2016 Was Best Georgia Deer Season Since 2003

Georgia deer hunters have spoken out, and their voice is very encouraging. Through last month’s GON Rate Your Season Survey, 19.1 percent of respondents ranked their deer season as “Excellent,” which is the highest percentage of excellent rankings GON has on record since the 2003 deer hunting season. The survey appears annually on the January 2017 GON cover.

Of the 325 ballots sent to GON, 25.6 percent of hunters rated their deer seasons as “Poor.” On the surface this may sound like bad news, but when considering that 34.5 percent of hunters ranked their seasons as poor during the 2015 season, it certainly suggests that Georgia deer hunting is improving.

In addition to the Rate Your Season Survey, readers also could answer three additional questions. The survey results from those three questions are on pages 87, 92 and 95.

The county ratings appear on page 90-99. For each county you will see a letter and number, which shows the number of season ratings for that county (e-excellent, g-good, etc.). Due to the large number of responses, we were only able to publish a fraction of the comments.

 

Baldwin Co. G-1, P-1

Banks Co. P-1

Poor: I only saw deer two days out of the whole deer season.

Bleckley Co. G-2, P-1

Good: I saw deer on three days, but I couldn’t get a shot on but one, but I missed.

Burke Co. E-2, G-2, P-1

Good: Harvested an 8-pointer this year and passed up numerous shots on lesser deer.

Candler Co. G-1

Calhoun Co. F-1

Fair: On the last day of the season, bucks were still chasing does. I have hunted on the same property for 37 years, and every season it is the same thing. It finally starts getting cold, and the season is over. The rut in my area gets going a little around Thanksgiving and grows stronger into the middle of December. There are still bucks chasing does well into January.

Carroll Co. G-2, F-1

Good: Deer seemed to hide as the season went on.

Good: Could have been better. I am a bowhunter only, and I am willing to pay more for a license to harvest two bucks of any size in order to place meat in my freezer instead of hunting a lot and watching meat walk by.

Chatham Co. P-1

Chattooga Co. E-2, F-2

Excellent: Two 8-pointers.

Fair: I felt that the drought affected the movement of the deer in my area. Had very little daylight movement, and the only kills I had were around late October when there was a cold snap. Other than that, deer season was tougher than last years in my opinion.

Cherokee Co. E-1, G-1, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Plenty of deer. Passed on so many small bucks and does this year.

Clarke Co. F-1

Clay Co. G-1

Colquitt Co. E-1, P-2

Excellent: Harvested a big 10-point for Week 9 Truck-Buck. Harvested a doe opening weekend; 2016 was the best year of all time!

Columbia Co. F-1, P-3

Poor: Very few deer sightings. Ridiculous to be able to hunt over supplemental feeders in the Southern Zone, but it’s against the law in the Northern Zone.

Cook Co. E-1

Coweta Co. E-1, G-4, P-1

Good: I harvested an antlered deer and had the opportunity to harvest a second antlered deer. Overall, our numbers were down and our food plot was a dirt patch until late November. They will eat good this winter.

Good: Shot a fair 11-pointer, let a good 8-pointer and several smaller bucks walk. Only saw three does all season long. Some of our bigger bucks dropped their antlers at the end of December. Had 16 different bucks on trail camera, with maybe a 1:1 buck-to-doe ratio. Out of five members, we only took three deer off of our lease.

Crawford Co. G-2, F-2, P-2

Good: I got my first big buck in seven years. I did see a slight decrease in does.

Fair: I marked fair because I didn’t harvest a shooter buck. I don’t shoot does or small bucks, even though I had several chances to do so. Hunting club wise, it could be rated as good. We’ve harvested 14 deer, but of that, only five were bucks (an 8, 5, spike and two buttons).

Fair: Decline in deer sightings. I believe my hunting neighbors kill anything that moves.

Poor: Actually worse season I’ve ever had. I didn’t see the first deer while hunting this year.

Poor: Drought, poor food plot development, hot.

Crisp Co. G-1

Good. Lots of deer activity.

