RE: ar restictions for ny
Sometimes you need to "force restrictions" on people. That's why there are seasons and harvest limits. Antler restrictions not only grow bigger bucks, they bring the buck-doe ratio back to where nature intended it, which is 1-1.
As stewards of the land and its inhabitants, it is our responsibility to keep things in balance. If you want meat shoot a doe. What is the sense of shooting a spike buck that may posess the genes necessary to keep the herd strong?
Think about how many rubs and scrapes do you see out there. How often do you see bucks fighting over breeding rights. I used to see it often. I havent seen two bucks fighting in years. We have so many does and so little bucks in many areas, these signs are disappearing, because the bucks are so busy breeding the vast amount of does out there. That permits any rinky dink buck to breed, which is not what is supposed to happen. Only the largest /strongest bucks should bedoing the breeding.