well i dont hunt Illinois but i would LOVE too sometime.
we have antler restrictions here in PA and i agree w/ what you say abotu the best bucks getting shot.. but the state doesnt.. and along w/ a lot of other people.. i think it would be better to have a age restriction in place.. but that would be so hard to do.. most hunters wont be able to tell and in some cases it is hard to tell w/ the hunter that can tell.. now the way we do it for kids and "old" hunters they are aloud to shoot whatever buck they please..
ORIGINAL: RiverBottomBowHunter
Good Question 50!
My opinion is I would not like it. The reason being is that in Illinois there are a lot of 1 1/2 year old bucks that grow 8 point antlers. These are the ones with better genetics( I believe). What would happen is these good growing young bucks would all be shot while the deer that could only grow say a four or six point rack would be able to walk. Therefore the better genetics would be taken out of the herd.
now if more bucks is what you want then this method might get this accomplished.
I just like the idea that if I take a kid hunting and the first deer we see is a 6 pointer I want him to be able to shoot that deer, i do not want to tell him he has to wait for a bigger one for his first deer. Now personally I wouldn't shoot it but I think it would make an excellent first deer.
Strictly Opinion.
RBBH