Very well stated jf5! My comments were not directed at any one person specifically(in this case Phade)they were general comments expressing my opinion.I do not attack people verbally unless attacked by them.It serves no purpose.I am a hunter and this forum is a communtiy of hunters who seemingly for the most part are some pretty fine people.
There is an expression that" if you do what you always have done you will get what you have always got"
Why was it so hard for you Phade to kill that buck you killed?You have every right to be proud of your kill(I would say harvest but there are some people on this forum that think you are a mary if you don't say kill)I bet you worked darn hard to put yourself in a position to kill him and then you "closed the deal".In my area of NYS it is hard to kill any buck much less a 2 1/2 year old or older.The reason that is is because there are so few of them.Because of my interest and committment, personally I could kill young 1 1/2 year old bucks every year if I chose to.I choose not to,because of that myself and others have had the opportunity to kill some bucks that other wise would have already been taken a year or two prior.
In our area of NYS the casual hunter stands very little chance at killing a big buck and possibly it is for the same reason it was so challenging to kill the 5 pointer that Phade shot.
Others have made the argument that by implementing anything that restricts the killing of younger bucks you are making it easier to kill bigger bucks.That of course to a degree is true.I think it would be a better conclusion to say it makes it possible to kill big bucks versus next to impossible given the current management philosophies.(At least in my area of the state).Big bucks are never easy to kill,and I say that from my experience of hunting every year out of state in an area where there are plenty of big bucks.
Antler restrictions are not the only way to accomplish having a broader age class of bucks,to date it is the only one that has been proposed.Other possibilities are a one buck a year limitation,one tag only that is an either sex tag,shortening our firearms seasons dramatically.Look at where the biggest bucks in our state are being killed,it is in the bow only zones.The shot gun area's produce consistently bigger bucks than the rifle area's.There are other legitimate ways to accomplish having a more balanced buck population.(I am expecting to be bashed by those who think the natural order of any mammal population to be other than one to one,where 85% of the females bred are bred by adolescents)Save your breath I will never be convinced that that is the way it is supposed to be!!
I think one of the root aspects of the problem is that no one is willing to give,to sacrifice at all,to attempt something different!It would be perfectly fine with me if there was a moritorium on killing any bucks for two years,we would have some gagger bucks if we did that.
They are killing some huge bucks in PA,if they were better in PA with the amount of management permits that were allowed I don't believe you would be hearing all the negative things that you have.
Sorry for the long post! Phade,a sincere congratulations on your kill!I know how hard it can be to be successful.
Merry Christmas!
Scot