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Tag before you drag?

Headhunter said:
And tag before you drag changes that how? I have been involved with hundreds of dead deer n Tennessee, my help is available to most anyone. I have been called at all hours of the day and night and unless I am to far away or just can't help (only a couple times have I ever not been able to help) to help with skinning and deboning deer. I enjoy it as much as the hunting.

Never and I mean NEVER have I seen a "temporary tag" checked by anyone, never, never heard of anyone getting in trouble for not having a temporary tag. If someone is going to NOT check in a deer, they are going to do that whether or not tag before dragging is in place. And since cell phones, I just check them when I kill them. If I don't have service, I check them when service comes available.
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Buddy of mine and another friend from Mississippi were hunting one morning back when does were still sacred and you had to get drawn to kill them.
They killed two, one each, and were headed back to my buddy's house to cut them up and stick them in a cooler. No, they had no plans to check them in and yes they were going back out that afternoon to try and kill a couple more. Ain't sayin it was right, just sayin that's what they were doing.

Game warden was parked, actually had a road block set up, with a state trooper helping him.
They crossed the main highway about a half mile from the road block and headed the back way to his house.
Truck with trailer and four wheeler on it.

Long story short they outran the game warden but the trooper went a different way, drove alot faster and cut them off. :D

My buddy tried to notch his temp kill tag with a knife while he drove 80 through the backroads.
He got out of the truck when he stopped and tossed the tag, which was basically cut in half, in the bed of the truck. 🤣 🤣

Game warden said he could do one of two things.
Take his buddy, who was from out of state, to jail and he would have to bond out, and give my buddy a ticket also.
Or he could give my buddy two tickets for improperly tagging deer and call it a day. :D

Think it ended up costing them about $200 each :D
 
Wrangler95 said:
Transporting a deer is to either have a tag on it or checkin on the phone where the deer lays.If a hunter is very close to home and wants to take the chance he may bypass the checkin!!Seen it happen!Why do you think the TWRA requires you to either tag it on the spot or checkin on your phone?If the Warden see's your deer with no tag or see's it not checked in on your phone,you have broken the law!
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Years ago when I first started hunting we had temp tags. You filled out and turned in at the tagging place. This new system is no different and anyone wanting to skirt the law can.
 
RUGER said:
Buddy of mine and another friend from Mississippi were hunting one morning back when does were still sacred and you had to get drawn to kill them.
They killed two, one each, and were headed back to my buddy's house to cut them up and stick them in a cooler. No, they had no plans to check them in and yes they were going back out that afternoon to try and kill a couple more. Ain't sayin it was right, just sayin that's what they were doing.

Game warden was parked, actually had a road block set up, with a state trooper helping him.
They crossed the main highway about a half mile from the road block and headed the back way to his house.
Truck with trailer and four wheeler on it.

Long story short they outran the game warden but the trooper went a different way, drove alot faster and cut them off. :D

My buddy tried to notch his temp kill tag with a knife while he drove 80 through the backroads.
He got out of the truck when he stopped and tossed the tag, which was basically cut in half, in the bed of the truck. 🤣 🤣

Game warden said he could do one of two things.
Take his buddy, who was from out of state, to jail and he would have to bond out, and give my buddy a ticket also.
Or he could give my buddy two tickets for improperly tagging deer and call it a day. :D

Think it ended up costing them about $200 each :D
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Wow, only time in all my life I heard of it being enforced. Sounds like it was useful there.
 
I have killed well over 400 deer, I have never been checked (other than checking in at a check station on a hunt that required deer be checked in at the area being hunted) and other than that never heard of anyone being checked. I have never seen a road block set up either to check for deer, that is interesting, if that would have happened in Middle Tennessee, at $200 a pop, I would have had a pile of money in tickets, I quit using the tags long before they got rid of them. They were never looked at, by anyone, no one ever asked for them at any check station, and it was a pain, especially on a long drag to attempt to keep up with them. maybe if they made a sticker type tag that you could wrap around the antler or a leg that didn't come off, then maybe work, but in Tennessee, other than to write a ticket to someone, what purpose do they serve? And I would bet a majority of hunters use their phone anyways. With phone check in, don't even need them at all, IMO, just a waste of time.

One time I tried to use one on a WMA hunt, it got lost dragging the deer out. Long drag, close to a mile. Officers at check station asked where was it and I told them between where I killed the deer and where I parked, I would be glad to go back with them and look for it, they said don't worry about it. I could see if you try to leave the WMA or public land you were hunting with an untagged deer, but if you carry the deer directly to the check station on the public land it was killed, what does it matter?
 
