OK, here is my thought but I'm just your "Average Joe Hunter" and here is my stance on many of the posts and comments.
First, I like the fact that the season is as long as it is. I am only able to hunt on the weekends so in a 4+ week season I get about 10 days in the field. I work as a teacher and the way that the education system is if you take off 3 days in a row you better have a medical note "yeah I know you can cheat and get one but not what I am about" and you only get 2 NQA days if you really have to take off. Many other hunters have jobs that they can ask for time off or schedule a week in September a week in October a week in November and go hunt, I can't. Being able to hunt with two tags lets me hunt about 20 days a year for deer assuming I don't tag out. Now some of those days get cut due to kids? events like sports or other things that come up but the potential to get into the field for 20 days is what deer hunting is all about. My out of state hunting will come in 22 years
when I retire, yea ha!
If they only gave one tag then the rifle guys take the brunt of the limited hunting opportunities. You get the General season of 4+ weeks and that is it. Some guys like to try different areas that don't have over lapping seasons. For the AO tag holders they still get all those days to hunt starting from Early July to December and you can hunt all the A, B, and D zone seasons. I know ?bowhunting is harder? but, you still like getting out and chasing deer as many days as you can, Right? For those guys that get to hunt out of state you are lucky, I can't, so my ?out of state hunt? is really an ?out of area hunt? and it is just another D zone with the great odds of 8%. We have about 7 guys that hunt with us and they all get 2 tags. The best year we took 7 deer. The worst year we got 1. So you take just those two years and that is 8 deer out of 28 tags. On average we get 4 deer so 14% for our group over a 5 year period isn't bad but it's not awesome. Remember that our success is due to time scouting and working our asses off. I enjoy years we get deer and I enjoy the years we don't, I just like getting out in the woods to hunt.
Other points, Yes the predators are a problem! I can remember being 8 years old hiking a ridge with a bb gun and also when I was 12 year old with my rifle hiking down ridges with no worry of Mt. Lions, never saw tracks or sightings. Now I would not let my son go on his own and that is due to the fact that my Dad and I have been stalked several times by lions and we see way too many tracks now. The Mt. Lion Foundation is a joke and the people of California got duped by them and we even continue to set aside California tax payer money to the foundation every year even in this financial crisis that we are in. They are a very powerful group with all that money.
So to conclude, I am sure many of you will say get a new job so you can hunt more but I work in a field I went to school for. Yes, this will sound clich?, but ?who will teach your kids.? I infuse conservation, hunting, and outdoor topics into my lecture so the next generation student know that the hunting heritage and outdoor heritage still has a place in America. Most of the teacher in the public school systems are left wing liberals and show Bambi over and over and sing ?Cumby Ah.? That is not me I do what I am supposed to do and that is get the standards across to students and give them real life lessons they can use. I even started an Outdoor Club on our campus to expose students to Outdoor Activities. I like what I do and make good money doing it.
I like the 2 tags now and the season length. I think looking at predators and people as the main problems. Look at wintering ranges, illegal hunting, pot growers, predators, and politicians as the #1 problem. Remember as soon as you take something away it is very hard to get it back.
We as hunters need to stay focus on what we like to do and not cause divisions among us, which is what the far left wants so they can chip away at the regulations one at a time. First it will be limited tags, then limited guns, then bows, then hunting as we know it. I like to hunt and fish and hope to do for the rest of my life.
Kurt
Kurt-www.shootitimages.com