would you like to see WI go shotgun only?

[Chasman]

I guess I am missing the point on how shotgun only deer hunting creates bigger bucks? In my area, and throughout WI this year there were more big bucks harvested than I can remember.

I used to be of the thought that bowhunting is the only Deer hunting worth while. But this year I gun hunted more than ever and had a good time doing it. And I did not shoot anything. Gun hunting is a needed part of management in WI. I have passed on bucks also and had them shot minutes later, but thats the risk you take.

I voted NO. Shotguns are for the safety of populated areas only. Hurling a small Punkin of lead out of a shotgun wounds more deer than pinpoint shot of a 160 grain rifle bullet.

[Hill Hunter]

Shotgun only for even the first weekend of firearms season would be a step foreward (in areas that are rifle for 9 days). When western WI was shotgun only for the opening weekend (years ago) 'our' group had multiple bucks we were not able to shoot at (ethical shot) with shotgun, where a rifle would have punched a buck tag. It seemed that bucks were harder to come by after the opening weekend passed and the woods turned into a growing 'pumpkin patch.' The smart ones found better places to hide after the pressure started....In my opinion, shotgun only for the opening weekend saved many bucks. I would be in favor of shotgun only for the entire gun season as well and believe it would be a direct result of more bucks reaching maturity.

I dont think the WI DNR will ever change what is in place now, they would rather every hunter take a buck, erradicate them in a CWD zone and kill whats left over with ag tags. WI has the potential to be as great as IA, IL or OH....but one thing stands in the way........The WI DNR itself

[Bowhunting Brian]

absolutely not.....O.P. what is your reason for the question.............responding to another post- changing regulations for the sake of less deer shot and growing bigger bucks is a personal and selfish adgenda, and I don't think it would really make that much of a difference anyway. if someone wants that, they can choose to use the shotgun but not determine what others use. the big deer craze has been fun but also has made things terrible. family and friendships have been ruined by it. a shotgun with the right slug can shoot 200 yards and a muzzleloader can do that easlily. I be most hunters in WI don't even hunt in areas where they could shoot past 200 yards. with the woods, terain, and land ownership of so many smaller parcels of land. sure there are some places where you can really reach out, but a lot more areas where you can't. it's not like out west. I wish they would open more areas up to rifle. they finally did last year in Wauapca Co.

[Bowhunting Brian]

Shotgun only for even the first weekend of firearms season would be a step foreward (in areas that are rifle for 9 days). When western WI was shotgun only for the opening weekend (years ago) 'our' group had multiple bucks we were not able to shoot at (ethical shot) with shotgun, where a rifle would have punched a buck tag. It seemed that bucks were harder to come by after the opening weekend passed and the woods turned into a growing 'pumpkin patch.' The smart ones found better places to hide after the pressure started....In my opinion, shotgun only for the opening weekend saved many bucks. I would be in favor of shotgun only for the entire gun season as well and believe it would be a direct result of more bucks reaching maturity.

I dont think the WI DNR will ever change what is in place now, they would rather every hunter take a buck, erradicate them in a CWD zone and kill whats left over with ag tags. WI has the potential to be as great as IA, IL or OH....but one thing stands in the way........The WI DNR itself

not meaning to highjack the thread. but let's be honest, it's not the dnrs fault. they only issue the tags, they don't pull the trigger. just two or three years ago, people were complaining about not seeing any deer. these same people are the ones that filled every tag they got. two free antler less with both gun and bow. their thought process was that the dnr issued 6 tags so it must be okay to shoot 6 deer. c'mon man. it's always easier to point the finger than look in the mirror.....not intending this is you or starting an argument, just making a general comment. please don't take it the wrong way.

[Black Squirrel]

I voted yes. My home county startred out shotgun only and went to rifle about 6 years ago. More bucks have been shot, every year since. It's for selfish reason that I would like to see it, but I know it will never go back to shotgun, because like others said there would be too much money lost if the DNR ever changed that. My brother in law shot a nice 2.5, 8 point at 300 yards with his rifle. He happend to be driving by and saw it in the field with a doe, got out of the truck and shot it (he was all legal). I had passed that deer several times during the bow season. If it was shotgun only that deer might still be running.

[Rutnstrut]

YES!!!!!! yes. But it will never happen, to many weekend warrior gun hunters would whine about it. If the state would go shotgun/ML statewide and eliminate group bagging. We would have the best hunting for mature bucks in the country. Moving gun season later and a couple short seasons would help also. Hardly anyone hunts the whole firearm season anymore. So why in the make it so damn long. But like I said, you will NEVER see any of these changes in WI. Too many two day a year, slob, whiny gun hunters. I am not against gun hunting, although I prefer bow hunting I still have a blast during gun season. Our land is in a shotgun only area. You would be surprised at how many deer survive just because of this. I had two different large bucks that I have been after for a few years, that would have been dead last week had I been using a rifle. I know for sure one of them made it as my buddy seen him Sunday night in the headlights as he was leaving camp.

[Rutnstrut]

"I voted NO. Shotguns are for the safety of populated areas only. Hurling a small Punkin of lead out of a shotgun wounds more deer than pinpoint shot of a 160 grain rifle bullet."

