Emergency deer management meetings?

[MS22]

I know the various user groups got together earlier this year in the form of an emergency deer management committee with the goal of making proposals to NJDFW for deer regulation set changes. I was just wondering if anyone has any info on what proposals if any have been made to NJDFW. Are Meetings still ongoing? Forgive me if I missed the boat on this subject but have been out of the loop for quite some time. If anyone can give us a little input on where things stand, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[rgw]

the state didnt listen and made verry few canges. only moved a couple zones up or down a regulation set. the slaughter continues

[Bowhunter444]

the state didnt listen and made verry few canges. only moved a couple zones up or down a regulation set. the slaughter continues

Yup they didn't listen to us at all

 

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[BowhunterNJ]

Yoooo what's up Mikey!  Good to see you on here!  All I've heard is what's been said above...proposals made and ignored.

I do think this year is subject to the same cycle as last year's regs, so hopefully there's still time to invoke some changes for the following season(s).

[the fishguy]

really, there are just a ton of deer being taken every year. is there such a thing as running out of deer? the past few years all i hear is guys saying they aint seeing anything, then others sayin i got 6 down already. 6 how many deer do you NEED. for me a couple does, and a nice buck is a bonus, i get picky at the and of the season. i hunt most of my time at bud lake bog,, theres deer there, but you gotta work for one. i dont bait. the state should take a listen to us and cut back on how liberal our regs are about the  limits of deer we take. nuff said.

[Bucksnbows]

Some changes are coming for certain, but not big ones.  The Division is not panicking just yet even though many hunters are.  And I don't blame them.  There are tons and tons of articles in various publications about whitetail deer populations shrinking in many states, but most of that is by design, not mistake.  Yes, things like EHD, deep snows, failed mast crops, unlimted does, etc. have had an impact, but we had reached a point throughout most whitetail states where we simply had too many deer and states took action to significantly reduce their herds.  NJ is in no way alone in this issue.  

 

That said, I discuss this often with biologists, Division staff and hunters of all ages.  I keep coming back to one thing in NJ which is based on the number of years you have been hunting deer as to where you fall in the argument about deer populations.  If, like me, you have hunted since the 70s ('75 to be exact), then you watched a herd grow from few to far too many, and now are watching it somewhere in the middle of those extremes.  We are still killing a boat-load of deer, but we are doing it with about 1/3 the number of hunters we did "back in the day".  That means the average deer hunter in NJ is taking 3X the deer he/she did 20 or 40 years ago on average.  Just something to think about.  I think we'll see a slight bump up in deer numbers this fall after a great mast crop year and mild winter.  But I don't ever expect herds to reach the numbers they did in the late 90s into the early '00s.  That was unsustainable for our forests, our car bumpers, our shrubs, and our other critters and plants that were being decimated by too many deer. 

[Slayer1962]

^{Bucks n bows you are spot on. I have hunted since early 70's and I had private land with limited access back then. I see more deer on public land now than we did back then. I was lucky to see a few deer a year back then. I see more deer in a couple sits now than then. That being said for those that hunted say only the last ten years I can understand why they are upset. There are not the deer numbers that we had say 5 years ago. The difference n opinions now (those that say they shot 6 and those that say they haven't seen any) seems to be access or willingness to walk where others wont. There are areas that hold deer and always will if you are willing to walk even a half mile into the woods. So the deer are here , not as good as it was but better than it used to be a long time ago.}

[Bucksnbows]

There is also a bit of a inner power struggle these days that may be affecting new deer reg changes.  It has to do with many, many recent (last 2 years) retirements of senior staffers and the vacuum that has left.  Add that the Director will be retiring soon, and it's a scramble to fill the various roles and to fight over the jobs above them.  Some senior staff are assuming they are slated for top level positions, and some of them very well may be disappointed in being passed over or are finding out that is about to be the case.