North Dakota Game and Fish Deer Survey

This armchair biologist agrees with your math.   

Since ND doesnt require you to register your harvest I am guessing they got these numbers from the surveys they send out.  They probably have an estimated number of people who had tags but did not hunt at all.  They probably threw those people out of the "hunter success" calculation. 

The G&F might add "X" percentage to the equation because not everyone reply's to the survey?

Hmmm, interesting.  I never even thought to check the math.  However, according to the numbers, you are right.  That is a 57.3% success rate.  I really hope they don't have some politician doing their math for them.  Yet, it seems they must be.

-Justin

Alot of people probably bought extra doe tags but never attempted to fill them. We had 4 extra  doe tags between my dad and me and we never attempted fill them. We shot a muley and a whitetail apiece.

I was successful, I did not fill all my tags though, just like briningtherain pointed out, but I would guess if that is what they are going by the % would be much higher. I did not fill 2 tags, my wife left 1 open.

More importantly than success rate ,   What is the numbers for car collisions, coyote predation on fawns,  wounded deer mortality (from bad shots by idiots) and natural mortality on bucks from rut etc etc....??   How many (bucks in particular)  die from causes other than Rifles?      Thats usueful information. 

Who cares what the "Success Rate"  is.........Quality ,  not Quantity !  Success is in the eye of the beholder.   Shooting a small 3x3 to fill your buck tag on the last day is hardly a  "successful"  season in my book.   

Whats the  all so important  success rate on just buck tags?    How old was the average buck harvested?   hmm ,   probably 2 years old or less.  Thats how messed up our sex ratio is.    Most of the deer harvested in the survey were Does or young bucks  to dumb to react when the 1/2 ton slammed on the breaks and opened fire. 

Using success rates to gauge the health of a deer herd what-so-ever  means nothing.

PS,   In a flat state like ND with not alot of cover,  it doesn't take a very bright boy to fill a deer tag.......point being,  if succes rates aren't  70% or more  in specific units,  deer numbers are too low.   

We lost or have yet to lose over 50% of the deer in my country.  There will be no deer season in NW  ND  this year.

Donald Trump

Pigsticker
They are not giving out very accurate statements again Weird.
We all know the game and fish is full of smoke ans mirrors.
Don't feed deer to hunt but ok to feed during winter.
Ok to take walleye eggs from lake Sak but unable to restock them.
Deer numbers down after 08/09 winter but already set budget based of tags so we will wait a year to reduce tags.
Always a joke to me but I guess thats why I chose not to work for them.

WSWAT Said:
Pigsticker
They are not giving out very accurate statements again Weird.
We all know the game and fish is full of smoke ans mirrors.
Don't feed deer to hunt but ok to feed during winter.
Ok to take walleye eggs from lake Sak but unable to restock them.
Deer numbers down after 08/09 winter but already set budget based of tags so we will wait a year to reduce tags.
Always a joke to me but I guess thats why I chose not to work for them.

  

WSWAT Said:
Pigsticker
They are not giving out very accurate statements again Weird.
We all know the game and fish is full of smoke ans mirrors.
Don't feed deer to hunt but ok to feed during winter.
Ok to take walleye eggs from lake Sak but unable to restock them.
Deer numbers down after 08/09 winter but already set budget based of tags so we will wait a year to reduce tags.
Always a joke to me but I guess thats why I chose not to work for them.

I'm glad i am building preference points for a mule deer gun tag with these numbers that may or may not be accurate.

Headhunter Said:
More importantly than success rate ,   What is the numbers for car collisions, coyote predation on fawns,  wounded deer mortality (from bad shots by idiots) and natural mortality on bucks from rut etc etc....??   How many (bucks in particular)  die from causes other than Rifles?      Thats usueful information. 

Who cares what the "Success Rate"  is.........Quality ,  not Quantity !  Success is in the eye of the beholder.   Shooting a small 3x3 to fill your buck tag on the last day is hardly a  "successful"  season in my book.   

Whats the  all so important  success rate on just buck tags?    How old was the average buck harvested?   hmm ,   probably 2 years old or less.  Thats how messed up our sex ratio is.    Most of the deer harvested in the survey were Does or young bucks  to dumb to react when the 1/2 ton slammed on the breaks and opened fire. 

