Assunpink WMA field/farmer lease/"in kind" services observations

[Bigsquirrel]

You hit the nail on the head in the last couple lines of the original post.  Farmers on the NJDFW council making rules/regs for hunters when they don't want a robust herd.  Money grabbing DFW, whether by design or not. DFW has proven in many ways it is about dollars FIRST.  How much of our license fees are actually staying within the division?

 

What we need is an organization that represents the majority of the license buying population.   Reduce license sales in one year by say 50% and the DFW will suddenly have an interest in our interests.  Residents of this state are being picked clean with fees.  Permit seasons, zone tags, buck tags and on and on. 

[Livesintrees]

Double the cost of non resident tags. And make it a one buck and one doe limit per year.

[tcook8296]

Farmers making the decisions on the fish and game regs is not good. These guys hate deer. They want every one killed. I personally watched a farmer in action this year. While you are home sleeping, hes out in his truck blasting deer all night long. They love to shoot the bucks too, its kind of a feel good revenge type of bonus for them. These farmers destroy the hunting in their areas and the division extends their permits into mid November. Your cruising rutting bucks are getting shot in the farmers fields at night.I watched him cut a strip of corn along the road and he left it. Shot deer on that strip out of his truck with a shotgun and spot light until November 15 th. 2 days later, after the permit expired, the rest of the field was harvested. Try to wrap your head around that one. You can do all the management you want, if you have a farmer with a depridation permit, you will watch your bucks and does too disappear off your cams 1 by 1 until there are none left. In my case , I watched easily a dozen bucks disappear in a 2 week window. Add that to unlimited antlerless harvest, 6 buck tags and 6 months of hunting, it doesnt take a genius to figure it out. 

I  hunted my farm 3 times this year. No gun, no muzzy, no winter bow. I didnt buy the license or permits that I usually purchase because it sucked so bad

Edited March 7, 2018 by tcook8296

[Rdfhunter]

You hit the nail on the head in the last couple lines of the original post.  Farmers on the NJDFW council making rules/regs for hunters when they don't want a robust herd.  Money grabbing DFW, whether by design or not. DFW has proven in many ways it is about dollars FIRST.  How much of our license fees are actually staying within the division?

 

What we need is an organization that represents the majority of the license buying population.   Reduce license sales in one year by say 50% and the DFW will suddenly have an interest in our interests.  Residents of this state are being picked clean with fees.  Permit seasons, zone tags, buck tags and on and on.

 

it's called the NJ federation of sportsmen ..

[Bigsquirrel]

How has the FOS impacted the operations of FW?  I read the cover page and it looks like a reasonable mission statement.  In reality what is their impact?

[Lunatic]

Double the cost of non resident tags. And make it a one buck and one doe limit per year.

 

Oh no, you didn't. I once suggested the out of state licenses and tags were too cheap and all hell broke lose. It is only $100 more for the hunting license and then all permits are the same cost for non-residents and residents. That's insane IMO. We are giving away our resources!

[ESetter]

The non-res bear permit price is a joke. They can start there.

[Lunatic]

The non-res bear permit price is a joke. They can start there.

 

All permits, every single one of them, bow, muzzy, shotgun + buck that goes with it is the same price for residents and non-residents.

Look over to PA. A single Doe Permit Application is $6.90 for residents and $26.90 for non-residents.

We are stupid!!

Edited March 7, 2018 by Lunatic

[Bonefreak]

How has the FOS impacted the operations of FW?  I read the cover page and it looks like a reasonable mission statement.  In reality what is their impact?

 

The NJ Federation of Sportsmen have monthly meetings in each of our 21 counties and the meetings are set up to have a Division employee attend each meeting to represent the DFW and answer questions or address issues with that County's Federation members......so it really is a direct line of open communication with a live Division employee who may be able to help with natural resource issues that affect NJFOS members.

[Bucksnbows]

How has the FOS impacted the operations of FW?  I read the cover page and it looks like a reasonable mission statement.  In reality what is their impact?

