More thoughts on the Opener

So here is what I want to know: the low body count in September—is it me or is it the deer? More precisely, is it the lack of hunters or a problem with deer behavior that causes September’s low take?

If I am any example, it’s mighty hard to get things going in September. Cold is a lot easier to deal with than heat (my hats off to you guys down South).

On the other hand, it’s hard to see deer in September. You see lots of sign, but no Bambi.

When you have a whole county of prime whitetail in Zone 1 having a harvest record of 18-45 for the whole month of September, something is wrong.

KY DNR has got to be looking at the big picture and scratching their heads. They expand the season and the deer herd keeps exploding in the northern counties. They increase the bag limit to a doe a day and the herd keeps exploding. My take on it is that they are looking at this all wrong. What they should do is:

1) Increase the number of hunting opportunities. Make it easier for hunters to hunt. We need some incentive for private landowners to allow hunting.

2) Make it easier for out-of-state hunters to hunt by lowering license fees.

3) Make it easier and affordable to donate excess doe.

They need to get more creative. How about a Zone 1 only, 1-weekend antlerless shotgun, pistol, and muzzleloader season in late December with a 3-day out-of-state license/tag for $65? You’d have Buckeyes flocking into the state in droves. You would have 10’s of millions of out of state dollars flowing in . Lastly, all you would need is to park a reefer truck at every Walmart to take in the excess carcasses for free.

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