Using success rates to gauge the health of a deer herd what-so-ever  means nothing.

PS,   In a flat state like ND with not alot of cover,  it doesn't take a very bright boy to fill a deer tag.......point being,  if succes rates aren't  70% or more  in specific units,  deer numbers are too low.   

We lost or have yet to lose over 50% of the deer in my country.  There will be no deer season in NW  ND  this year.

Donald Trump

No season really?  Where did you get your info at?  I have a group of 15 from the Fargo area that wanted to hunt out west this year.

Donald just what do you want???More deer or more bigger deer???It might be pretty flat  out in the NW ND,but not the whole state is like that!So if i understand your post you would like older bucks to shoot?and more of them???you would rather shoot a 6x6 older smarter deer than a dumbass 3x3 2 year old???OK now tell me why?What do you get out of it???So what somebody  wants to shoot a dumbass 3x3 to fill their tag at the end of  the season???Whats with the comment ???about it doesnet take a very bright boy to shoot a deer???Could you expalin that remark??If that not very bright boy shoots a big buck does that make him smarter???I have been working up in"MY COUNTRY"  and i been seeing  deer all over the place!!!Plus up in YOUR Country is not  very good area to support many deer,no trees or river bottoms and not much heavy cover,so when we have bad winters its going to have a effect! on the deer.But if i understand your beef  with the G&F is having to many tags issue for that area??One more thing What is a "SUCCESSFUL HUNT IN YOUR BOOK?????Bye

so how hard is it to post all of your land and watch a buck for 4 to 5 years and then shoot him out the window of your pick up?

How about some of you so critical of the department send the G&F an email or make a phone call asking how the "math" is figured before dragging them out on FBO.

Typical of this place. Complaining  just to to hear yourself complaining

and WSWAT, judging by some of your pictures it looks like the G&F is doing an ok job of managing an overall healthy population of fish and game.

good call aggiefan!!!!!

aggiefan Said:
How about some of you so critical of the department send the G&F an email or make a phone call asking how the "math" is figured before dragging them out on FBO.

Typical of this place. Complaining  just to to hear yourself complaining

Have you ever called the G&F dept?  I have and getting an answer on this isn't going to happen by just making a phone call.  You will be sent from one person to the next all not knowing what you are talking about. 

Yes i have called the Game and Fish. Several times a year in fact.  If I fully and politely, explain what I want an answer to, I have been directed to t he right people and I have always hung up the phone with an answer  to the question I posed. (whether I agreed with it or not)

Headhunter said:

"Using success rates to gauge the health of a deer herd what-so-ever  means nothing.

PS,   In a flat state like ND with not alot of cover,  it doesn't take a very bright boy to fill a deer tag.......point being,  if succes rates aren't  70% or more  in specific units,  deer numbers are too low."

you just showed yourself how the success rate can be used....and maybe comparing it to previous year's success rates might provide some additional insight.
maybe you can develop a survey that the coyotes can fill out regarding their success rate...I'm sure the G&F would like to get any additional info you can provide...

 There will be deer hunting in every unit this coming year, but, there may be some reduced tag numbers in some units. A successful hunt, is completely upto the person who is hunting. It is their choice to shoot that dumb lil 3 by 3 or however small of horns it may have. There are certain parts of the state that have had some winter kill. BUT in the majority of the state, the deer handled this winter very well despite a BRUTAL winter. AND YES, I CAN SAY THAT WITH CONFIDENCE as I have flown over the majority of the state NUMEROUS times this winter!! Now, in the last month I have not been up, but the snow that we got, quickly melted in our last 2-3 storms. The winter kill that people are seeing is from where there are 100's of deer piled up, this stuff happens every year and is nothing new to north dakota. Our state does not manage deer for ANTLER size, so smaller bucks are going to be shot, and thats how its always going to be. If you want a big buck, get off your ass and pound the hills. Its that simple, no matter what area of the state you are in.

PS.... there is way too much bitching about the game and fish. If you guys want to change something in our state, go back to college, get your Biology and wildlife fisheries degrees and maybe a masters degree, apply for job and do something about it, instead of coming on a public website and always bashing them. Yes, sometimes I do not agree with what they are doing, but this is life, and this is how its going to be. I am young and out spoken at times, but some of you guys just need to shut the hell up. Here ends my rant for the day!