Those computer simulated studies you keep trying to hang your hat on have been very well discredited by a number of other studies that showed totally different results when real deer were studied instead of the make believe deer in your studies.
Maybe you should take a break and do a little research on the results from Miss. If you do you will find I am not citing the results from computer studies, I am citing the results from surveys of buck harvested across the entire state. The results show the average rack sizes of the buck decreased across the entire and if they could have accounted for the bucks that weren't AR legal and therefore not harvested, the resu;ts would be even more damning.
Nor is there anything, not one single shred of anything, that gives any indication that the antlers of the Pennsylvania bucks being adversely affected since the introduction of antler restrictions regardless of how much you wish there was. You keep saying that the bucks are being high graded and the antler are getting smaller but you are full of bologna because it just isn’t happening the way you say it is.
Are you claiming you know more about ARs than Dr. Rosenberry, who told me he did not know if the rack sizes of 2.5+ buck increased or decreased since ARs were implemented?
Here is what Miss. had to say about ARs and high grading and please note they are not talking about computer models.
MDWFP DEER COMMITTEE
Chad M.Dacus
Deer Program Coordinator
(601) 432-2177 •
[email protected]
William T.McKinley
Regional Deer Biologist
(601) 582-6111 •
[email protected]
Chris McDonald
Regional Deer Biologist
(601) 757-2313 •
[email protected]
Why not the 4-Point Law?
Research conducted by the MDWFP and Mississippi State University indicates the 4-point law has reduced
the antler size of harvested 2.5 and 3.5 year old bucks across the state. Researchers and biologists believe the
4-point law allows the harvest of better quality yearling bucks, while protecting lesser quality spikes and 3-
point bucks. The result has been a decrease in antler size within age classes of older bucks. The combination
ofthe 4-point law, high hunting pressure, and lower reproduction has resulted in the over-harvest of bucks and
decreased antler size in deer herds across Mississippi.
To correct these problems, quality yearling bucks must be allowed to reach older age classes. Antler
restrictions that protect a high percentage of 1.5 year old bucks while limiting the high-grading of 2.5 year old
bucks are needed. This protection will prevent over-harvest of bucks and improve antler size as bucks get older.
These protected bucks will also improve skewed buck:doe ratios, resulting in a shorter breeding season. A
shorter breeding season will provide a more uniform fawn crop with regards to future body weights and antler
production.
Then we have this from Arkansas about their ARs.
The 3-point rule has now been in use for five years here in Arkansas. Are we on the verge of seeing antler size beginning to decrease?
Catherine Helm is one of the prime forces behind the annual Arkansas Big Buck Classic, one of the nation's largest deer shows. She is directly involved with the event's highly popular statewide big buck contest.
"When the 3-point rule first went into effect we saw an immediate and dramatic increase in antler size of the bucks entered in our contest," Helm stated. "But in the last couple of years that trend has leveled off and maybe even decreased a little bit."