Mail in Deer Registration

[fishane]

Would most of you be in favor of a change by the DNR to a mail in deer registration system? When you bought your license you would get post cards that are pre stamped and all you would have to do is fill in sex, time/date of kill, etc and mail in. Our current system of big game registration was established in an era of much greater game (ie. deer) scarcity. Many times, particularly during bow season, by the time I get my animal back to the truck it is very late and my local registration stations are closed. So, I take it home and hang it, and then have to haul it down and bring it in at a later date. I believe that this contributes to a large number of animals not being registered, and thus means that the DNR is not getting the most accurate harvest data. I believe that mail in registration would help this. Do any of you agree/disagree?

[xedge2002]

I think it would lead to more deer being unregistered.

[Jameson]

I think it would make things even tougher on CO's.

It sounds kinda like the recent law change from tagging the deer on site, to tagging at vehicle. Only completely opposite. A hunter/poacher could say, "it was lost in the mail."

If the postcard thing did work out, I hope that I would be able to mail it in OR register the deer as we do now.

[fishane]

I know that we have all registered deer where the person behind the counter doesn't even come out and look at the deer. One other thing to remember is that many western states already do this sort of registration, or do nothing at all, prefering to get their harvest data from hunter surveys. Haven't we all gotten a deer out when all local registration stations have been closed?

[sparcebag]

NO I think more unregistered deer,More chance of poaching,Even though I at times take a deer archery get it home & register next day w/o deer on hand!but its registered!

[UMDSportsman]

i see that we are all online, how about an online registration? Just another option to talk about. To go along with current registration methods.

[harvey lee]

I think one has to take the deer to register it or we would have way to many unregistered deer. It may not be the best way but it does work fairly well.

I know many states dont have to register deer but thier population of hunters may not be as great also.

[slotlimit]

Sparcebag,

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. If someone is going to poach they are gong to do it no matter what. I do think yo might have a few more unregistered deer though. If you don't have to bring your deer in by law to register it at a big game registration some deer might not get registered. It would be very nice to just mail in a card that you get with your license. The problem is even honest hunters might forget to mail in the card. I'm not sure how poaching even comes into the situation. You buy a license...you shoot the deer that the license says to shoot...you go register it. A poacher will poach whether he's supposed to take it in and register or send in a card. Maybe I'm not looking at the whole picture and you can put a light on it for me. I say the more options you have the better. Have stations, online, and cards.

[kaz2611]

I believe more deer would not be registered and a less accurate kill count would happen.i agree poachers would poach reguardless but i also think a handful of hunters that hunt close to or on their own property may be more apt to take an extra deer if someone in their group got a fawn.

[mnmuzzleloader]

I don't see the problem in driving the animal to get registered, in this day and age not to many people are able to hunt their own land and there seems to be a fair amount of registration places for people to stop in and get that taken care of. The online lic thing didn't work out that great for them, do they have it up and running again?.

[slotlimit]

Quote:

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i also think a handful of hunters that hunt close to or on their own property may be more apt to take an extra deer if someone in their group got a fawn.

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Would that not be poaching?

[gorrilla]

slotlimit you are right, and its a shame for anyone doing that to be called a "hunter" they are a poacher.

As far as the mail - in registration, I think it would be a step in the wrong direction. Just ask the opinion of a Conservation Officer.

I wish the registration stations had to visually ID the deer like the old days. Even the way it is now, the guys pulling the fast one are at least nervous I bet having to haul their deer to the local gas station. Things done behind closed doors leave too many opportunities for illegal thoughts to enter the heads of otherwise only borderline crooks...

[luckey]

When we register our deer there typically is a group of student biologists taking samples and aging the deer. This would not happen if the deer were not presented at the time of registration.

[Jackpine Rob]

Isn't it sad how many of us tend to believe the worst about humanity? Rather than believing that most sportsmen will do the right thing, we automatically jump to the conclusion that others will violate the law.

I and the group I hunt with haven't been checked in over 15 years. In fact, I can't recall the last time I saw a fish cop while out hunting. In spite of this apparent lack of enforcement, we follow the laws. How could this be?? Following the logic of some - we should be total outlaws!

I personally like the hunter survey cards used in other states. At the end of the season you fill in how many days you hunted, what you saw, what you got, and rate the season. Pretty simple! If you don't turn in your card at the end of the season, the computer flags you and you can't purchase another license until the matter is cleared up. Again, pretty simple!

[slotlimit]

Rob,

YOu couldn't have said it better. More then not true sportsmen will do the right thing. Those poeple that don't do the right thing won't not matter what type of registration method is required. Now if I can't hunt if I don't turn in the registration card....that would be enough of a kick in the rear for me to make sure I didn't forget.

[ruster]

I lived in South Dakota form 1987 to 1999, with your deer license you also got a stamped, self addessed envelope. You simply checked the boxes that applied to the animal you harvested, removed the 2 front teeth from the lower jaw, put em in the envelope and mailed it to Pierre. I remeber reading that they always had around 90% compliance on this. Probably way more than we get with our current system in MN.

[kaz2611]

yes it is poaching guess from now on I'll have to use politically correct terminology. I never stated that taking an extra deer since one was small was legal by any means.

[kaz2611]

your right it shouldnt be a problem but there are some that are just plain lazy. A mailin registration would be great but IMO I think less deer would be registered and I wouldn't be a bit suprised that those who are to lazy to drive in to register would also be too lazy to mail in the postage paid registration card. 2 years ago I called the registration station and asked how late they were open then took our 5 deer in to get registered the guy said he didnt recognize my voice otherwise we wouldnt have had to bring the deer in,just our licenses. I told him it wasnt a big deal to bring them in and was happy to show him how our hunt had been.

[fishane]

Kaz2611, I agree that when you have a bunch of guys during gun season it is no big deal for you to load your deer into a truck and go to the registration station all together. Heck, it is even kind of fun. But look at it from another hunters point of view. Last year, early bow season, I shot a nice doe. It was warm out ,not cool enough to keep a deer hanging for any length of time. I am by myself, and by the time I let my doe sit for a while, then trail, gut, drag, and load her in the truck it was after 10 pm. Now, none of our local reg stations are open that late at the end of September. So I take her home and hang her, again by myself, and the next morning I need to do it all over again so I could get her cut up. I was very tempted just to cut her up and freeze her without registering. For many of us hunting is primarily a solitary sport, especially bow hunting, and loading and hanging deer by yourself is kind of a pain. So I sort of resent doing it all over again to take my deer to a gas station where the teenage attendant doesn't even come out and take a look. Most of the hunters I know are ethical and would mail in their postcards, just as they now take their deer to be registered. Mail-in would just be a lot less monkey business IMO.

[kaz2611]

fishane you have a good point most of the hunters I know would also mail in the card. Something about going in to register and seeing and hearing how others in the area have done that adds to it.

[gorrilla]

Legally, under the current system, they AREN'T required to go look at them anyway. I wish they were though.

Like my dad said last year, "We could have a danged Elephant in the trailer and they wouldn't know the difference."

Needless to say, that one cracked me up.

[surewood]

Where I live they would have to pay another employee to check every deer. There is only one registration station and the store is it. With all the customers it would be hard to check every deer on opening weekend. I wish they could though. On another note I would be all for an antler restriction, although I understand the reasons why they dont have one. For the people that like to take trophys it would be fun to have alot of mature bucks roaming around. In the long run more people could have more experiences with big deer, but I know that it not a trophy that makes the hunt for many people and thats fine to. As for the mail in I still would rather bring my deer in it's fun seeing what else was registered.