ORIGINAL: R.S.B.
ORIGINAL: bluebird2
hat makes high grading from antler restrictions in those southern states much more likely then would occur from antler restrictions in the northern states where we don’t harvest our bucks until after they have already pretty much completed their short annual breeding cycle
That is absolutely not true and shows that you don't understand the concept of high grading. The initial effects of high grading has nothing to do with when the buck are harvested or when the doe are bred. High grading simply refers to harvesting the best buck in each age class which results in an average smaller rack size in the succeeding age class. Kroll's research supports that theory as does the results from Miss.
When you compare antler restrictions and breeding potential between northern and southern states you are compares apples to pumpkins right from the star
Are you sure you know the difference between apples and pumpkins?
You are correct about what causes high grading but you are also 100% incorrect about the possibility or potential for high grading here in Pennsylvania.
Since Pennsylvania was previously only protecting bucks with antlers less then three inches, before the change to the current antler restrictions, if there was any chance of high grading in this state it already happened a long, long time ago. Now we protect more of our better bucks then what we have EVER protected before, so if anything we have started the steps of reversing the past more significant potential for high grading by only keeping the really short antlered spikes.
In those southern states they would also be much more likely to see degrading of the genetics then would occur in the northern states where harvest our bucks after the rut instead of before.
R.S. Bodenhorn
RSB, that is a blatant crock of crap, and you know it. Claiming our old three inch spike rule could have caused high grading is nonsense. That rule was designed for two purposes only. To protect BUTTON BUCKS with small but visible spikes, and hunters flinging lead and ground checking does, with the odds of perhaps finding a button protruding above the hairline. High grading among the spikes. Gimme a break.
There is one other very important point that makes all of the difference in the world between southern and northern states and there buck management objectives.
In the northern states we have a narrow breeding and fawn birth period as required by nature due to the timing of spring and winter conditions.
Therefore our deer are bred before our hunting seasons remove the bucks.
In the southern states the deer have a much longer breeding period with most of their does not being bred until after their buck hunting seasons.
That makes high grading from antler restrictions in those southern states much more likely then would occur from antler restrictions in the northern states where we don’t harvest our bucks until after they have already pretty much completed their short annual breeding cycle.
When you compare antler restrictions and breeding potential between northern and southern states you are compares apples to pumpkins right from the start.
Before or after breeding is irrelevant. The best yearlings get ONE chance to breed before they are legal to be harvested. A sub legal, inferior buck will have atleast two seasons to pass on his genes...the first season he was protected, the second season, breeding before gun season takes place, and then possibly even a third season depending on if his spindly spikes have matured enough to make him legal as a 2.5 year old. Even an old fool like you can see how protecting inferior buck for rate of development allows them to pass on 2 or 3 times the amount of genes as the superiorbucks that are legal for harvest as a yearling.Texas' restrictions are a superior method. Period. Allowing those spikes to be harvested and adapting a spread based restriction could only improve the quality of our bucks. Did you even read the link? And why dd you specifically dodge one glaring question in particular...Why did TX buck harvest return to normal after the first year of AR's while our's has still never returned to pre AR numbers, even five years later? Any fool can see that theirs is clearly a superior method, with superior results. Not to mention that they made clear reference to the possibility of high grading and took specific measures to reduce or eliminate its effect, while PA is still in denial.
Button bucks don’t even come close to having three inch antlers and the past antler restrictions had nothing to do with protecting button bucks.
You would think that a career WCO would have seen a few deer in his day. I have a skull at home that I have had for a number of years. It is obviously the skull plate of a six month old button buck...The deer was killed as an antlerless deer, in rich farm country in 5A. The deer weighed approx 85 lbs, and his buttons are two inches long. While I have rarely seen buttons of that length, they do exist, and the old three inch rule would have protected this deer from harvest as a legal buck, not during doe season. Because bucks shorter than three inches were legal for harvest as antlerless deer, your claim of the old system causing high grading is a crock of crap as well. While it certainly allowed for a very high percentage yearling buck harves, there was NO possibility of high grading as NO measure of buck was protected, permitting a diverse buck harvest, based on hunter choice. If the PGC wasn't so closed minded, or actually gave a crap about hunter satisaction, they would see that there are ways to increase the age structure of our bucks, while reducing high grading. Imagine...our bucks could actually BE getting bigger within their respective age classes....not just older, and possibly smaller. Oh yeah....when are they going to release some definitive antler data comparing pre AR antler size to current antler data?
Cricket, cricket, cricket.......