This post is directed to all who either beleive that you should only take mature bucks if you are an experienced hunter or have a fear of antler restrions being put in place due to the taking of small bucks.

Every state is different, that is why there are different restrictions in different states. One size fits all in deer herd management does not work, each state and even different areas of certain states have different restrictions.

I will only talk of the deer herds in the 2 states I am familiar with, in reality all of you should only express your opinions on the states you are familiar with the long term history of both the deer herd and the restrictions that were in place and the impacts of the restrictions on the herds.

I am familiar with both West Virginia and Virginia so I will limit my comments to the states I have personal knowledge of.

Virginia 35 years ago, the majority of counties were 1 buck a year counties, the county I hunted in allowed 2 bucks and 1 doe, there were several counties that had a closed season on deer.

West Virginia 35 years ago practiced the sacred doe philosiphy, it was bucks only, limits on bucks I am unsure of.

Virginia 25 years ago, most counties did have a deer season, many of those counties that had been closed were now 1 buck per season, most of the ones that were 1 buck per season became 2 buck counties, still no doe season, the county I normally hunted became 3 bucks and 2 doe.

West Virginia 25 years ago still practiced the sacred doe philosiphy, it was bucks only, limits on bucks I am unsure of.


Virginia 15 years ago, all counties had a deer season except two, most counties allowed 2 bucks, some three, all of the 2 buck counties allowed 1 doe, some 2, 3 buck counties were allowing 2 does.


West Virginia 15 years ago finally started to realize the sacred doe philosophy was a mistake and started allowing the harvest of doe. I had a friend who hunted West Virginia and said before they started to allow the taking of doe the average number of doe he would see in a single day was 40-50, one day he counted 108 doe and never saw a buck.

Virginia today, all counties had a deer season except two, almost every county allows 2-3 bucks and depending on the season, bow black powder or gun, 2 doe a day, every day during bow and black powder, and 2 doe a day during gun for 14 days of the gun season. There are incredible numbers of deer in Va. now. There are a ton of nice bucks even though there are a ton of buttons, 4&6 pointers and basket 8's taken every year. I started to figure out how many deer deer one hunter could legally take in Va. if they hunted every day every season, they could kill 3 bucks and over 100 doe in my county! Even with these limits and the number of bucks taken per year there are still a lot of bucks that are true wall hangers taken off of public land and even bigger ones on private land.

West Virginia today I can not comment on because I do not know personally what the herd is like today or thier restrictions.

Should we apply the regulations used in Va. to all states because we have a huge deer herd with a lot of nice bucks?

Of course not, that would be ridiculous, that makes as much sense as saying that all bows should have a draw length of 30" because a lot of bow hunters have a 30" draw length.

QDM is a personal choice, if you choose to use these practices on your property or lease that is great, but to make statements that all states/areas should practice it is ludicrous. There are states with antler restrictions and there is a reason behind those restrictions which usually is to balance the ratio of buck to doe.

If you live in a state where the buck to doe ratio is way out of whack I whole heartedly support you pushing for some form of regulation to put it in balance.

My main point over all is that no one should deride a fellow hunter for what they chose to harvest in thier state as long as it is legal.

Just remember "One sizes does not fit all!" especially in deer herd management.

Oh yea and who ever wants to take this bet I will cover, I will bet what ever amount of money any one wishes that Virginia will never put into place antler restrictions in the next 50 years!

BTW for those of you who say it is BS about deer damaging crops, you need to come to Virginai and check it out, there are farmers here that suffer huge losses of crop to deer even with 50-70 deer killed on their farm every year. Do not speak of areas you are unfamiliar with, you truly demonstrate an ignorance of what you are saying, what may be true in your area is not true every where.



The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club