Jcalder said:
Years ago when I first started hunting we had temp tags. You filled out and turned in at the tagging place. This new system is no different and anyone wanting to skirt the law can.
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What purpose did they serve? What did the tagging place do with them? Long before they got rid of "tag before you drag" in Tennessee, most if not all places I went to NEVER asked for them. If they did, which was so rare, they just tossed them in the trash. The temporary tag never meant anything and was good for nothing, and the same still applies to it now and I have ZERO urge to cheat in any way at all. Those that do want to cheat the system, unless the game warden is tipped off about it, tag before you drag makes NO difference to them.
 
Headhunter said:
What purpose did they serve? What did the tagging place do with them? Long before they got rid of "tag before you drag" in Tennessee, most if not all places I went to NEVER asked for them. If they did, which was so rare, they just tossed them in the trash. The temporary tag never meant anything and was good for nothing, and the same still applies to it now and I have ZERO urge to cheat in any way at all. Those that do want to cheat the system, unless the game warden is tipped off about it, tag before you drag makes NO difference to them.
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The local check in hang out place actually fussed on me for not filling out my temp tag once. Told me if it wasn't circled or notched I could expect a ticket in the mail. That's been 10-15 years ago now.

Same place, different owners ran a deer contest I think during juvy season. Wanted you to check your deer in there to get entered. If people truly did, and I'm sure plenty did, they violated the law. I killed one last year that I wanted weighed and they have the only available scale that I'm aware of. Girl I went to school with runs the place, and I asked if she minded. No big deal other than she fussed on me for checking my it in online. Told her I was in violation if I did it there. I got the craziest look lol.
 
I remember the temporary kill tags. Didn't mind doing them then don't mind doing it now. Temp kill tag was attached to license. Now I put the cut out piece of paper with my paper license. If it does any good or not I don't know
 
I just returned from a state that you have to physically still get checked in. They look at and put their hands on 100% of the deer tagged.

The TWRA app is great 😂

For once Alabama may have the TWRA beat on something. Their app allows you to log it in even without phone signal. That way you are legal immediately and once signal is gained the app automatically sends the info in for you. And the TWRA app well do this now. Anyone know for sure?
 
Our game warden back in those days didn't care one way or the other, at least as far using a temporary kill tag. He actually said it did not make sense.
 
I got written up for not checking in a deer. I had used the temp tag, and since you didn't have to check it in anywhere, I didn't. The app was new, and apparently the rule was to use the temp paper tag, then you had to go back in and check it into the app.

The only use I see is to get some good stats of the deer killed, but of course that relies on people actually checking in the deer.
 
The TN app allows "tagging" even without phone signal. I always have a printed copy of hunting and fishing regulations as I can find the info quicker than scrolling through my Android. The answer is found on page 25 of the hunting regulations. Look at the sidebar on the left, "Electronic Tag/Mobile Check-in for the answer.
All I need now is a deer to tag.
 
RUGER said:
Ok so I haven't deer hunted in several years. Seems everything changes every year.
Had a discussion yesterday and I am just curious.
The way I read the regs if you kill a deer you have to fill out the little paper tags that come with your license that you print out.
Then you have to check the deer in.

1) Do you have to attach the little paper tag to the deer?
2) How long do you have to check the deer in after the kill?
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It's easier to use the app and do it electronically. You can do that whether you have cell service or not. As soon as you get back in cell service it will upload to the TWRA database. Trust me on this… I had a run in with a GW in Benton Co. this past Turkey Season. I killed a bird, and had left my phone at the truck. He saw me with the bird in the woods on the way to the truck. Long story short… I got a ticket. I checked the turkey as soon as I got to my phone too.. but it didn't matter to the officer as I had broken the law as it was written.
 
RUGER said:
Ok so I haven't deer hunted in several years. Seems everything changes every year.
Had a discussion yesterday and I am just curious.
The way I read the regs if you kill a deer you have to fill out the little paper tags that come with your license that you print out.
Then you have to check the deer in.

1) Do you have to attach the little paper tag to the deer?
2) How long do you have to check the deer in after the kill?
Click to expand...
Yes,they just reinstituted that this year.
 
RUGER said:
Ok so I haven't deer hunted in several years. Seems everything changes every year.
Had a discussion yesterday and I am just curious.
The way I read the regs if you kill a deer you have to fill out the little paper tags that come with your license that you print out.
Then you have to check the deer in.

1) Do you have to attach the little paper tag to the deer?
2) How long do you have to check the deer in after the kill?
Click to expand...
Yes,they just reinstituted it this year
 

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