Decatur Co. P-2

Poor. Season needs to be extended to Jan. 31.

Dodge Co. F-2

Fair: Too few deer in area of my club.

Dooly Co. P-1

Poor: Too dry, food plots did not come up. Deer moved closer to water and changed patterns.

Douglas Co. E-1, P-1

Effingham Co. F-1

Fair. To see only 14 total different deer while hunting 68 times was not what I would call excellent. The heat started the slow season. Then it was so wet. Everywhere looked like a lake.

Elbert Co. G-1, F-2

Good. Doe count good, fawn count fair, buck count good. Took one good 8-pointer.

Fair: Saw a few young bucks and does only.

Evans Co. G-2

Good: Deer limit of 12 deer is too high. It should be reduced to eight with two bucks.

Fannin Co. P-1

Poor: Too many yotes and drought.

Floyd Co. G-2, P-1

Frankin Co. G-2, P-3

Good. Got three deer this year, two with a muzzleloader and one with a rifle. The one with a rifle was a velvet 8-pointer in December.

Gilmer Co. P-1

Glascock Co. G-1

Good: Recovered three out of four deer I shot.

Gordon Co. P-1

Poor: Coyotes are the main reason for a poor season.

Grady Co. F-1

Greene Co. E-2, G-2, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Hunt Redlands WMA.

Excellent: I saw a lot of deer this year, multiple deer per sit and bucks every on every sit.

Poor: No does.

Gwinnett Co. E-1, G-2

Excellent: Saw lots of deer. My son and I harvested some quality bucks and several does. Passed up some very nice 2 1/2-year-old bucks and lots of does.

Good: This year was the best rut I’ve seen in several years. Deer really seemed to be on their feet in the mornings until mid December. Mid December until the end of the season the deer were in the food plots that came up late.

Hall Co. E-3, G-1, F-1, P-1

Excellent: My 2016-17 deer season was excellent after harvesting a nice 6-point with a rifle and an 8-point with a bow from 45 yards. Also, I shot one doe early into the season with my bow and another in December with a rifle.

Hancock Co. E-5, G-4, F-1, P-4

Excellent: The timber company herbicided our clearcut in September, and then add a drought on top of that, and you get a barren wasteland void of any food. However, God and a lot of hard work rewarded me with two 5 1/2-year-old 8-pointers in five days. The first was a management 8 that I had hundreds of pictures of, and the second was a 130-class 8 that had only been on camera one time 20 days prior. Killed both bucks off the same stand on back-to-back hunts with my 12-gauge slug gun, with the second buck being 125 yards. Only bad part was that I tagged out on Oct. 28. Will start back with the off season work next weekend.

Good: I saw a lot of bucks and does, but I never took one. I am after a 130 inch or better. We have several!

Poor: Only saw two does this year and one spike, and I hunted every weekend on 223 acres. The weather was part of the problem this year, but I still believe that our bag limits are way too liberal. Need to only allow one buck and two does for the next couple of years to get our deer population back up.

Haralson Co. E-1, F-1, P-1

Excellent: This year I saw eight deer, and I killed two. I also saw the largest buck known to date, which was a 10-pointer. Our trail cams captured at least 12 deer total on our 100-acre tract.

Poor: Saw only four deer entire season, two does and two fawns the first two weeks of the season. No doe days during that time. No meat in freezer.

Harris Co. E-1, F-1

Hart Co. E-1, F-1, P-1

Excellent: Shot an 8-point and a doe. Hart County is clearly an agriculture/farming county. This county should not be linked to mountain counties when setting either-sex days.

Heard Co. G-1, P-1

Poor: Hot and dry.

Henry Co. P-1

Poor: Too dry, no rain. Food plot looked bad.

Houston Co. P-2

Poor: Worst year of deer hunting I have ever had in Georgia! Saw more bears and hogs than deer. Also lots of fox. Second year without a doe kill. Only one small buck taken.

Jackson Co. G-2, F-2, P-3

Good: I rated my season good because at the age of 73, I am blessed just to be able to continue deer hunting. I did not kill any deer during the season, but it was because I chose not to. I saw plenty of deer, more doe than bucks.

