PA Antler restrictions

longbowman · 01-16-2002, 10:15 AM

OK PA hunters, yesterday the Game Commission gave preliminary approval for antler restrictions for this upcoming season. 11 counties will require 4 points minimum on one antler and everybody else will require 3 points. I hope people who hunt with a gun can count fast!

midman26 · 01-16-2002, 11:15 AM

I am all for it!!!!!!!!

Jason N · 01-16-2002, 12:13 PM

I'll take my time counting before I let that carbon missle fly. I'm confident I won't have to pick up a rifle this year as in past years.

Oh, I've been hoping for this for years, so I'm pumped up for it.

BarnesX.308 · 01-16-2002, 12:15 PM

There are a lot of yearlings that grow 4-point and 6-racks. There will still be a lot of yearlings shot. Only this time the ones that walk will be spikes. I don't know if a lot of PA hunters want QDM forced on them. It might hurt license sales. If a spike makes people happy, let them be happy.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

Tazman · 01-16-2002, 12:45 PM

Well I will be honest, first I think it is a good idea, but I would be willing to bet that a lot of folks will wind up in trouble during doe season. I killed a 4 point this year that I though was a doe! I have hunted for more years than I care to admit and this is the first time I ever shot what I thought was a doe, that turned out to be a buck. When I shot him he was only about 40-45 yards out and even though there was snow on the ground I saw no horns, another guy saw this little buck from about 20 yards and thought it was a doe also. His beams were as thin as my pinky and only about 6 inches long. I would have been in trouble in Pa. To be honest though if it had been bucks only when I saw him I would have let him walk. With a law like that I would be sure to keep my binoculars with me to make sure I did not mess up.

The Tazman

PABowhntr · 01-16-2002, 01:17 PM

I am all for it...and glad to see that it was finally adopted. Now folks will really have to be patient and count the points....

....but as Cardeer illustrated in the Northeast Regional forum...a 3 point is fair game..if the points are all on one side...<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Buck Magnet · 01-16-2002, 01:21 PM

I just have one question. How are they going to enforce this. I GUARENTEE that there will be people shootings small bucks and either leaving them there or taking them and not caring about the law. How is this going to be stopped?

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
P.S. Only Chuck Adams can sit at home and see deer so get into the woods. =;^)

buckhunter3 · 01-16-2002, 02:01 PM

I just feel sorry for the fathers of young hunters starting out when they have to tell them almost every buck that they see you can't shoot it has to be an 8Pt. or better.
I hunt with my son to go out and see some deer shoot a buck if possible not to take him on a trophy hunt.If I wanted that I would go to texas on a ranch.

BTBowhunter · 01-16-2002, 02:02 PM

People shoot short spikes now and do just that. It is a regrettable part of hunting. Hopefully it will be a small number but it will undoubdtedly happen. let's hope everyone is a bit more careful this year.

boltman · 01-16-2002, 07:34 PM

A father of a young hunter can allow his son to shoot a doe under the new regulations as I understand it so there will be plenty of hunting opportunities for him. The benefit to the herd by letting small bucks walk will be seen in a few years when that young boy will have better hunting than his father ever had. For the question of how are they going to enforce it and the observation that there will be a lot of small bucks shot and left in the woods all I can say is if that happens then Pennsylvania sure has a lot of slob hunters. All game laws are voluntary to a certain extent since there's no way the wardens can police everyone, but if pennsylvania hunters can't resist shooting a small buck when it's illegal, especially now that they can shoot does for meat, then there's a pretty sorry lot of hunters in pennsylvania. I for one don't think that's the case and believe the vast majority will abide by the law, especially since it's for their own good and the good of the herd.

This year my cousin's 11 yr old boy shot a 9 pointer that scores in the mid 130's here in mississippi. We've been practicing QDM for about five years now and the results are showing. This boy shot his first two deer (does) at age 9, got skunked last year, and bagged that big 9 pointer this year while hunting by himself. He passed on numerous spikes and forkhorns because he was taught right about QDM and respected the game laws. My question is, how many 11 yr olds get an opportunity at a buck like that in pennsylvania? I'll bet most grown men hunting there would give their eyeteeth for a buck like that. If you shoot all your young bucks then you won't have opportunities like that, it's a given. Let the youngsters shoot some does and be proud that they got them. A doe is as much a trophy as a immature buck anyday.