I am in favor of antler restrictions.If you do what you have always done you will get what you have always got.If they want to restrict it to spread to prevent high grading than that'sfine with me.I saw strong evidence this year that antler restrictions allowed a number of 1 1/2 year old bucks to make it 2 1/2.With some patience and self discipline we can have some much better hunting.
This is my opinion,I am not a biologist,just a guy who hunts his butt off every year and I know what our woods and mountains hold.
I hadn,t heard it till now ??
I,ve been letting smaller bucks spikes, 4 points and 6 points walk for years now .
Yes I,ve seen a few on the hanging pole of my neibors .
Kinda s$$$s but its every hunters choice .
I agree on letting then grow for a few years to give them the chance at a desent rack .
As far as making it a law ????
I think the DEC and or Law makers think well have boone and crocket bucks running around in a couple years .
I dont believe it because there are alot of hunters out there that dont like playing by the rules and will never eat all the deer they kill .
If it comes into effect I believe it might discurage future sportsman .
I'm all for it!! I have let the little ones walk in hopes of seeing a
"larger buck" for years now, and gues what, yep, I have been eating my tags!! Do you know why!! The "other guy" just wants to fill his deer tag with the very first Legal buck he sees, because he is a meat hunter!!
So that small 4pt or spike that Ipassed on, gets blown awayby the guy over the next ridge because he just wants to fill his "Meat" tags!!
So tell me, how are the small bucks going to ever get bigger with that kind of mentality in the woods!! By placing antler restrictions, they now havea better chance of making it!! Again, I'm all for it!!
I'm with you SteveBNy! As far as I'm concerned, the arguments for AR are merely diversions and excuses to simply advance the single minded goal of making it easier to kill a big rack.
"BWAAAAABWAAAAAA... I let that 4 point go and that guy shot it...BWAAAAABWAAAAAA BWAAAAABWAAAAAA... he should have let it go too so I can get a big buck...BWAAAAABWAAAAAA ...please DEC make him stop... sniff sniff ... I want a big bu..u..u..u..uck..."
Meanwhile, amidst the whining, trophy bucks continue to be taken all over New York State!
The "other guy" just wants to fill his deer tag with the very first Legal buck he sees, because he is a meat hunter!!
So that small 4pt or spike that Ipassed on, gets blown awayby the guy over the next ridge because he just wants to fill his "Meat" tags!!
Darn them,hunting for their own reason and basically hunting for the original reason people hunted.
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You're only one post away from a federal watch list.
Sure in the meanwhile trophy bucks get taken in our state, especially in certain locations of the state, but think about how many hunters go out on opening weekend. During the weekend and the rut, those deer have problems.....someone will obviously get a slim chance to wack a big trophy buck, right?
Where I live almost every spike, fork horn, 5's small 6's get wacked the first week. I literally passed up 8 different bucks on opening weekend and then finding out only 2 made it. We have deer cam pics of all the bucks,we scout and bowhunt in the same area, we know what bucks areout there and quality/age structure sucks! Like i stated earlier, 90% of the bucks harvested in our state don't make their second B-Day.
It's sad when we have to count on the current button-bucks to be our bucks for next season. If you need meat, harvest a doe-common sense boys!
Like i stated earlier, 90% of the bucks harvested in our state don't make their second B-Day.
According to the study done by cnywhitetails for their proposal for 7f,7j,7h, the figure is closer to 70%.
Quote:
If you need meat, harvest a doe-common sense boys!
And what dot the hunters get to hunt in the WMU's that have few or no permits? Only the bucks AR determines are trophies?
I know hunters in 7j(high probable) that did not get one this year.
I have mixed feelings on this whole ordeal. I was glad the DEC has approached it slowly withpilot test WMU's first.
I personally have gone through stages ofpassing on smaller bucks, in hopes of seeing more larger bucks. I didn't noticea big difference, but other hunters I know were shooting whatever, and ones I'd passed. So I then gave up the idea. This yr. I was lucky enough to harvest a nice buck during archery season. I wasn't purposely hunting a large buck, but setup where I believed a few nice bucks we had on camera were traveling, and hitting alarge active scrape. It paidoff. Since then I've been reconsidering this whole antler restriction thing, andconsidering goingback to passing smaller bucks. I was also approached by anew adjoining property owner whose planning on the doing the same, and hoping others in the area will follow his footsteps. If I do it, it'd depend on my other hunting partners feelings as well. Its their choice on what they'd like to harvest, so who am I or anyone else to decide that!
They say hunters go through stages throughout their hunting lives. I've harvested so many smaller bucks over the yrs Ireally had the taste for a nice one. Now its in my blood! Buteither way I just enjoy being in the outdoors, and enjoying all the experiences I come across while hunting. Whether I get shots or not if I see deer or have a new experience while hunting I go to bed with a smile on my face!
Now I'm a father, and have sons entering the hunting world. As they get older I'd like them to have the same opportunities I had. Its tough to expect others that haven't yet done what I have in the woods to be restricted in their efforts. I don't find it fair for the hunters that are young, or less experienced in the woods to be restricted to hunting the same larger animals experienced hunters are pursuing. We all know large bucks exist under the present system. Maybe not as many as we'd like, but they are there. They are possible to harvest as I discovered this season.
My main reasons for AR or agood QDM program would be for the health of the herd itself, and not personal large antler dreams. I took some deer mgmt in college. Although that was back in the 80's. I believe basically larger bucks do most of the early breeding. This allows for May & June born fawns, which gives them the extra month to grow & better survive the upcoming winter. If this was in place, perhaps the DEC wouldn't have to depend so much on winter kill numbers from yr to yr. in determining permit quotas for each WMU.I know its not all that simple. But I think the healthiest deer herd possible is what the DEC should/could be trying to accomplish.
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08' Bowtech General
02' Champion Stratus
The basic fact remains that no biological benefits to the deer herds will be realized through higher AR or a QDM approach. Back up claims with hard, solid science. No one has done that, and the Region 9 Biologist pointedly stated that no benefits to the herds would be realized, and instances of paoching could very well increase while driving away hunters due to loss of opportunity.
In order to manage the herds using higher AR or QDM, methodologies and metrics for determining herd sizes and establishing harvest goals would all change dramatically, voiding historical data because the info we have archived becomes invalid. In order to show any success at higher AR/ QDM approaches, one must have the detailed information that we quite frankly DO NOT HAVE.
Educating hunters to pass on smaller bucks is what needs to be done. Passing a law will screw the pooch.
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ol' Doctari
WeLoveOutdoors.com
Freelance Outdoors Writer
Rec Sec. Erie County Federation of Sportsmens Clubs
Secretary Audubon Fishing Club
RE: New York Antler Restrictions State Wide?
