>>Bwht4X4, What do you suggest we
>>hunters use as equipment to
>>make it all fair and
>>square? mtmuley
>
>mtmuley,
>
>To answer your question I'm not
>sure, but simple things like
>I already mentioned...outlawing trail cams
>and scopes on muzzleloader, use
>of turrets of scopes, baiting...could
>be a start. Above
>that maybe there needs to
>be regulations on allowed calibers/cartridges,
>shell casing volumes, restrictions on
>barrel lengths, scope magnification, use
>of muzzle brakes, illuminated reticles,
>etc.
>
>I'm not sure what the right
>answers are, but just remember
>a couple of things...in the
>last 100 years we hunters
>have evolved into a better
>and more efficient hunter with
>all the new technology and
>gadgets, but the animals we
>hunt are the same as
>they were a thousand years
>ago. They can evolve
>to deal with their environment
>and pressures placed on them,
>but no where as fast
>as we are creating new
>ways to find and harvest
>them.
I think we give too much credit to the technology that's been developed. It appears that all it's done is make us lazier. The buck deer harvest reports from 1925 to 2011 show the success rates are more or less the same from year to year with a few spikes and drops, primarily due to weather. It may also have something to do with the herd populations and/or other factors, including either sex statewide, but us old-timers seemed to get the job done back then without red dots, lasers and speed cams.
For instance, in 1957 when I first hunted deer, the buck deer harvest rate on the general season hunt was 41.5%, while the overall deer harvest rate (including 19,757 does) was 56.4%. In 2011 the buck deer success rate was 25.2%.
And the archers don't fare much better. In 1960 (6 years before Holless Wilbur (or Wilber) Allen invented the compound bow) the buck deer archery success rate was 10.7%, but the total deer harvest rate was 18.5% (1,232 bucks and 908 does taken by 11,546 hunters). It's hard to calculate the exact stats because we don't know how many of those hunters were actually looking for a buck, but settled for a doe or how many were looking for tender doe meat. In those days, to many hunters, a young buck or doe was the goal. In any case, the 2011 archery harvest rate (bucks) was 17.4%
And the overall general deer season harvest rates are pretty standard. Since 1975 we've had a high of 38.1% (1981) and a low of 19.2% (1993), but the 35 year average (1976 to 2010) is 29.5%. The 20 year average (1991 to 2010) is 28.0%. The 10 year average (2001 to 2010) is 27.9% and the 5 year average 2006 to 2010 is 29.3%. Pretty consistant!
Bottom line, all the great new stuff you just can't wait to get your hands on may appear to make you a better hunter, but they don't make up for good ol' woodsmanship!