Ryan - you and I have talked about this before - the poaching problem that comes with spotlighting. Big picture, I know it will help keep more big bucks on the hoof if we pull the plug on spotlights. This will be the impetus that causes that to happen, I think. I still have mixed feelings.

There's a difference in what we do, versus what some other people do, though. We scout like maniacs, wasting hundreds of dollars in gas every year, driving the roads, banging on doors, spotting hundreds of miles of field strips,looking for a book buck. We've seen the ugly underbelly of jacklighting, and we know that it's a huge tax on our big buck population. That matters to us, b/c we try to specifically target a big buck.

Most of our guys don't do that. They couldn't care less.They take the kids out a couple times a year, just to look at some deer and enjoy the evening. They don't care about big bucks, really. They hunt 2-3 days per year, and couldn't care less whether they shoot a scrubbuck or a doe. Those are the people who will pay the price. Spotting was a way of life for all of us guys. We grew up doing it. Once it's gone, it's gone for good.

In all, I'd agree. Our hunting will improve if we unplug the spotlights, but that will certainly cause me a lot of boring August nights.[>:]

Just big picture - are you guys prepared to make the trade-off? If the handguns come in, the spotlights go. Can't have it both ways. Your kids will never get to experience that. Your grandkids will never get to go spotting with Gramps. That's the cost.