The situation played out pretty much the same in MS as the op described. The problem was that they waited too long to start allowing a significant doe harvest and the population got out of control, now 30 years later we're still trying to get it under control. The latest gimmick the wildlife guys are using is a two week doe only "primitive weapons" season starting tomorrow. That season will run up until the start of the rifle season which is any deer. The two week "primitive weapon" season runs during the last two weeks of bow season which has the bow hunters all upset.
I put "primitive weapons" in quotations because in Mississippi a legal primitive weapon can be a centerfire as small as 35 caliber. The way the rules are written a NEF handi rifle in 35 whelen with a scope is a primitive weapon. I just sighted two in yesterday and got through loading 50 rounds of ammo. Somehow a 200 gr. hornady interlock doing 2700 fps out of a 35 whelen doesn't sound too "primitive".
It's all kind of silly. It would have been much better if they'd managed the population correctly from the get-go instead of trying to fix it now.