Fair: I think we need to have a limit of five does and two bucks. More clubs need to have rules to prohibit smaller bucks from being taken.

Poor: Bad neighbors shoot anything that walks.

Poor: Let three bucks walk mid November. Saw one huge buck but smoke from the fires settled in at 7:45. The month of December I did not see a deer.

Jasper Co. E-2, G-4, P-2

Good: I killed a quality buck. Our deer population is still very low. I may have seen two does all season. I hunted at least 20 days.

Jenkin Co. G-1, F-1

Jeff Davis Co. F-1

Jefferson Co. G-2

Good: My season started off with a nice 8-point on opening day 45 minutes of getting on the stand.

Jones Co. G-1

Laurens Co. G-2

Good: Only two hunters on my 70 acres. This year was good because we killed six deer, four does and one buck with half a rack that had 4 points. The other buck was a button buck.

Lee Co. E-2

Lincoln Co. F-1

Long Co. G-1

Lowndes Co. G-2

Good: I was fortunate or lucky to harvest a nice buck Nov. 2. I saw very few deer the entire season but a good number of pics before.

Lumpkin Co. E-1, G-1, F-1

Macon Co. E-1, G-1

Excellent: Deer were in very good condition. All the deer were very fat. Rut seemed to last the whole month of November and was very intense.

Madison Co. E-1, F-1

McDuffie Co. E-1, P-1

Poor: 60 days hunting and one very old large doe was taken.

Meriwether Co. G-2, F-1, P-1

Good: Still not seeing many does with fawns.

Mitchell Co. G-2, P-1

Good: Rains came and late season was good. Freezer full.

Good: End gun season Jan. 31. Rut here starts around Dec. 10, and secondary rut goes every 28 days until end of February. Sightings of fawns at Thanksgiving with spots.

Monroe Co. G-2, F-1

Good: They could lower the limit on does some just to quiet the ones crying. It won’t affect the numbers any or the population. I would like to be able to kill two bucks of any size.

Montgomery Co. G-1, F-1, P-1

Fair: I saw deer but not the ones I wanted to shoot.

Morgan Co. G-1, F-1

Fair: Had several game-cam photos of large bucks and does but did not see any large bucks and only four does hunting a.m. and p.m. Most photos were during the night. Had photos of trespassers also that looked like they were hunting when we were not there. I hunt with five other individuals, and we hunt 200 acres (half is in cotton) but not everyone at the same time.

Muscogee Co. E-1

Newton Co. G-1, P-1

Oconee Co. E-1, F-1

Excellent: Saw lots of deer, more bucks than does. Took my best deer on opening day of bow season, a hefty 155 3/8 in Barrow County.

Oglethorpe Co. E-3, G-3, F-1, P-6

Excellent: The hog population continues to increase in Oglethorpe County.  The hogs reproduce so rapidly and roam over such a large area, it is almost impossible to reduce their numbers.

Excellent: Harvested seven does and a 5 1/2-year-old buck. Let many bucks walk and filled my freezer.

Poor: Killed a small buck opening day after five minutes in the stand. Then, I have not seen a deer the rest of the season. Last year, I saw 37 deer during the season, and I hunted as hard this year as last. What happened to all my deer?

Paulding Co. G-2, P-1

Good: Only reason I checked good rather than excellent is because I didn’t get the big buck. Other than the four deer I had to report, I got three others that WMAs checked out for me.

Poor: Late summer I had six does and one fawn on camera, but during deer season, we never saw any of them or got them on camera. Neighbors feed (not bait) deer, and it pulls them off my property.

Pickens Co. G-2

Good: Need more either-sex days in the north to be able to manage our deer herd more effectively. Members are killing small bucks in order to get their money worth on club with no doe days. Also need to be able to supplemental feed since the drought killed all the food plots and the game suffered.

Pierce Co. E-1

Pike Co. F-1

Polk Co. G-1, P-1

Good: A large fire down the road ran all the deer over to my property. Also, due to the dry weather, other deer in the area came to a lake on my property for water.

