Wisconsin has had earn-a-buck rules at times in some of our more deer-heavy areas and it certainly did reduce herd size. But, as with your experience, it did not sit at all well with the people who want a large deer herd-- regardless of economic consequences-- and with people who are just opposed to shooting a deer without antlers. In fact when our present governor was running for his first term four years ago he promised he would do away with earn-a-buck.
I didn't like the rule myself because I had to pass up on a few pretty nice bucks, and I would not have quit hunting after taking them. But obviously there are people who would.

Topgun asks:

quote:

This brings up a very good point, so I'll ask the OP this question. If these two farms are back to back with all these deer on them and you say you can go a couple miles away and there are very few, why don't they have you or hunters shoot as many during the Fall deer season exactly like DTala stated, rather than doing it when fawns can't make it on their own if their mother gets shot. This whole deal where farmers get these permits and/or money for crop damage when they won't allow legal hunters on their land sucks and they should either have to do that or take the crop loss as a part of doing business.

The 2 farms that I mentioned are bordered on the north and south sides by large marshes. By the time the regular firearm season opens at the end of November the crops are gone and there is really nothing to draw the deer out into the fields. Maybe some spilled corn but that's it. Also, you need to understand that the gun season in Wisconsin lasts only 9 days and the deer have learned to sit tight after the first few shots are fired on opening day. (Usually well before legal shooting hours...) They know that going out into a bare field is suicide. Bowhunters are unable to take enough deer to make a difference and most are only interested in shooting a big buck which, of course, does not help manage the numbers very well.

The landowner that owns the property bordering the farms is a total nutcase who doesn't want any does shot and doesn't allow anyone to hunt on his land. One time he stopped me on the road and said he was going to take his .45 auto, sneak onto the farm and shoot me. I told him "go for it but you'll only get one shot and my .270 has a lot better range. Also realize that I have a terminal illness so I've got nothing to lose." But I digress..

Another property that I've done control work on is a Christmas tree plantation. Deer can raise hell on Christmas trees. They really nail the freshly planted trees and make the mature trees unsaleable. (Nobody buys an ugly tree that's been chewed on.) Here again the logistics make it impossible to take enough deer out during the regular season. They're just not going to be there. Even with the ag tags, I spend a lot of time for each deer shot.

Most of the properties that I've shot on have similar situations. By law the farmers have to have a certain number of hunters on their property (I believe it 2 per 40 acres of what the state calls "deer range.") They have to allow the public access, if necessary, to achieve that number.

And, of course, there is the fact that a lot of 'hunters' simply refuse to shoot does or do not want to shoot more than one deer because they don't want to gut and drag it.

Thanks for that info and glad to hear about the hunter requirement to qualify for the tags you're shooting the does on!

I've experienced what you're going through, but to be honest, when the farmer takes you through his property and shows you the damage done, it didn't take long for me to be OK with it. The simple rule was shoot the does, and drop the fawns next to them. It was a cull operation plain and simple. The farm I shot on had killed something over 300 deer so far that year and there were still deer everywhere you looked in the evenings. The cornfields were progressively taller as you got the the center of the field as they were being browsed so heavily. Never saw deer eating green cornstalks before but they sure ate the hell out of them on that place not to mention the beans and alfalfa. The farmer was compensated for some crop damage to the beans and corn, but he showed me an exclusion fence around a small pice of his alfalfa field and it was fully twice as high inside the fence than outside...he didn't get compensated one dime for all the hay he was loosing. After seeing the state of things I didn't have a problem shooting them. Had a good time shooting groundhogs during the day and deer in the evenings and night (this was in OH and spotlighting was legal). All meat was cut and cooled and distributed to anyone that needed/wanted it.

quote:

Originally posted by matt salm:
I've experienced what you're going through, but to be honest, when the farmer takes you through his property and shows you the damage done, it didn't take long for me to be OK with it. The simple rule was shoot the does, and drop the fawns next to them. It was a cull operation plain and simple. The farm I shot on had killed something over 300 deer so far that year and there were still deer everywhere you looked in the evenings. The cornfields were progressively taller as you got the the center of the field as they were being browsed so heavily. Never saw deer eating green cornstalks before but they sure ate the hell out of them on that place not to mention the beans and alfalfa. The farmer was compensated for some crop damage to the beans and corn, but he showed me an exclusion fence around a small pice of his alfalfa field and it was fully twice as high inside the fence than outside...he didn't get compensated one dime for all the hay he was loosing. After seeing the state of things I didn't have a problem shooting them. Had a good time shooting groundhogs during the day and deer in the evenings and night (this was in OH and spotlighting was legal). All meat was cut and cooled and distributed to anyone that needed/wanted it.

The OP and most of us would have no problem if he could do that. He's talking about shooting the does before they have their fawns at their side and the fawn then can't survive whether it's from starving or predators, instead of being quickly and humanely taken with a bullet like you stated you do. That is what this discussion is all about and not the fact that animals need to be culled.