Hunting season, fishing closures

[Squidnation]

Jen and I were driving down the road and saw some trucks with decoys. She asked if it was goose season again. Found out it was and that got me to thinking again between the differences between the hunting mentality and the fishing mentality. I have already mentioned that my buddies that will let just about every deer on earth "walk" until the perfect deer arrives will gaff a 27.5 inch yellowfin all summer long and not think twice.

Now I got to thinking about closures and seasons. Seems the hunters don't seem to mind one bit a week long deer season here and a 10 day turkey season there. Taking two geese per person when 2.5 million geese are flying overhead. But these same hunter friends of mine will cry till the flounder come home at 18 inches on every 3 rd sunday. So what gives. Why don't hunters have problems and issues with their multiple short seasons but feel crucified when Tog are off limits or the bluefin closes down for a while. I'm just askin

[WAHOONBOX]

WELL THE NC DEER SEASON IS BEING EXTENDED YET A FEW MORE DAYS BEYOND IT'S NORMAL 4 MONTH SEASON NOT TO MENTION UNLIMITED DEER HARVEST NEXT YEAR....I GUESS ONE TWO MANY LAWMAKERS COLLIDED THEIR BENZ'ES WITH ROAD CROSSING DEER IN RALEIGH....

I THINK FISHING IS ACTUALLY STILL VERY GOOD AND THE FISHERMEN ARE JUST PLAIN POOR FISHERMEN.

AND OF COURSE....YOU DO HAVE A GOOD POINT HERE....

I'D BE HAPPY TO JUST GET A GLIMPSE OF A 27.5 LB YFT

THINK OF THE DAYS BACK ON 2004 ON THE OLD RUN-OFF BILL...THE 36 CROWLEY....CAPT BRIAN AT THE HELM...YOU ...YOUR BRO AND MYSELF ...CRUSHING THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF EM AND SHOWING NO MERCY...I AM GUILTY AS CHARGED ...IF IT IS LEGAL I PUT IT INTHEBOX

WE WERE ALL SMILES THOSE DAYS ....THERE IS A FILM OF YOU CLEANING A BOXFULL OF TUNAS SOMEWHERE IN MY ARCHIVE....I'LL HUNT HER DOWN FOR US.




I STILL THINK ELIMINATING THE GPS IS THE BEST WAY TO CONTROL THE HARVEST OF FISH.......WITH THE PUSH OF A BUTTON....DONE DEAL....

[Dave Sikorski]

There aint a feathered or hairy creature on God's green earth that I can hunt tastes as good as that 27.5" YFT.

Think of deer like a billfish....letting them walk means they'll be there next time.

Anyone who has shot a bunch of deer knows that the old ones taste like shoe leather anyway. I shoot the 27.5" deer .

Regardless of what the managers hand down as regulation, we're the final managers. We still shoot what we want and put whatever fish we want in our kill box.

We're talking about a public resource here. You decide what you want to do and know the consequences for your actions.

Newton was right.....Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Unfortunately we don't always know that reaction until it's "too late".

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need regulators or regulations, we could harvest what we need and there would always be enough for everyone.

-D

[LeftOar]

"Big game" hunting, for the most part, is like taking a trophy fish. For some reason most guys I know don't mind the short season because once they shoot a deer or two, they are satisifed and ready to move on to something else. I took my self imposed limit of two deer here in MD and two in NC in a handful of hunting days. When I used to bow hunt it was a little different story, it was more of a challenge and that much more satisfying when you scored on a nice buck or doe. To try to compare the two is a little tough since there is no such thing as "shoot and release" like there is "catch and release" in fishing. I'm glad TV shows have gotten the word out about C&R because there are too many fish that get sacrificed just to end up as a piece of freezer burned flesh. I try to keep my caught and kept fish to what I am going to eat, or what I can successfully share with my close friends who like fish (or venison). So if there is a comparison I would say getting four deer is a freezer filler for me and my friends for a year, but the number and amount of fish I keep is at most what I and a few select friends can eat fresh or frozen and vacuum packed for just a couple months. The billfish and the rest of the ones I catch and let go are for the fun of it and the adventure, of which I can NEVER GET ENOUGH OF! I'd fish almost every decent weather day if I didn't have to work these next couple years!

