RE: New Years Resolutions for NY Hunting & Hunters
and another topic that has gotten some run recently
Buck Limits - I hate (maybe hate is too strong of a word, how about vehemently oppose) this new notion of a 1 buck limit I have heard proposed. I just don’t know what purpose it would serve. If you believe there are “no” deer in NY (I happen to think there are plenty), what does lowering buck harvests do? Males do not control deer populations, females do. Unless someone can convince me that there was a sound management premise behind it and that it was necessary, I would never want to see this happen. I also don’t like the notion that with one good day, the hunting season could be over or severely reduced (for instance, if you shoot a buck on the bow opener and had no doe permits - under current season structure). I did hear an interesting idea regarding this subject and relates to ARs also. Maybe a have a structure where a hunter’s first buck can be any legal buck, whether taken with gun, bow, ML, or crossbow (?). However, the second buck would have to meet an AR limit (whatever that might be would have to be determined). This might be a good way to incorporate some of the benefits of AR without infringing on hunters ability to take a deer.