Pulaski Co. E-1, F-1

Excellent: Many nice bucks on camera. Killed two, one 8-point with a 20 1/2-inch spread. Our neighbors work together for qdm.

Putnam Co. E-2, G-1, P-1

Excellent: I didn’t get to hunt too much but saw deer every single time in the stand. Passed several small bucks, loaded freezer with two does that I shot and a young man’s first buck.

Excellent: Excellent season this year even with no deer taken! Saw lots of good young bucks and big healthy does and fawns.

Quitman Co. E-1, P-1

Poor: Did not see quality or quantity of deer as past seasons.

Rabun Co. P-1

Poor: Drought, fire smoke.

Randolph Co. E-2, F-1, P-1

Excellent: When you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, then you realize just how blessed you are to see the deer woods first thing in the morning. There is no such thing as a bad deer season.

Poor: Hogs have begun to appear in large numbers.

Richmond Co. E-1, F-1

Excellent: Saw lots of deer. Harvested two 8-points. Hot season all around.

Rockdale Co. E-1, G-1

Excellent: Excellent due to time spent with my family, my long-time friend and his family and plentiful deer.

Good: Had a good hunting season. I saw a lot deer on many hunts but didn’t shoot anything. I was waiting on one of two bucks on camera that were nice.  The tract is only 19 acres, and I don’t want to spook the few deer that frequent the property.

Schley Co. E-1, G-1

Screven Co. G-1, F-2, P-2

Fair: Season too hot and dry.

Poor: I hunt Tuckahoe WMA, and harvest numbers were way down.

Poor: We did not get a shot with a gun on my 180-acre tract of land. Usually get four or five while deer hunting with grandkids. Deer ate up food plots and corn, but out of several hundred photos, only two or three were during daylight hours. This was a very strange season.

Stewart Co. E-1, P-1

Poor: I believe there was an abundance of acorns that prevented the deer from moving. I never really saw much rut activity or bucks chasing does.

Sumter Co. E-1

Talbot Co. E-2, G-6, F-2, P-2

Good: Only saw one definite mature shooter buck but killed three does.

Good: Saw more deer this year.

Fair: The heat and drought did not allow us to sustain our food plots. The water levels in our creeks were very low. A majority of deer were seen near water sources. We have some nice bucks on cameras and saw many smaller bucks while in the woods. Hopefully the quality and quantity will improve next year.

Poor: Got pictures of big bucks at night but never saw anything but junk racks during the day.

Taliaferro Co. G-2, F-1

Good: This year was quite odd with no measurable rain until late November. We recorded fewer deer sightings overall.  This was likely due to none of our 12 food plots coming in until late in the season.  Thankfully, the acorn crop was very, very good. The peak of the rut for us was Nov. 10-12. This is a full week or two behind normal for us.

Tattnall Co. G-2

Good: I did harvest two mature bucks. My only concern is I’m not seeing many deer overall.

Taylor Co. F-2

Fair: Hunted second week in November. Did not see a deer, although my camera showed four or five at the deer feeder. Deer were nocturnal in our area.

Telfair Co. E-1

Excellent: I killed my two bucks and a doe. My son killed his two bucks very early in the season. All bucks were nice bucks.

Terrell Co. G-1

Tift Co. F-1

Fair: The extended drought significantly affected the hunting season, and from what I can tell that effect was statewide. In Tift County, the No. 1 form of litter is empty corn bags that blow out of the backs of trucks. I am guessing this is mainly from local hunters who are too lazy to secure their trash. A true sportsman is a good steward of their community and environment and will not let this happen.

Toombs Co. E-1

Excellent: Lots of deer.

Towns Co. P-1

Poor: I walked a 7-mile hike through Swallow Creek WMA in an area where we would see 20 deer a day in the mid 80s. I saw where two bucks had established rutting areas three to four weeks earlier (while I was in Colorado), four bear, two flocks of turkeys, two herds of hogs, one grouse and numerous squirrels. You could not walk in oaks or hickories without stepping on nuts.  I saw no deer and no significant sign of deer. In Colorado, five with licenses were able to harvest deer, and we averaged seeing at least 40 a day.