LO

[Guatemala Dave]

I do think I have some insite into this situation. From 1979 to about 2000 I spent my fall seasons guiding primarily snow Goose Hunts in Southern NJ. At the time it was probably the best snow goose hunting over decoys in the country if not the world.

Snow Geese at the best are questionable eating, but most of my clients were pretty hard core and I imagine most of them did find the pot. During Brant season these sea geese were usually added to the bag, and if you are familiar with Brant, it takes a dedicated soul with a great recipie to get one down your gullet. These added to mergansers, buffleheads and other legal but poor table qualities would often be left on the dock. The quote, "If it Flies it Dies" seems to be the mantra of many if not most waterfowlers.

When the Snow Geese were declared "Pests" and the limit increased to just about unlimited stadus they were chased off the local marshes. I switched over to Striped Bass Guiding as their population took off. When fishing I very rarely see anything go to waste. Stripers are in my mind the best eating fish that swim in our waters and I agree with anyone taking home a limit. Very rarely do I get looks when we have to release fish after the limit is full. If someone does not want to take fish home we discuss it and it is release from the get go.

Junk fish and even fish like bluefish are only taken if there is a definate use for the fish. I have never even had any anglers question the absolute arbitrary draconian fluke regulations to keep a perfectly good eating short.

As to deer hunting, that's not my game, but in South jersey there really ain't much trophy hunting since they are all small and if you pass up a deer someone near you will finish him off. With the current seasons and permits I think you are actually allowed to shoot more deer than rabbits, and from what I here there are plenty of hunters that do.

[gottaflylee]

Originally Posted by Squidnation

Jen and I were driving down the road and saw some trucks with decoys. She asked if it was goose season again. Found out it was and that got me to thinking again between the differences between the hunting mentality and the fishing mentality. I have already mentioned that my buddies that will let just about every deer on earth "walk" until the perfect deer arrives will gaff a 27.5 inch yellowfin all summer long and not think twice.

Now I got to thinking about closures and seasons. Seems the hunters don't seem to mind one bit a week long deer season here and a 10 day turkey season there. Taking two geese per person when 2.5 million geese are flying overhead. But these same hunter friends of mine will cry till the flounder come home at 18 inches on every 3 rd sunday. So what gives. Why don't hunters have problems and issues with their multiple short seasons but feel crucified when Tog are off limits or the bluefin closes down for a while. I'm just askin

You know I always found it strange how each of us interrupt what someone reads, well here is how I interrupt what you have ask...

I think that for hunters, we have had these regulations in place for years. We saw and watched as Market Hunters put a wippen on the stocks, I refering to waterfoul here. We saw that to keep this resource, it had to be regulated and then we saw the rebound.

With the fishiers, this kind of regulations is new for the most part. The proublem here is that is differs so from state to state, fish to fish.

With hunting, each state had its own limints as to what we can keep for the most part with Deer, Bear, rabbit and so on (not talking about migiorty birds here that fall under the fed guide lines)

With the fisheries, it is more the feds that want everything under their control and tend to push the stats to the side and won't allow to regulate their own stocks for the most part.

Now I do understand that some states have some fisheries regulations but for the most part it is the feds. All this is new and a lot of people are rebeling against it, including me.

For me I'm rebeling more on how they are useing the data to make the rules rathier than the rules them selfs. With hunting we can see it, with fisheries, we can't so much.

[Bert Rodgers]

There are a few differences mainly with the waterfowl seasons. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has had a history of working with the hunting comunity and groups such as DU and Delta Waterfowl in their anual assesment of breeding stock.
Members of those groups assist in counts, banding programs etc. and many of the involved USFW biologists are hunters.
The major difference in assesment is the recogniton that weather is the only major factor in the fluctuation of populations. A drought in N Dakota and Saskatcheuan means fewre ducks. A late season blizzard in E Quebec means fewer geese.

The federal government issues a framwork based on breeding success and states are free to choose within that frame work.
There is no such thing as "Emergercy closures" or "Quotas"

Also there is no such thing as a comercial harvest of the resource, therefore their are no com v rec issues.

As far as deer seasons go, MD has a 4 1/2 month bow season,
3 weeks black powder, and 2 weeks general firearms season
which allows a total limit of 36 deer (not including sikas)
not much to complain about.

It seems that fisheries management has far more agenda driven decisions and decision makers.

JMHO

Bert