 

The Federation gets to name 6 members of the Council whereas Farmers get 3 members.  Here's the breakdown:

 

Composition

This law established the composition of the Council as follows: three members of council shall be farmers, recommended to the Governor for appointment by the agricultural convention; six members shall be sportsmen, recommended to the Governor for appointment by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs; and two members shall be commercial fishermen. One farmer representative and two sportsmen representatives in the council shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following counties - Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren; one farmer representative and two sportsmen representatives in the council shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following counties - Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union; and one farmer representative and two sportsmen representatives shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following counties - Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem. With the creation of the Marine Fisheries Council in 1979, the commercial fishing representatives were replaced on the Fish and Game Council with the Chairman of the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee and a public member "knowledgeable in land use management and soil conservation practices."

[Bucksnbows]

For those of you calling for increased license/permit fees, remember that those are considered a "tax", and must go through the State Legislature which will completely politicize them and open them up for all sorts of shenanigans by the clowns in Trenton.  That is the reason you don't see very many changes in costs for licenses or permit fees or haven't in a long, long time.  The Division does not have the power to regulate fees in NJ, only suggest changes to the state legislators.   

Edited March 7, 2018 by Bucksnbows

[Bonefreak]

The Federation gets to name 6 members of the Council whereas Farmers get 3 members.  Here's the breakdown:

 

Composition

This law established the composition of the Council as follows: three members of council shall be farmers, recommended to the Governor for appointment by the agricultural convention; six members shall be sportsmen, recommended to the Governor for appointment by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs; and two members shall be commercial fishermen. One farmer representative and two sportsmen representatives in the council shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following counties - Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren; one farmer representative and two sportsmen representatives in the council shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following counties - Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union; and one farmer representative and two sportsmen representatives shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following counties - Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem. With the creation of the Marine Fisheries Council in 1979, the commercial fishing representatives were replaced on the Fish and Game Council with the Chairman of the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee and a public member "knowledgeable in land use management and soil conservation practices."

 

 

Outstanding info bucksnbows!!  Thanks!!  Now that is a comprehensive understanding of the NJSFC and how they affect Division operations.  I will be getting more involved with my County's Federation Chapter and working with their reps to find out what is going on!

[tomturkey]

But remember Murphy already has the bill to change that. was posted here before, basically antis on the council 

[Bonefreak]

I found out that the farmer/lease agreements do not allow for depredation permits to shoot deer at night off their WMA crops......thank god!!  But I had to check on it, because you never know with some of these unreasonable decisions being made.

[Swampy]

This is a fairytale BUT.... A “balanced” oversight committee representing all the interested parties comprised ofa ecologist/and or biologist, a hunter interest group, a hunter conservation group(ie NWTF or similar) & local farmer coalitions with clear guidelines. The program needs to be beneficial to all parties.

 

In my opinion it’s a self defeating program as whole, it with never produce its promised intention to the sportsman. Also I think think many of you are over valuing relatively small agricultural plots. And even with oversight the two linchpin parties, the state and the farmers have aligning interests $$$. So in essence the “sportsman’s” position would be weak from inception.

 

Another angle of attack would be to comprimise the monetary position of the state. Many WMA’s throughout the state were purchased through green acre funding/grants either in totality or majority. Which means a multitude of tax money in differential proportions was used to complete the purchase. Essentially, YOUR money. Following the monetary gains made by the state and stopping them from going into a general fund. This would have to be done through legislation and will more than likely have to be undertaken by a political action group. However, trying to appropriate the money back into the program and further incentivize farmer cooperation would be the most beneficial approach. Of course this comes with a potential to backfire depending on how you view the program as it is. But, by incentivizing farmer participation and cooperation (Equipment repair/replacement, generous tax deductions associated with program participants, Facilitating cooperation with private lenders to procure essential equipment, help offset labor, fuel, maintenance and associated costs. Negotiating higher but fixed grain prices along with yield limiting incentives. Providing crop/yield insurance. Things of this nature) and putting constraints on how the money from each lease is to be appropriated is the only way for the sportsman to remotely gain level ground.