Overhunting deer in NJ? Poor regulations?

[njdoxie]

What is the solution. I am not picking on you but you live in the house that once was deer habitat. Now what? You and I who already picked our spots should scream no more development? Where should people live? In the woods?

Wish the human population was stable, as many dying as being born, therefore very little new development needed.


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[BHC]

cause these zones 1,3, 4 never had unlimited antlerless hunts nor the very long seasons......in fact I believe zone 3 had and maybe still has antler restrictions .....deer herd is kept in check by the few hunters, and thru natural means

[Lunatic]

15 minutes ago, BHC said:

cause these zones 1,3, 4 never had unlimited antlerless hunts nor the very long seasons......in fact I believe zone 3 had and maybe still has antler restrictions .....deer herd is kept in check by the few hunters, and thru natural means

So it looks like the program works

[Pathman]

33 minutes ago, BHC said:

cause these zones 1,3, 4 never had unlimited antlerless hunts nor the very long seasons......in fact I believe zone 3 had and maybe still has antler restrictions .....deer herd is kept in check by the few hunters, and thru natural means

You’re giving “a few hunters” way too much credit, doesn’t work that way in an entire DMZ. 

[BHC]

6 minutes ago, Pathman said:

You’re giving “a few hunters” way too much credit, doesn’t work that way in an entire DMZ. 

ever hunted these zones?

[BHC]

24 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

So it looks like the program works

how can the program work when it was never implemented in the first place?

[Pathman]

39 minutes ago, BHC said:

ever hunted these zones?

No I haven’t, but you described the situation, which at this point sounds like it’s ideal. 
what am I missing?

[BHC]

1 minute ago, Pathman said:

No I haven’t, but you described the situation, which at this point sounds like it’s ideal. 
what am I missing?

point is the one zone I hunt use to be over hunted, seeing a forkhorn was a average buck.....hunters got smart, why hunt this zone and the few mentioned when you can hunt a zone next door and it's unlimited.....with less hunters, no unlimited hunts, shorter seasons, less bag limits would make one think the herd would be out of control as it was at a time for many years, but it's not....deer have smarten up and moved onto better arears....with no crops the stress on the deer i these areas are alot worst then in zones with many farms

[Pathman]

I see, so it would appear then that designating other zones with more abundant deer as unlimited zones, had the desired affect of causing hunters to not hunt the zone with a stressed herd due to lack of habitat, and hence that herd now is healthier yes?

[BHC]

less hunters, but many more bears, coyotes, poachers, killing off the herd.....2 weeks ago while sitting in the stand in the pre dawn darkenss I heard 7 gun shots, very common for me to hear them

[Pathman]

57 minutes ago, BHC said:

less hunters, but many more bears, coyotes, poachers, killing off the herd.....2 weeks ago while sitting in the stand in the pre dawn darkenss I heard 7 gun shots, very common for me to hear them

Hard to quantify all that, but what you described activity wise, is the way it should be in regards to a good balance of sustainable habitat, healthy deer, fairly close buck/doe ratio, tolerable density level, etc. 

Now, that may not be what many guys want to hear, or what their view is of what they want to see in the woods. Many guys think that seeing 40-50 deer at a time is great and that’s what they want all the time, but that’s not what deer managers, or F&W Strive to achieve. If you saw that number of deer every year, that means no meaningful management is taking place. 
If you see 40-50 deer on a 200 acre property, that means you have ~100-150 deer per sq. mi. 
That’s crazy numbers, but those are the levels some areas in NJ have, hence the unlimited zones. 
NJ isn’t the type of state that can be managed with all around general regulations, that’s why we have so many reg sets and DMZs., it’s very complicated. 
 

[_X7]

All I know is you can't shoot them where you can't hunt them and where you can't hunt them you can't shoot them.... or something like that.

[stratocaster]

On 11/19/2020 at 3:07 PM, Dominant buck said:

I would love some form of antler restriction.   Based on some pictures there are some real slammers in this state.  They just need to mature a couple of years

Should that be on private land or public?   We have antler restrictions in some zones now.  Do you have proof that they work in those zones?  

[Dominant buck]

30 minutes ago, stratocaster said:

Should that be on private land or public?   We have antler restrictions in some zones now.  Do you have proof that they work in those zones?  

Will base on common sense alone,  give the 4 point another year or so and assuming he should be bigger ?  But who the hell knows

[Lunatic]

On 11/20/2020 at 1:32 PM, BHC said:

how can the program work when it was never implemented in the first place?

What was not implemented. There are no rules in this zone?