Just trying to understand the idea behind and reason for the 6 day? There is a ML and Shotgun season with a buck tag that can be bought. Why have this 6 day "buck season" that as far as i can tell, seems to be thought of as a joke by most serious hunters on this forum. Not trying to start a war with this question, just want to understand.
What is the reason for the 6 day?
John B
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Thanks for sharing that - I wasn't aware there was a bear season. Interesting that bow got one deer either sex, 6-day one antlered, and the "doe day" only allowed a deer of either sex if you did not yet take a deer...
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6 day is the ORIGINAL deer season. Doe season used to be called doe DAY. All the other seasons have been added over the years.
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You could bowhunt for bear back then!
Buck week simply did not evolve once the doe days were placed ahead of it and neither did it when they placed the start muzzleloader season in front of it. It used to be the first time you could kill a buck with a gun. It lost it's luster now expecially since bow-hunting has become so wildly popular and a ton of more people hunt it. Buck week is basically a dinosaur now.
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I live in zone 6 also. The season there sucks! Thats the reason I hunt zone 9 from September- February, with the bow. I dont even look at my shotgun Or muzzle loader any more, unless its small game or waterfowl season. I hunt 6 day with the bow also now that they allow it. If zone 6 had seasons that were actually worth hunting I would probably hunt it again, until then I stick with the farm in Mendham I hunt in zone 9.
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I disagree with those that say 6 Day is obsolete or a dinosaur because even today it remains the busiest week we have of hunters in our woods, bar none. Yes it has lost some of its luster, but it remains very popular. That said, I'd like to see changes to it myself moving forward including one buck maximum that week. Deer population dynamics and our personal hunting preferences along with the advent of more modern bows and muzzleloaders (and slug guns) dictate that it's time to make some radical changes to our various deer seasons and bag limits.
As for those that said 6 Day was "about making the Division more $$", you'd just be wrong. That season comes with the cost of your license and you get 2 bucks tags as well. It has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with tradition. Forty -sixty or so years ago, compound bows didn't exist, slugs were launched out of side by sides and other action types and were called "pumpkin balls", and muzzle loading rifles were mostly smoothbore flintlocks. Shotguns with buckshot or pumpkin balls were our most effective weapons for deer in those days and we had relatively very few deer state-wide (but plenty of hunters). Every self-respecting hunter took off at least part of 6 Day to head to the woods for their chance at a buck.
As for those that said 6 Day was "about making the Division more $$", you'd just be wrong. That season comes with the cost of your license and you get 2 bucks tags as well. It has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with tradition. Forty -sixty or so years ago, compound bows didn't exist, slugs were launched out of side by sides and other action types and were called "pumpkin balls", and muzzle loading rifles were mostly smoothbore flintlocks. Shotguns with buckshot or pumpkin balls were our most effective weapons for deer in those days and we had relatively very few deer state-wide (but plenty of hunters). Every self-respecting hunter took off at least part of 6 Day to head to the woods for their chance at a buck.
Totally agreed. The way the Division decided to make money is to bump up the muzzleloader season before the doe days so that it's the first gun in the woods that can kill a buck.
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Questions like this can only lead to other more puzzling questions about how NJF&G runs things. Like, why do we have to buy a rifle permit??? What the hell is that all about? Does any other state require a permit for a specific weapon??? Or, why do we have extended bow season with new permits required when pretty much the whole state is open from Sept to Dec???
Oh yeah, to suck as much money as possible out the resident hunters which has only resulted in more people dropping out of the sport. The obvious answer is to get rid of a bunch of F&G bureaucrats and other staff, drop the pensions that none of us private employees get anymore and cut the overly generous benefits. And before anyone chimes in with lame justifications on how little license prices have increased, the great job they do for us, how many deer we can kill, etc, etc...all I gotta say is look at what residents pay in NY & PA compared to what we pay. Then look at what a nonresident pays in PA and the hunting opportunities that license gives you compared to what we pay as residents in NJ. It is ridiculous & it cannot be justified.
Oh yeah, to suck as much money as possible out the resident hunters which has only resulted in more people dropping out of the sport. The obvious answer is to get rid of a bunch of F&G bureaucrats and other staff, drop the pensions that none of us private employees get anymore and cut the overly generous benefits. And before anyone chimes in with lame justifications on how little license prices have increased, the great job they do for us, how many deer we can kill, etc, etc...all I gotta say is look at what residents pay in NY & PA compared to what we pay. Then look at what a nonresident pays in PA and the hunting opportunities that license gives you compared to what we pay as residents in NJ. It is ridiculous & it cannot be justified.
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you can go with me and the 73year old guy im taken[up]
We can go the way of PA or other states and say one buck and your done. I just got back from pa. the day before gun season is like a holiday. everyone is out, looking and talking. even the bow hunters get into gun season. It is what deer hunting is. Sure bow is a part of it and any more the biggest part here in nj, But as I read through all the post I see in many, the attitude,this is what I think and like! and the rest of you can go to you know where, if it is not what I think or like. you don't like drives because for one week it messes you up, without even thinking that many of those, in those clubs, only get a chance to hunt that one week. They may be old timers, or they may be those that realize that hunting is more than killing a deer. we bow hunters don't like gun hunters because it messes me up for one week. who cares if I have only been hunting since mid Sept. I normally try to watch what I say, don't like to ruffle the feathers, but to be honest, there are a lot of you on here that is just plain self centered BROWN EYES!!!!!!! And you guys better understand the NJFW does not Manage Deer so we CAN HUNT THEM, They use deer hunting to keep the population levels from going out of control. I am with tine go back to what it use to be. Bow season started the first week of OCT and ended the day before small game. no deer hunting until 6 day then 3 days of muzzle and 3 days of doe and 4 weeks of winter bow. and we will see how many are the deer hunters they think they are!!!!!!!
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6-day was the original firearm season . There was fall bow season. No permit bow season, no muzzleloader season and doe permits were by mail-in lottery. If you got a doe permit you would feel lucky because a lot of applicants were unsuccessful . Bow season was for real bows, releases were not even legal let alone crossbows. Back then it was not unusual to see a hundred deer on opening day, herds of thirty deer coming by were common place but you were lucky to see an antlered buck. So many things have changed some for the better some for the worse. The unlimited doe harvest has certainly improved the doe/buck ratio. Now by the time six-day comes it is not like "opening day" the deer have been hunted with a bow or even crossbows since early September, they have been hunted with the muzzleloader(even two days for bucks) and there have been shotgun doe days. The deer are already very weary and many bigger bucks have gone nocturnal. I would not say it is better or worse now just much different.
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