Very early on in my writing career, I was told by veteran writers never to talk badly about your reading audience. That is probably true. However, if my reading audience doesn’t change their ways at certain things, I won’t have an audience left. So, here goes!

If you believe that collecting data on harvested deer actually helps the wildlife biologists better manage the deer herd, then why wouldn’t you obey the law and tag your deer and then report it to the agency?

Louisiana evidently has a problem getting their licensed deer hunters to do just that. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries estimate that close to 140,000 deer are harvested during the deer hunting season. Of that number, only 65,081 deer were registered with the agency. Hunters failed to obey the law.

I’m guessing Louisiana doesn’t have a shortage of deer problem which may contribute to the lack of hunters following the regulations. Even with the threat of fines and jail time, officials claim it is not a deterrent. Instead they are going to enter everyone who registers their deer into a raffle to win prizes, including a “choice of a Remington 700 or Thompson Center breech-loading rifle in the winner’s choice of caliber, with a scope and case to go with it.” Seriously, is the best use of resources?

It appears that on the LDWF website, enough information that is required to purchase a license should be enough to prohibit the purchase of a license the following year if a hunter fails to report his deer. It seems that a few adjustments in the system could remedy the problem relatively easily. It may be more expensive that a grand prize but it might be a long-time cure.

I’m not one for government regulation of any kind. However, I think it is important to provide data to the wildlife biologists in order that they can properly manage game. Evidently Louisiana hunters do not.