Ignore rumors: TWRA doesn’t back 2-buck limit

When I started approaching the big 4-0 and my health began resembling that of an older man, I thought I’d be smart and stay ahead of my various ailments by thoroughly researching them on the Internet.

But with so much misinformation circulating, I realized quickly that researching symptoms on the Internet can make you think you’re going to die of virtually everything any minute now.

When it comes to the Internet — with health information or anything else — it’s always a good idea to consider the source of the info you’re reading before flying into a tizzy over it.

Tennessee deer hunters received a reminder of that this week.

Someone, somewhere got the notion that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was preparing to recommend to the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission that the state’s annual three-buck limit should be lowered to two bucks or one for each

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segment of the season (archery, muzzleloader and firearms).

TWRA officials say it’s not true.

They say it’s never been true, and they don’t have any clue where someone might have gotten that idea.

Still, some deer hunters heard the “news” as it spread across the Web and decided they were going to die of virtually everything any minute now.

They raised such a fuss that TWRA issued a release on the matter Thursday.

“The Wildlife Resources Agency staff will not be recommending a reduction in the statewide buck limits during next week’s season-setting meeting preview with the Fish and Wildlife Commission,” Daryl Ratajczak, chief of the Agency’s Wildlife Division, said in the release. “I have seen those statements on social media and in email, but I don’t know how they originated. Every facet of deer management is discussed during the Agency’s season-setting meetings leading up to our recommendation to the Commission.”

So there it is — from the horse’s mouth.

According to one of TWRA’s highest higherups, the news that has caused such a stink on websites like tndeer.com and qdma.com isn’t news at all.

There’s no need to show up at next week’s TFWC meeting, scheduled for Thursday and Friday at the TWRA Region II building in Nashville, with a big group of your buddies to fight for that third buck.

As always, you’re welcome to attend the meeting and comment on anything you want. But a three-minute diatribe about why you should be allowed to keep killing three bucks a year will be a waste of your time and the commissioners’ time.

In my mind, information you get from random sites on the Internet is a lot like an estimated weight for a fish. It might be close. But for an actual weight, you’re going to need an actual scale.

If you want reliable information on what the TWRA is doing, you need to get it from someone who actually wears the TWRA logo on his or her shirt every day.

It’s been my experience that TWRA doesn’t shy away from tough changes.

But when they make those changes, they make them well within the light of day — and they make the announcement themselves. To reach Bryan Brasher, call (901) 529-2343 or e-mail brash-