Deer Harvest Down 35% From Last Year

[rthensley]

1. I see deer carcases on the sides of the road with back straps cut out.

I would guess that you also so that before the new system.

2. The hunter only has to get it home cut it up and reuse his tag again so the numbers will be screwed bad now

I agree. But, you could do EXACTLY the same thing under the old system. Once the poacher gets the deer home, there is almost no chance of being caught. There are NO differences between the old and new system as far as what must be done before you get the deer in your vehicle.

3. They shoot the deer with guns call it in as a bow kill (who will know?) I heard many single shots during early bow season.

Now that CAN be done, but you still have to tag the deer to be able to "legally" transport it. Again, there is no difference in the old and new system as far as what has to be done before you transport the deer. If people are doing this now, then they did it before (without calling in the kill). If many people are doing this then I would GUESS that deer kill numbers would increase.

4. Forgetting to call in is BS if your a hunter you always knew you had to tag it in by going to a check in station.

I agree with you here.

I would also say that if you are a hunter, then you have always properly checked in your deer. This new system didn't suddenly create poachers.

5 kill a buck and call it in as a Doe look for a bigger Buck How will they know unless its a check in station?

I agree with you here also.

But that buck you killed should have been tagged before it was transported. Just like the old system.

This could also have been done with the old system (besides the part about calling in the kill). Just use copies of your permit to get the deer out of the woods and to your house.

[rthensley]

Not trying to argue about all of this. I just honestly do not believe the new check in system will make any significant change.

There WILL be a few people who abuse the new system, but a new system will NOT create a bunch of new poachers and skew the kill numbers.

Look at it this way...............how many people on this board have poached a deer because of the new system?

Exactly. I would guess that nobody has. The people on this board are no different than the vast majority of hunters in Ohio. Now I am not talking about poachers. Those people poached during the old system, poach during the new system, and will poach under the next system. But the overwhelming vast majority of hunters will not poach no matter what check in system is used.

We can all make up "what ifs" and try to think of ways the new system can be abused, just like we can about the old system. But just because something can be done, doesn't mean it will be. If you were an honest hunter before the new system, you still are. If you were a poacher before the new system, nothing has changed for you either.

I have read many posts where people are talking about not seeing any deer and blaming that on the new system. But I believe the kill numbers so far are only down about 5% from last year (according to a previous post).