Board OKs 6 deer-related questions on possible rule changes for spring hearings

A recent news release says review of deer seasons and leading up to this spring’s hearings is necessary “to rekindle waning interest in (deer) hunting.”

Here are six questions the Natural Resources Board (NRB) approved for the April 13 fish and game spring hearings.

• Extending the nine-day season to 19 days.

• Eliminating the December antlerless-only season.

• Prohibit all hunting, except for waterfowl, during two or five days before the nine-day season.

• Eliminate management zones.

• Limit crossbow season to October and after nine-day gun season.

• Invalidate bow and crossbow buck tags during the nine-day season unless the hunters buy a gun season license.

Possibly, during prior discussions and research, NRB members looked at a much larger picture, an immediate and a long-term purpose for a need for change, what expectation they were hoping to attain, how to deal with too many and too few deer in different areas, how to win back some of the traditions lost and protecting others, and what went wrong with the last “deer review” that another session is necessary?

I hope NRB members then asked themselves, what is the purpose of asking these six questions?  How can one move (question and implementation) deal with some area population differences?  Did we really consider CWD management?  What impact did things like eliminating the hunting minimum age, eliminating in-person registration, elimination of carcass tagging, becoming an electronic recreation,  scrapping the backtag, and even gun casing have on how hunters view big game hunting?

What if none of the six or all the questions are supported?   Or is this yet another complainer, or 10,000 grumblers, saying “do something because I had a ‘poor’ season.”

Would the deer take note if the state legislated against deer phenology?