ORIGINAL: SteveBNy
They may be willing to shoot young bucks AND does, but I gurantee you that the majority of your meat hunters, will harvest younger bucks on a regular basis.
Severalthings:
1 - I find it hard to believe that someone in VA (or anyone else non local to my area) could possibly guarentee what the hunters do here. Anymore then I could tell you what the hunters do in your back yard.
2 - 40% of the DMU's in NY had low or no doe tags issued because of populations. Unless a hunter also bow or mz hunts (2/3 do not), they would only be able to shoot bucks w 3" or more spikes. Under many proprosed AR's,what could they shoot?The majority of hunters heremay huntopening day and a couple more ties - tell them they can't shoot hardly anything and the recent declines would escalate - we DO NOT need to lose any more hunters!!!
3-I get a lot more opportunities at doe/family groups then I do at bucks - therefore I shoot does until my tags are done.
4- All 1 1/2 old deer are great eating - and the majority of hunters are still DEER hunters - not trophy guys. Their trophies are the memories of the hunt.
5 - You suggest I shoot small bucks - again a wild arse guess - I let them pass. But I don't tell anyone they should too just because that is what I choose to do.
Steve
I think you misinterpreted my post. I said you/your as a generalization of meat hunters, those who I have been assoicated with. I apologize, I should have been more specific. Also, I was pretty vauge when I said that younger buck present more opportunities. They obviously do not. I too, am presented with more shot opportunities at does than young bucks, although I am usually presented with a shot opportunity at a young buck every hunt. But it does offer some meat hunters a different form of gratification. My post was directed towards you and I'm sorry for not beign very specific. But as I said before, the majority of the meat hunters I know, routinely harvest younger bucks.
One property next to ours give meat hunters a truly bad name. They harvested 20+ deer this year off a 40 acre lot, because they love to eat them so much. Are you kidding me??? They also harvested a young 5 pt. several spikes and I dont even want to know the number of button bucks they took. Yet when we talk to them they complain about not seeing any big bucks. Well common sense will tell you that if you dont shoot them when they are younger, then they will grow bigger. Point being, they consider themselves meat hunters, yet they harvest way too many deer off their property and take young bucks while complaining about the lack of mature bucks they see.