Originally Posted by
Screamin Steel
I see your point about the intent and purposes of AR....What of the occasional mature, older buck that has either broken some or most of his tines, or just developed into- say a large, four point rack. (I have seen this myself twice. One was actually a large spike that was 5 1/2 years old.) If A hunter harvested a mature, 4 1/2 year old buck, field dressing near 200 lbs or more...that had large massive y's on both sides, and we penalize him for killing an obviously large and mature animal, as well as culling an inferior buck from the herd...an animal that was protected and given additional breeding opportunities expressly under our current regulation. I note with interest that some states now considering point based restrictions, are doing so hesitantly, as they are VERY concerned with any possibility of high grading their buck herd. I'd have to say, that in my opinion, there should exist a clause that would vindicate any hunter who upon delivering his buck to a WCO, could establish reasonably- due to body size, and other characteristics, that his buck was obviously age 3.5 or older, that he should be pardoned.
It would lay that burden of proof entirely on the hunter...challenging his ability in those rare opportunities, to age a deer on the hoof, and if he is correct, he would be vindicated. If his ability is lacking, he pays the fine. You can bet he would be darn sure, before pulling the trigger.
Good thoughts. No AR applied over a whole state will ever be perfect. No matter how we implement rules designed to help let our bucks get older, there will always be that oddball that doesnt fit the rules. With a point count, we'll have some bucks squeak through that have less than the required points. Heck, there have even been a few B&C six pointers redorded!! (not PA)
An antler spread has been generally accepted these days as a better way to protect young bucks but it's not perfect either. There are plenty of heavy horned, high tined 10-12 points out there that might not be 16" wide ( a common spread restriction minimum)
All that can be definitively said about any large scale antler restriction so far is that it works more often than not in alllowing bucks to get a year or two older. Splitting hairs over fractions of an inch simply makes no sense from either a law enforcement perspective or a management persepective and a WCO said so many pages ago.