No offense, but you don't really know much about shotguns do you? A one ounce slug weighs close to 450 grains, and even smoothbore slug guns can be very accurate at reasonable ranges. Now take the average weekend warrior which is what gun season is made up of. They figure hey I have a rifle I can shoot 500 yards, and that's where the wounding happens.

[natvbearhntr]

I don't think moving to shotgun only is the way to have larger bucks I think that starts with hunter education. The last two years, this season and last, my boys hunting tags have gone unfilled because we didn't see a quality buck worth harvesting. My middle son is 15 and my youngest is 12 and I have taught both already the value of letting deer pass and there is no need to just kill for the safe of killing. This season my 15 year old only seen doe and a small 4 point buck and my 12 year old seen plenty of doe, a scrub 6 point buck and a 16" 8 point and I let him make the choice to shoot or not shoot the 8 point buck. He chose not to shoot. That's tough for a 12 year old who spends hours on end in a tree stand. Our neighbors who are all grown and should be responsible shot 5 doe, 6 bucks (none bigger than a 5 point) and 2 bucks that could be registered as doe. To me that is rediculous. We hunt very heavy woods and shotgun wouldn't have made a difference.

[natvbearhntr]

No offense, but you don't really know much about shotguns do you? A one ounce slug weighs close to 450 grains, and even smoothbore slug guns can be very accurate at reasonable ranges. Now take the average weekend warrior which is what gun season is made up of. They figure hey I have a rifle I can shoot 500 yards, and that's where the wounding happens.

So are you saying "weekend warriors" don't use shotguns? It's really a double sided blade when it comes to taking long shots. On one hand you say to yourself "I have a hign powered rifle so I can take a long distance shot" and as we know there area a lot of people with high powered rifles not qualified to take that shot. But on the other hand you have a guy with a shotgun and he sees a nice deer at 200 to 250 yards and since he is only a weekend warrior that doesn't know when he will get to hunt again he starts lugging slugs through the air as fast as he can pull the trigger. Again it starts with hunter education, it starts with how we teach younger hunters and it starts with mature hunters making good decissions when it comes to making a a kill.

[Black Squirrel]

It doesn't matter if it's a rifle or a shotgun, there are people out there that will shoot beyond their ability and/or the weapons capabilities.

[Bowhunting Brian]

It's been said here already, most of the gun hunt takes place the first two days. I really don't think that in those two days, the number of deer taken with a rifle that are out of shotgun range is detrimental to the heard or "growing bigger bucks". it is a very small number.

[BigHunt]

[glow=red]absolutely not.....O.P. what is your reason for the question.............responding to another post- changing regulations for the sake of less deer shot and growing bigger bucks is a personal and selfish adgenda, and I don't think it would really make that much of a difference anyway. if someone wants that, they can choose to use the shotgun but not determine what others use. the big deer craze has been fun but also has made things terrible. family and friendships have been ruined by it. a shotgun with the right slug can shoot 200 yards and a muzzleloader can do that easlily.[/glow] I be most hunters in WI don't even hunt in areas where they could shoot past 200 yards. with the woods, terain, and land ownership of so many smaller parcels of land. sure there are some places where you can really reach out, but a lot more areas where you can't. it's not like out west. I wish they would open more areas up to rifle. they finally did last year in Wauapca Co.

100% agreed

[Hill Hunter]

Not to offend, but.....there is no challenge to shooting a deer with a rifle. Plain and simple. The rifle is a management tool. If you want meat, shoot a doe and let a little buck grow

[Stump]

This question should've been asked with the disclaimer of.....Take out your personal reasonings which are generally of selfish nature and then vote.

"I let all these bucks go and then the rifle guy kills it" Including other responses along those lines. Well, this won't change unless you move to TX and put up a very large fence. Shotgun, rifle, muzzle loader or another archery hunter.....the weapon doesn't matter and it's a fact of hunting that some just need to get over and move on. By letting small bucks go, you should understand that something might happen to that buck where you aren't going to see it the next yr. Coyotes, bear, wolves, another hunter, disease, vehicle or it simply relocates on it's own.

[Brad]

I don't think moving to shotgun only is the way to have larger bucks I think that starts with hunter education. The last two years, this season and last, my boys hunting tags have gone unfilled because we didn't see a quality buck worth harvesting. My middle son is 15 and my youngest is 12 and I have taught both already the value of letting deer pass and there is no need to just kill for the safe of killing. This season my 15 year old only seen doe and a small 4 point buck and my 12 year old seen plenty of doe, a scrub 6 point buck and a 16" 8 point and I let him make the choice to shoot or not shoot the 8 point buck. He chose not to shoot. That's tough for a 12 year old who spends hours on end in a tree stand. Our neighbors who are all grown and should be responsible shot 5 doe, 6 bucks (none bigger than a 5 point) and 2 bucks that could be registered as doe. To me that is rediculous. We hunt very heavy woods and shotgun wouldn't have made a difference.

No offense but if they use the meat and don't whine about numbers being low (idk if they are or not in your area) that they are not necessarily being selfish. If they are happy with the deer they kill that is all that matters. Now if they are wasting them or killing them and giving them away then I would see that as selfish. The passing of smaller bucks is a personal decision that you make on the land you have access to, if they decide to kill the same deer you passed on land they have access to that is their decision and their right, no one owns a deer until a tag is on it.

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