IDNR’s deer management plan

You won’t find it here.

Seems like everyone today is interested in deer management. How many permits are issued? How many NR permits sold? What’s the states management plan? How do they decide how many permits are issued per county? What’s the age structure of the harvest? Can the state manage for quality? Seems to be lots of questions that nobody can ever get the answers to. Many people think we shouldn’t even have to ask.

I ran across this section in the IL Wildlife Code:

(520 ILCS 5/1.11) (from Ch. 61, par. 1.11)
Sec. 1.11. The Department shall, in order to educate the citizens of this State in the modern trends of conservation, disseminate conservation information and the provisions of this Act through the mediums of lectures, motion pictures, photographs, pictures, exhibits, radio, news items, pamphlets and other media the Department may deem suitable for this purpose.

The Department may publish, periodically, a bulletin or magazine containing information concerning the work of the Department, the conservation and propagation of wildlife, hunting and fishing, and any such other information as the Department deems to be of general or special interest to sportsmen and others affected by any law administered by the Department. A reasonable charge may be made for each copy of such publication. All funds derived from the sale of such publication shall be deposited in the Wildlife and Fish fund in the State Treasury.
(Source: P.A. 81‑382.)

So, is the Department living up to its duty?

First Glance at 2010 Hunting Regs

While looking around the IDNR site at some current hunting regulations, I ran across the proposed administrative rules for 2010. It looks like these rules were filed on Christmas Eve, with the public comment period running through February 7th.  Don’t expect big changes other than the price increases.

This is the first time in several years that I can remember the ad rules being out before the current hunting season is even over. Several years they strung out well into the spring and would barely get passed in time for the new season. I’m assuming the main reason for getting these pushed through soon this year is the proposed price increases that line the new rules. With gun deer permits going up and the application period taking place in April, the DNR had to get these moving quickly this year.

Here’s some “highlights” (not including site-specific changes):

Firearm Deer Hunting – Resident permit prices going from $15 to $25. Anterless permits going from $15 to $17.50. Non-resident E/S gun permits stay at $300, but antlerless permits raise from $15 to $25. Application dates are also more defined.

Muzzleloader Deer Hunting – Again, resident prices going from $15 to $25. NR permits increasing from $250 to $300, and $15 to $25 for antlerless.

Archery Deer Hunting – No price increase for residents (we already have to pay $25 minimum for a combo permit). NR permit prices increase from $400 to $410, and antlerless from $15 to $25. NR landowners also see a $10 increase. Now here’s the big change… NR’s may only apply for one permit during the “lottery” period. But starting this year, NR’s may get a 2nd NR archery permit after the initial lottery. This allows the DNR to sell more of those 25,000 permits. I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened. At $410, how many NR’s will actually get a 2nd archery permit?

Youth Deer Hunting – Only change here is… NR youth are now allowed to take part in the youth deer season. Prices remain the same, so NR youth will also enjoy the same $10 permit prices as resident youth.

This will most likely be it for the ad rule changes for this year. Ad rules take a long time to get implemented, and they’re only filed once a year.

The public comment period for these 4 ad rules will expire on February 7th. Follow this link to a list of all the proposed ad rules.

http://dnr.state.il.us/legal/rule-status.htm

IL Deer Classic Moving in 2011?

If my memory serves me correctly, this will mark the 20th anniversary of Tim Walmsley’s first IL Deer Classic that was held at the Holiday Inn in Decatur (which still remains as possibly THE LARGEST collection of Boone & Crockett whitetails ever assembled at a single show). After making stops in Springfield, Peoria, and Bloomington, could the annual show be in search of a new home? Here’s a short message that came from show producer Glenn Helgeland in a letter to deer measurers this year:

In case you haven’t heard…

The main building of the fairgrounds and half the front parking lot have been sold to a J I Case implement dealer. This will have no effect on the Classic in 2010, but it will in 2011. By then, the new owner will have converted half the building and half the parking lot to his needs.

As a result, we don’t know yet where the 2011 Classic will be. It might be in Bloomington; it might not. The fairgrounds won’t have enough interior space any more, and we’re not moving anything into tents.

The 2011 location will be announced at the 2010 Classic. We’re looking at a couple of options.

Any guesses as to where it may be headed next???

Quinn and Miller out of touch

According to the Illinois Wildlife Code (520 ILCS 5/), the IDNR shall have the authority to:

“…manage wildlife and regulate the taking of wildlife for the purposes of providing public recreation and controlling wildlife populations”

Even the home page of the DNR quotes this as their mission statement:

“To manage, conserve and protect Illinois’ natural, recreational and cultural resources, further the public’s understanding and appreciation of those resources, and promote the education, science and public safety of Illinois’ natural resources for present and future generations.”

One word that keeps popping up is “manage.”

Now, I understand that’s a complex task. You have people to manage as well. Everyone has an opinion. Just look at these blogs and comments. You’ll see a lot of different opinions just from within the hunter segment. I’ve said numerous times, I certainly don’t envy the biologists responsible for managing the actual resource itself.