Treutlen Co. P-1

Troup Co. E-1, F-3, P-2

Fair: Have seen a significant drop in deer population, possibly due to limits, coyotes, etc. Would like to see limits drop, shorter seasons and occasional periods when the season goes out and then comes back in. Or maybe even no season for a couple years.

Twiggs Co. G-3, P-1

Good: Saw a couple of nice bucks and a lot of young bucks and does.

Poor: Lease was clearcut.

Union Co. G-1, F-1

Good: Both buck tags filled with 3-year-olds.

Fair: Got one young spike. The public land is very poor due to lack of food and shelter.

Upson Co. G-1, F-3, P-2

Good: Myself and son killed a buck each and a coyote. Most deer are on camera at night. We need to revisit supplemental feeding. We are less than 2 miles from Southern Zone, and this may or may not have a play in deer movement.

Fair: I only saw one small buck and a couple of young deer the entire season. Only one buck was killed out of 16 hunters.

Fair: Drought conditions had a negative impact on food supply. Plenty of acorns early.

Poor: Few deer sighted.

Walton Co. G-1, F-1, P-2

Ware Co. E-1, G-1

Excellent: I hunt and live in southeast Georgia. Filling the freezer is not an issue. Decorating the wall is. I have to go on quota hunts to see lots of deer frequently and quality deer.

Good: Saw a few deer and harvested one.

Warren Co. E-1, G-3, F-1, P-2

Excellent: My friend and I each harvested a very nice 8-pointer. Saw more deer than ever before. It was the first time where it was rare not to see deer at each sit. A change this year was that after planting soybeans, we fenced the beans in with electric fence. We opened them up Labor Day weekend.  Previously, we planted beans and deer ate them before they had chance to mature. Beans have lasted all the way to the end of season.

Good: I continually compare the calendar with the DNR map to determine if my grandchildren could harvest a doe that particular day.

Poor: Started hunting deer in 1960. This was the worst year yet. Hunted 15 days and saw three deer. Problem is overshooting does, road-kills and coyotes.

Poor: One deer killed on 435 acres. Killed one deer on that land. Killed more coyotes than deer.

Washington Co. G-2, P-1

Poor: Me and my 11-year-old daughter probably hunted around 60 hours this year and saw two does only. I joined a club in Kentucky for next year. It’s very hard to keep kids excited about hunting when they don’t see anything.

Webster Co. G-1, F-1

Fair: The coyote situation is clearly getting worse in our area between Preston and Plains. There was a time in Georgia when we didn’t have many deer, and none of us want to go back to those days. With that said, I for the life of me don’t understand why the state is waiting to lower the bag limit on does.

Wilkes Co. E-2, G-4, F-4, P-2

Excellent: I only hunted twice in muzzle loader and at least twice a week from late October until Thanksgiving Day. I never made it back to the stand after that. Nevertheless, I had an amazing deer season. Ironically, I did not harvest a single deer. I killed a 141-inch 13-point last year, and I have promised myself I will not take another buck unless it’s bigger than him. I saw more deer than I think I’ve ever seen in a single season.

Fair: I think people are shooting everything they see. I know coyotes are taking their share, but the big problem is the bag limit on does.

Poor: Dry weather, lost our food plots.

Wilkinson Co. E-1, G-2, P-1

Worth Co. P-2

 

Hunters Still Dealing With Yote Problems

With all the press GON has given coyote trapping, coyote hunting and even hosting a yearly Coyote Cull contest, we were hoping for better results. Not so much…

When asked if the negative impacts of coyotes on our readers’ hunting lands was changing, 80 percent said it was the same or even worse. Only 7.4 percent said the negative impacts coyotes had left had gotten better.    

• I am still seeing coyotes and fewer fawns, so we still have a problem.

• In Schley County, I think coyote impact is way overblown. We have coyotes but we are overrun with deer.

• Worse. Took one coyote and saw others while not hunting and didn’t see any fawns this year.

