HB 1175

But you’ll bitch to no end ….. why are you against baiting ? Who shot “your” deer ?
 
I think most folks are solely against having politicians controlling the game and fish. Ask other states how that’s going..
Well wtf should we do when our gf can’t organize a 1 car parade ???
 
Talk about killing deer , the nd gf killed more deer by giving out extra tags for years that were ridiculous, than cwd will ever kill when they new crp acres we’re gonna be cut by a huge %
 
That's an awesome graphic. What is the thought on the divergence the last few years with tags #s steadily increasing and harvest totals steadily decreasing?
 
Not sure, but I guarantee I know a few guys that have all the answers.

I searched through some NDGF stuff on cwd and came across what made it seem like they have issued a fair bit fewer gun tags. I’d guess they’ve sold significantly more archery tags with lower success rates and the net total is more total tags and fewer tagged deer but haven’t dug further to confirm.
 
That's an awesome graphic. What is the thought on the divergence the last few years with tags #s steadily increasing and harvest totals steadily decreasing?

Interesting. I have heard talk about how the average age of hunters keeps climbing and how people are "graying out" of the sport. I wonder if that is what is going on? People may get tags but they just don't have the drive to hunt as hard as they would have years ago.

It is a problem that managers worry about. They can issue tags but there just aren't the people out there to fill them.
 
I searched through some NDGF stuff on cwd and came across what made it seem like they have issued a fair bit fewer gun tags. I’d guess they’ve sold significantly more archery tags with lower success rates and the net total is more total tags and fewer tagged deer but haven’t dug further to confirm.
Yes and no. Archery tag numbers are up significantly since the peak in that graph. But probably not enough to really have a huge affect on gun tag allocations? At least not for whitetails.

The biggest thing is a lack of habitat. When CRP got chopped at the knees deer rifle tags followed (as indicated in the graph)

I know in the last couple years some boomers are aging out of the sport. My grandpa is one of them. He basically quit hunting in 2018, just couldn't do it anymore. Part of me wonders how big of a demographic that is and if that speaks a little to what your talking about.
 
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Yes and no. Archery tag numbers are up significantly since the peak in that graph. But probably not enough to really have a huge affect on gun tag allocations? At least not for whitetails.

The biggest thing is a lack of habitat. When CRP got chopped at the knees deer rifle tags followed (as indicated in the graph)

I know in the last couple years some boomers are aging out of the sport. My grandpa is one of them. He basically quit hunting in 2018, just couldn't do it anymore. Part of me wonders how big of a demographic that is and if that speaks a little to what your talking about.

The divergence I'm talking about is only over the last 3 years. The graph only says licenses issued so I assumed it meant all tags, not just rifle tags. Looking at page 12 of the 2022 proclamation it appears fewer firearm licenses were issued but the graph shows more tags issued in 2022. There's a few possible pitfalls to my logic I haven't ruled out but that's how i figured it might be a shift of tag #s from rifle to archery.
 
The divergence I'm talking about is only over the last 3 years. The graph only says licenses issued so I assumed it meant all tags, not just rifle tags. Looking at page 12 of the 2022 proclamation it appears fewer firearm licenses were issued but the graph shows more tags issued in 2022. There's a few possible pitfalls to my logic I haven't ruled out but that's how i figured it might be a shift of tag #s from rifle to archery.
Ahh, I see what you're saying. No, archery tags have remained mostly stable for the last few years. In that 26-28k range if you leave out non residents I believe (around 30k with NR). Again, just going of memory, don't have the data in front me.

That graph only goes to 2021, according to the title. We got hit hard with EHD with the drought, so there was a lot of units where tags didn't get filled because of that and then for 2022 they axed 75%+ of tags in the EHD areas. Some guys were upset they didn't completely shut down those units. Some landowners were still complaining of deer in their yards too though, at least that's what I heard.

But speaking to the larger divergence Im not able to completely answer. I can only provide bits and pieces of speculation to what I think happened. GF would be worth a phone call for a more detailed explanation.
 
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The year EHD (2021?) was so intense there was the option to return tags to NDGF before the season started. I drew a tag that year and returned it to NDGF for a refund before season started as the unit I had drawn saw significant mortality from EHD in the late summer/early fall. Perhaps that is another factor impacting the licenses issued vs harvest totals?

I also know many hunters who have drawn tags in recent years only to not fill them. EHD seemed to impact the older age class animals which many hunters target. My anecdotal data includes both mule and whitetail deer and both public and private property.
 
The trend on that chart has been going on since 17 or 18.

In the area I hunt in MN it has gone from a 2 deer limit to 5 or 6 for the last couple of seasons . They also added an early antlerless and youth hunt. The deer kill did not go up much at all. Deer numbers are still high. They are think it is an aging hunter population. About 18 years ago they had a season with a 2 or 3 deer limit. They really hurt the population for a number of years resulting in very limited doe tags.
 

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