But one thing that concerns me is the tone with which the DNR’s message sometimes gets delivered. Marshall McLuhan once coined the phrase, “The medium is the message.” A quick visit to Wikipedia shows the following definition of the phrase as “the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a … relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived.” In other words, HOW you say something is just as important as what you say.

Take, for example, the recent visit by Gov. Quinn (and a political entourage) to a well-known (and vocal) outfitter and Pike County Farm Bureau president’s outfitting business. Whatever message DNR Director Marc Miller and Quinn were trying to get across, was immediately lost (with most hunters anyway) as soon as we heard about HOW it was presented. It doesn’t matter that the past 15 governors probably didn’t even know that we had deer in downstate IL. When I hear Quinn talking about the importance/future of deer hunting during a staged media/political event at an outfitter’s place in Pike County, I really can’t take him seriously. If anyone thinks the future of deer hunting rides on the backs of those who profit from it (or those who can afford it), then we’re sure to face a doomed future.

I guess I’m not real clear on what the actual message was supposed to say. Was it that money and tourism, via deer hunting, are vital to the area’s economy? If so, then focus on that and keep the DNR’s mission out of it. Bring in the tourism people for that. But to even suggest that this media event had anything to do with preserving a hunting heritage for future generations, that message gets lost as soon as you invite your listeners to the doorsteps of the very type of business that has resulted in both the loss of recreational opportunity and the mismanagement of the resource that the DNR is supposed to protect.

According to the DNR’s own statistics, Pike County is far behind the rest of the state in taking enough does to keep the herd balanced. So far behind, that in just a few weeks hunters can buy unlimited doe permits over the counter and shoot all they want for more than a week. In all the DNR published data and measurement metrics, Pike County ranks in the top 5 counties in the state for overpopulation. State biologists have even admitted to losing control of the deer population in those areas. It’s no coincidence that it’s also the area most controlled by outfitters.

Another goal of Marc Miller’s was to improve hunter access. It was a topic of one of the Conservation Congress’s three committees. Yet, outfitters (and land leasing) have done more to destroy resident hunter access in areas like Pike County than any other factor. Again, any message gets lost as soon as I see the DNR and politicians staging an event like this and acting as if everything is just peachy.

I guess I just don’t get it. Why do you hold a media event about deer hunting with a sector of the outdoor community that mismanages the natural resource and negatively impacts one of the DNR Director’s main goals of increasing hunter access? The “message” was apparently supposed to focus on the economic impact of the deer hunting business. The manner in which it was presented sends the message to a lot of hunters, that no matter how screwed up the management practices are in WC-IL… no matter how many hunters lose access to hunting profiteers… it all takes a back seat because the tourism money is more important than the goals of the DNR.

That’s the same message I’ve heard for the last 15 years.

At some point, the goals/duties of the DNR need to take priority over making a few dollars from our natural resource.

Five Minute Mistake

They say a lot of sports are games of inches. Today, I learned that hunting can be a game of minutes… or seconds.

I got in my stand a little before 2:00 this afternoon. Long story, but I should have been there sooner. I’d just gotten my safety harness hooked up, hung up my pack, and hung up my bow on a old hook that I didn’t plan on using. I was putting up my E-Z Hanger on the right wide of the tree when a deer caught my eye about 75 yards away. At first glance from the side, he looked a little short on tine length. I thought it was the 2 year old 7 pointer I’ve been seeing. So I went back to screwing in the hanger. He turned to come towards me, and I realized it definitely was not a young buck. He was wider than his ears, and right away I was thinking shooter. Now my dilemma. I was still working on the bow hanger, my bow was on the other side of the tree (still in the bow sling), and this buck wasn’t slowing down.

I gave up on the hanger and stuffed it in my pocket. I turned to my left to grab my bow and start pulling off the sling. 40 yards away and trotting. Three snaps (I was sure he would hear those) and two straps to get the sling off and I hung it up. The buck is now within 20 yards and I still need to nock an arrow. As I’m doing that, I’m still not sure what side of the tree he’s going to go to.  When I see him turn to my right (the worst of the 2 directions), I still need to get the arrow nocked and turn 180 degrees. I start my slow turn while attaching my release. I get maybe halfway around, and it’s over before it even begins. The buck was 10 yards away looking right up at me, for just a split second before he takes 2 giant leaps and is out of range. I saw him long enough to figure him to be about mid 130’s.  He stopped about 75 yards away, looked back my way (I wear he just laughed), and walked off.

Five minutes. That’s all I needed and I would have been ready. Had I not ran through Casey’s to get my Gatorade I would have been there. Had I not went back home for my cell phone I would have been there 5 minutes sooner. Had I not put up some trail markers for Austin on the way to this stand, I would have been there 5 minutes sooner. I can think of all kinds of things that would have bought me an extra 5 minutes and gotten me ready for that buck to come by.

But I didn’t get there in time, and the bucks win again.

Oh well, tomorrow’s another day.