• We have had a coyote problem on our land for several years, and it wasn’t any different this year. We shoot coyotes when we see them. Probably we need to get into predator hunting and calling them in the off season.

• The coyotes are getting worse on our lease. My husband and I attended one of the public DNR meetings, and they acted like there wasn’t a coyote problem in Georgia when several people spoke up and said there was.

• Have a club in southwest Crawford County and have had coyote infestation for years.

• Better. Trapping really does work.

• The coyotes on my property are about the same. I do control them every year by trapping and calling them in to kill.

• Coyote problem remains about the same in Upson County.

• Killed two coyotes in Pickens County.

• Found two dead fawns on our property this year that coyotes had consumed.

• In Talbot County, we believe the coyote population may have declined somewhat. We didn’t hear them as much during the nights as in past years. It appeared we saw a good bit of young deer this year.

• If the state doesn’t do anything about the coyotes in north Georgia, we won’t have a deer left in two years.

• Coyotes are having a negative impact on hunting in my area. I see less fawns, and there has been a decline in turkey poults.

• The coyotes are really taking over in Cherokee County.

• The coyotes have very much impacted our part of Jasper County.

• Better in Sumter County because I hired a trapper.

• In Wilkes County, we’ve heard coyotes pack up and start their howls and chatter a couple of times, but for whatever reason, they’re just not on our place like they used to be.

• Gotten better due to trapping for the last five years.

 

Georgia Fishing Ranked Middle Of Road

It’s pretty safe to say Georgia anglers aren’t dissatisfied with fishing in their home state. However, most aren’t doing doulbe backflips over it either. According to GON’s survey, 82 percent rated their Georgia fishing experience last year as either Good or Fair.

• I have been tournament fishing since the late 80s. This past year was excellent with one of my best years since 1992.

• Flint River shoal bass fishing has greatly improved since the size limit has been raised.

• I only fish for crappie and catfish in freshwater, and the fishing is fair. Fished offshore a couple of times for red snapper. I feel the limit needs to increase to a minimum of four per person. Seems to be more red snapper offshore than I have ever seen. Can’t hardly catch grouper for catching red snapper.

• Good. Mainly because I have a lot of private ponds to fish. Didn’t do much lake fishing this year.

• Didn’t spend as much time fishing as I would have liked. But when I did, it was hot and dry! Drought this
year impacted the lake and stream levels.

• Mainly fished West Point Lake, and there is a tremendous drop in the largemouth population. For the first time, largemouth were put into the lake in 2016. We need better water control to keep levels at full pool. West Point needs a study done like Lake Allatoona. Also look into what can be done for structure and/or planting for cover. Although West Point can produce numbers of largemouth, the fishery isn’t even close to other lakes within a three-hour drive.

• Fishing was good this year for me and my husband. The shoal bass are starting to grow, and the size limit has helped.

• Primarily fished in Alabama.

• Water level was down somewhat this year but caught quite a few bass and crappie. Stripes were a little slow due to the hot weather.

• Fished upper Ocmulgee all season and had a good catches of bream and shoal bass.

• Fair. Only fished a few times catching small bream with the kids at Lake Oconee while camping.

• Only fish saltwater. Fall and winter trout and redfish was absolutely awesome. Best in several years.

• Worse crappie fishing year in 40 years. Water too low or too clear. Jackson especially bad with drawdown and clarity.

• I only trout fish and caught a lot of nice fish.

• We normally have an excellent year on Lanier. This year was inconsistent. Some days were excellent, and other days were poor.

• The little bit I fish is in the mountains on the Tallulah River. The river was down about all summer.

• Fishing in the spring for the striper run in Franklin in Heard County was excellent. The fishing at West Point lake at various accesses (Liberty Hill, Whitewater, Clark Park, and Ringer) was good to fair, but after June, it was awful with the heat and all.

• I live on the coast, and the fishing is excellent. Has been for years.

• I fish a bass club and this past season fished more in Alabama than we did in Georgia. It seems that Georgia lakes have been in decline for the last few years.

