Doc
Good responce you seem to have the numbers. If I was willing to shoot 1.5 year old bucks I would have killed 2 every year in the last 5 years maybe longer.This is the same with the other 2 guys I hunt with as well. Thenieghborsnear ourone camp shoot on average 5 bucks a yearwith only 3 of them hunting. Most of the guys that I know that hunt private property that are willing to shoot young bucks shoot more than one buck a year on average. I think the DEC does not have good numbers mostly because these people hunting private land are proccessing there own deer and I do not think they are reporting many if any deer taken. I also belive that some guys fill other hunters buck tags so it may look like they both shot one buck each in reality one hunter may have shot two. I know this reporting thing is a problem and I dont blame the DEC for it but it gos back tothe hunter mentality of not working towards a better deer herd. Also if it would not effect but a few hunters to make it a one buck rule why not change it. On the propertys I am invovled in we have a one buck rule in place and it most be at least a 2.5 year old or better to shoot and if you shoot a button buck by accident you have to take a mature doe before you can shoot another buck. These rules are all well and good but with competeing with the nieghbors we are lucky to shoot one 2.5 year old every 3 or more years. We spend a lot of time and money on equipment, food plots, tree stands, timber harvest, trail camerasand fruit tree work for not much pay back. I am not saying we should hold everybody to this standard but some change is needed. If the hunter attitude does not change or there are some rules changed then anybody thinking of QDM, food plots and all the other stuff had better keep there expectations low or just save there money for something else.