2023 Hunting Season

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by steve-on-mark

Can you say " shooting fish in a barrel"? Took this just now off my back deck...where would the sport be in this??



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My point exactly Steve! While deer can swim they prefer not to and will stay on the islands till the ice freezes over. By doing this they get used to humans and are not at all afraid of them...On Welch I have walked right up to them within a few feet before they walk away...not run away... We have a herd on Welch of about 10 deer + or -. All of these deer are semi tame and are unfortunately unafraid of humans.

I think NHF&G made a mistake on this one...

Dan

[steve-on-mark]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

My point exactly Steve! While deer can swim they prefer not to and will stay on the islands till the ice freezes over. By doing this they get used to humans and are not at all afraid of them...On Welch I have walked right up to them within a few feet before they walk away...not run away... We have a herd on Welch of about 10 deer + or -. All of these deer are semi tame and are unfortunately unafraid of humans.

I think NHF&G made a mistake on this one...

Dan

Same here...when I see them , I talk to them and they will sometimes even walk up to me. We have 3 babies this year and they too are learning not to be fearful.



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[Garcia]

On Bear Island, there are too many deer which is starting to have a detrimental impact on the island. With no natural predators the heard keeps growing. I can't see the island property owners embracing hunting so I think the number of deer will continue to grow.

[ITD]

I think it's more inhumane to not hunt. Back in the 90's there were so many deer on Long Island that there was not enough food for them. You would see emaciated deer walking near the road.

Not sure of this concept of "fair". I don't hunt, but have many friends who do, they are humane when they hunt and the harvested deer are not wasted.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by ITD

I think it's more inhumane to not hunt. Back in the 90's there were so many deer on Long Island that there was not enough food for them. You would see emaciated deer walking near the road.

Not sure of this concept of "fair". I don't hunt, but have many friends who do, they are humane when they hunt and the harvested deer are not wasted.

Agreed...

Dan

[Descant]

In the Long Island situation (1996) there was a plan and a hired shooter. Hunt at night when the deer are active, use a silencer to not scare the deer and take several at once, meat goes to homeless, etc. Probably baited to a desired location. Without a plan, one island may still be overstocked and another lose the herd completely.
A special permit was mentioned above. Any details on that? Maybe that's the "plan"?

[DickR]

Originally Posted by Descant

In the Long Island situation (1996) there was a plan and a hired shooter...
A special permit was mentioned above. Any details on that? Maybe that's the "plan"?

My understanding is that it was tried one year, but that it wasn't effective enough, and so was not continued. That's when the bow hunting was instituted, and that has been effective. Before the program, the "browse line" of where deer had eaten everything on the ground and as far up as they could reach allowed one to see quite far through the woods, compared to off-island, where one could see just 50-100' into the woods. Now, things have improved dramatically.

[SAB1]

I have no problem with hunting the islands but it should be archery only. Yes deer multiply quickly and need to be culled to protect the forest. Permission from landowner should be required on private land

[John Mercier]

If the landowner legally posts it... then permission is required like any other property in the State.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by DickR

My understanding is that it was tried one year, but that it wasn't effective enough, and so was not continued. That's when the bow hunting was instituted, and that has been effective. Before the program, the "browse line" of where deer had eaten everything on the ground and as far up as they could reach allowed one to see quite far through the woods, compared to off-island, where one could see just 50-100' into the woods. Now, things have improved dramatically.

Couple of thoughts:

1) "Browse lines" exist where trees are cut down, opening up the forest. Most recent wide-scale cuts are for "self-storage" sites and electric "grid". Cutting "nuisance trees", like White Pines, propagates year-round "browse".

2) Overpopulation will occur when only male deer are selected for "harvesting". There will always be other males to contribute to overpopulation. There should be a bounty offered on female deer. Does that make sense?

[tis]

I think it's dangerous on the islands except maybe the biggest ones. What is the law? You can't shoot within 300' of houses?

[Patofnaud]

Correct.

300 ft from houses and you need to know what is behind your target (yes that includes boats in the cove).

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by ITD

Not sure of this concept of "fair". I don't hunt, but have many friends who do, they are humane when they hunt and the harvested deer are not wasted.

I have zero interest in hunting myself--like many others, I'm soft when confronted with a beautiful animal. But I agree that if a person is hunting for food and using good practices, that's cool whether it is challenging or not. It's also much more humane than the meat I eat without a second thought

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Garcia

On Bear Island, there are too many deer which is starting to have a detrimental impact on the island. With no natural predators the heard keeps growing. I can't see the island property owners embracing hunting so I think the number of deer will continue to grow.

When the herd gets to an unsustainable level then the state needs to step in and allow PROPER culling, like they have done in the past on long island. People with disabilities, wounded warriors, archery only, etc, etc, I'm sure they could have come up with something better than to just open it up to the public so people with high powered rifles can literally walk up to Bambi and blow them away with their 30-06...No real sportsmen would want to do it this way...

Dan

[Garcia]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

When the herd gets to an unsustainable level then the state needs to step in and allow PROPER culling, like they have done in the past on long island. People with disabilities, wounded warriors, archery only, etc, etc, I'm sure they could have come up with something better than to just open it up to the public so people with high powered rifles can literally walk up to Bambi and blow them away with their 30-06...No real sportsmen would want to do it this way...

Dan

I agree and support the idea. Emotions run high when talking about deer and what to do.