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NapalmCheese t1_iwd1uji wrote

Reply to comment by lantonas in Purchasing Venison for the holidays by vtbb

Game management is a weird thing. It could be that Vermont supports enough deer for every hunter to harvest 4 deer a year and maintain the herd. In that case, while what they are doing is against the letter of the law, it's still within the intent (maintaining a healthy deer population). On the other hand, it might be that Vermont is gambling that most hunters won't take 4 deer a year, and so using someone else's limit towards your own limit is not only against the letter of the law, but also the intent.

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not even a resident. I'm just some shmuck thousands of miles away that inherited some VT property from a deceased parent many years ago. I'm also a hunter and conservationist. I honestly can't say if what they are doing is in line with Vermont's projected deer harvest, so won't pass judgement; other than to let them know that what their buddy is doing is technically illegal.

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lantonas t1_iwd34td wrote

Let's say you go fishing and the daily limit is six trout. A game warden shows up and you have ten trout on the stringer.

Would "Sorry officer, those extra four are for my neighbor, but don't worry, he has a fishing license!" or "Sorry officer, those extra four count towards tomorrow's bag limit" get you very far?

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NapalmCheese t1_iwd3sdm wrote

Oh no, no matter what it's technically illegal, and if caught I would expect someone to get cited.

What I'm getting at is, from a conservation side of things, though it is illegal it may not be wrong (i.e. anathema to the conservation and maintenance of VT deer herds).

I imagine however that VT is depending on the fact that most people won't kill four deer a year, and as such, 'using' someone else's tags is likely also (from a conservation and herd maintenance standpoint) wrong.

For instance, as a non-resident landowner I can hunt my own property and take up to four deer. I doubt VT's deer herd models are expecting that to happen. Almost certainly VT does not have enough of a deer population to sustain having every single landowner, and every single hunter, shoot four deer while maintaining a healthy deer population for next year.

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