• I went fishing a few times at Carters Lake and caught a few small catfish and bream.

• I fish mostly Lake Lanier. This past year was full of changing conditions, but as a whole, I had a very good year on Lanier. I caught more quality fish in 2016 (over 3 pounds) than in the past several years, but the numbers of fish were down.

 

Game Check Rates Across The Board

All deer and turkey hunters in Georgia are now required by law to report their harvest to WRD within 72 hours through Georgia Game Check. We wanted to know how deer hunters rated their experience during this first season of trying to use Game Check to record their harvest. We asked hunters to rate the experience as Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, No Kills to Report, or What’s Game Check?

Overall, 47 percent ranked their Game Check experience as either Excellent or Good. Many comments seemed very positive.

GON did fail to give hunters the option to check a box of “Unsatisfactory.” There were a few folks not happy with Game Check. We were able to include a number of those comments along with the others below.

• I am pleased that DNR instituted the online Game Check to help them manage the herd here in Georgia. I didn’t get a chance to use it a lot, but it was easy and should be helpful for our future.

• I could not get a signal on my phone. When I got to the cooler, they would not take my deer without the confirmation number. I had to borrow a gentleman’s phone to call in my deer. He did have a signal.

• Game Check works great!

• Very poor.

• Game Check was easy and quick on my iPhone. I’m all in favor of it.

• I did not have occasion to use it. I don’t own a smartphone, but I have the number on speed dial in my flip phone. If sportsmen will use Game Check, it may provide a better harvest tally than a “guestimation.” It certainly is more convenient than the old deer tag system. I may be a pessimist, but I suspect that habitual violators will continue their bad habits and ignore Game Check.

• The app is absolutely the best thing since sliced bread. With it I don’t have to worry about having paper license and pen with me, whereas I always have my phone with me. Reporting harvest was intuitive, fast and convenient. I also used the app to get an estimate of sunrise and sunset to stay within legal hunting times. Thanks DNR for improving my hunting experience!

• I like the system but had to wipe out and then re-download the app twice in order to record harvests. The app glitches need work.

• Game Check is great! I can’t think of anything offhand that needs changed. Awesome app with many useful pages and links.

• Absolutely love it!

• Game Check was easy. However, there is no way to verify the information before you submit it. I entered private land and went back later to make sure it was correct and discovered it was showing public land. I notified DNR, and they apparently have two systems for Game Check.

• Very easy.

• I didn’t get a chance to use the Game Check app this year, but the members of my club who harvested deer had no problems with the site. Didn’t hear any negative comments.

• My experience with Game Check was well received. It was very easy to use, and I really like seeing the number of deer being killed.

• Game Check was satisfactory. We were really glad to see Game Check, as I have never had much confidence in the method used in previous years to estimate the whitetail harvest. Now if everyone will use it as it is intended, I think we can get some useful data. I will say though that we did have difficulty on occasion being able to access the DNR website to report our harvest.

• Sketchy cell service in the hills made it necessary to carry paper log and then report again on internet. Need to be able to do one or the other.

• We all like the Game Check option. Internet app was a bit slow, could have been connectivity issues. Overall, an improvement to capture accurate data if used properly.

• I am 79 years old. My wife checked my deer and said it was very easy, good deal.

• Game Check is an excellent idea.

• Easy enough, but I do not have a smart phone. Limited internet access made the process just another pain at the deer cooler.

•The system could be a little more user friendly, voice commands maybe? I did notice people at the hunting club didn’t even bother doing it.

• This system is easier than the old tag system of long ago.

• The automated system had to be repeated so many times that it was very frustrating to the users. Much too complicated. A much simpler system would be having tags required on all game taken and the numbers on the tags used by the processors and DNR. There are still a lot of hunters that take their game, process it themselves and never report the kill.

• Game Check worked for me ok. I did it online at home after I took the deer out of the woods. I helped someone check one over his smart phone.

• Was able to get through on the 800 number with no problem.

• My son reported for me. I’m not a tech.

• Love the Game Check and being able to monitor the number of no-longer-available targets in my county and have an idea of what others are doing near me.