cuz the GOS season for 4 point will still take enough of the population out that is needed to have a heathy strong deer herd. Just a idea I had. If anyone else can shoot this idea to hell fly at er. Lol

[Big Lew]

While your proposal has merit, not all hunters strive for the biggest buck out there. Some, like me, are primarily hunting for good venison, and unless you take an early season 4-point or better, often they aren't the best or mildest meat. I also have taken several very mature bucks that had less than 4 points, which, according to the professionals should be culled if you're wanting great racks. We then come to the 'youth only season' which is any buck. This concession was designed specifically to encourage youngsters to be involved in hunting. The current rules are designed to try to accommodate as many different interests as possible, not just for those interested in trophies.

[rides bike to work]

Young bucks taste waayyy better

[Bugle master]

I never thought of the youth season. I think that's a great thing and I wouldnt change that one bit. Good point guys

[adriaticum]

Freezer bucks should be GOS and matures LEH
Procreators should be protected.

[Whonnock Boy]

Similar discussion here......

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?101407-Mule-Deer-in-the-East-Kootenays (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?101407-Mule-Deer-in-the-East-Kootenays)

[604redneck]

If there was no any buck then there would be some pretty shitty genetics. Imagine the big 2 and 3 points that don't have the genetics to be good 4 points now if they keep breeding and beating out 4 points eventually there will be no big 4+ point deer to chase! Lol

[300H&H]

Welcome to HBC.

If you want to know anything about everything....Jelvis is the guy you should talk to. :wink:

[mungojeerie]

I've shot quite a few deer in the past... but Ive never shot anything over a 3x2. I have always thought that a 2x2 is a fantastic combination of size and taste. I would love to bag a monster... but Im just as happy with 2x2's... People can poo poo me and look down on me all they want... I like having an any buck season.

[Looking_4_Jerky]

I agree that we're lucky to have such great mulie opportunities. Part in parcel of those opportunities is for a contingent of hunters to exercise their preference to harvest immature deer in October. I think that the Nov hunt has a lot of great attributes. One of those is that the crowds are thinned down a bit, which might not be the case if the many hunters that currently harvest small bucks in October were added to the mix in Nov. Even with a longer 4 point season, I suspect many hunters would end up looking for bucks in the rut (mainly Nov) after being unsuccessful taking a pre-rut buck.

Although the LEH option could be used to provide a limited immature buck harvest, it has significant drawbacks. The system is extremely limiting with respect to where and when you could hunt, and there is no assurance of being chosen in successive years.

There is also a matter of economics. Although we think of the LEH system as a revenue generator, there are significant administration costs to be considered. Further, there would be a considerable proportion of hunters that currently buy licenses and multiple tags who would decline to buy a license at all if they were unsuccessful in drawing for their immature buck. It is therefor uncertain that the move to LEH for any buck would be a cash-positive move for the Province.

Although certain areas of the province are excessively busy in Oct and mature bucks do appear scarce, I think the populations are capable of withstanding the any buck harvest and I think the opportunity generally benefits the hunting community as a whole. Respecting the abundance of mature bucks, as others have suggested, this could and probably should be managed through access restrictions and habitat restoration/maintenance which would help the herd generally.

[Mulieaddict]

Definitely wouldnt want to cut the youth season at all. The reasoning would be to cut the amount of deer taken in oct. Any camp you go by in any buck season has a few deer hanging. Just my opinion. Was testing the waters with the subject

[russm86]

If you hunt the areas of region 3 near Kamloops you never escape the crowds no matter what time of year even hiking now adays seems to be getting busier. I hunt Sept 1 through Dec 10 (depending on being successful obviously) for both Muley and Whitey and even hiking now a days I run into more and more people... November this year has seemed busier than any other year I remember anywhere ago, every person I talk to I swear is from out of region too. I don't think the time of year or point restrictions deter people... I hiked 6+ miles yesterday morning and came across another hunters kill, likely the day before, and then at the end walked right into a guy predator hunting. I noticed the same thing when I was out looking for an immature, everyone was from the lower mainland and you couldn't go anywhere to get away from people, I was driving 2 hours into the bush from any paved road and still running into lots of people. I think this is just the outcome of becoming a more populated province there is not many ways to avoid it... I think the only real way you could avoid overpopulating certain areas or regions is to restrict access, LEH, or prevent out of region hunting all together. I'm sure all of these options have there sore points or problems as well...

[250 sav]

My last 2 day hunts nov 16 and 24th I saw 16 bucks that were not 4 points I think lots of the little bucks make october, Did see one 4 point which became 15 year old son's first 4 point. Leave the season alone ! Region 3 within 30 minutes of Kamloops.