Steve,

With the skyrocketing cost of land upstate, I think it is a likely scenario. The taxes are also going up as well. While I am a landowner, I do invest a lot of time in planting nut and fruit trees and fruit bushes to help the wildlife as well as attract more deer to my property. While I would never harvest any animal that I would not intend for food, I would also really love a nice 120-140 size rack. I think most would.

However, I think that the herd is in very bad shape. The buck to doe ratio must be dealt with ASAP. Taking more does and having limit on bucks will be the only solution to balance the herd. There is no other way that I can think of. Well to do that, you issue more DMP’s and this will reduce the number of does. Then we need toincrease the number of bucksby limiting the harvest.You canlimit the harvest of bucks basedon restrictions of a natural characteristics like antler size or points.

I cannot see any how a three point rule will limit hunting. There simply is no evidence that this is a factor. I am from the Midwest and let me assure you that farmers that sell hunts on their land are doing it because it helps pay the bills. It’s a new and highly profitable source of income.They limitaccess becauseit effects their income. Nothingis for free these days.Many of these hunter/clients that go to the Midwest are East Coasters from NY and PA. We are the ones creating the demand. If we could get 120 to 150 class bucks in NY and the NE, then I would bet there would be much less demand for Midwest hunts and the farmers would be less restrictive of access.

So what is the cause of the land access restrictions that you mentioned? Here in NY, for example, the farmers are selling their farms off to developers. The restriction of land access is due to the real estate market and the high demand for acreage. Lots from 5 to 10 acres are in tremendous demand. In the Catskills, this land was less then a $1000 an acre 5 years ago, today it can get $5K to $20K per acre. These new land owners do not hunt and are posting there land. This is where I see the restrictions that is becoming a crisis for those that want to hunt private land.