ORIGINAL: vtbuckrulrss
the biggest reason that ar's bother me is this: as you well know, hunting deer in vermont can be tough, i am sure that we both know people that no matter what, can't seem to see a buck, or any deer for that matter to save their lives. let's say that they only are a rifle hunter, which for those that don't know this means for example that in vt., we can only shoot a buck with at least one antler measuring 3'". i think it a bunch of crap that for that person, when the moment arrives that they finally do see a buck, if it doesn't meet the ar criteria, they go home emptyhanded. while they can up their chances by trying different methods, such as a bow, of hunting, not everyone does. personally, i rarely have a freezer without venison, but i have a friend that is my age, 36, and has only put a tag on one deer in over 20 years of hunting, and he rifle, bow, and muzzleloads. if we had the kind of population problem pa does, with many doe tags given out, perhaps i wouldn't hate ar's and the thought of them, i would be at least able to shoot a doe for the freezer. but i think it is wrong for the elite few with enough money in their pockets that they can push their ajenda(?) through a state agency just for the sake of being able to put another head on the wall, when the only good reason for ar's to me is to keep the herd healthy. and so far, from what i have read, it hasn't convinced me that ar's were put in place in pa for anything other than the greed of a few, dr. alt included.
What you are saying here makes a lot more sense to me than your first post. I do however hope that Vermont does something soon about their deer herd. I still take deer every year in Vermont (one buck during rifle season this year and one doe during archery) but there is certainly major issues with low deer numbers, and a serious problem with buck/doe ratios.......makes PA look like texas when compared to VT. It makes no sense to me that you can legaly take 3 bucks a year in this state........thats craziness when it is something like 1 in 12 people here are successful with no AR's. I hope it is reduced to 1 buck per year, and I wouldn't mind seeing AR's come into affect with the ability to only take 2 deer per year. I hope to see AR's not only for bigger bucks, but so that there is at least a protected group of bucks that can breed. I know there are a lot of does that don't get bred in VT, this year I saw at least 5 different adult does with no fawns, and about 4 does that did have fawns. That is not good at all and in my opinion is a direct result of not enough bucks. I also wouldn't mind going without a buck for a few years so that hopefully the buck population can be rebuilt in Vermont. Where I hunt, in most areas you are looking at 1 buck taken per square mile which is awfully low. I hunt a farm that is approx 900 acres that is surrounded by alfalfa, apples, and swampland (absolute prime picture perfect deer habitat) and I took the only buck on that property this year, and no one else even saw a buck during hunting season. I did see a few other bucks during archery season but passed them up because they were small and I would rather shoot a doe than a spike. It will be interesting to see what happens with regulations in Vermont for the new year.
Edit - It's a shame that you live so far north in VT, if your ever in the Rutland area on a weekend let me know and maybe we can meet up for a beer! I wish I knew other hunters in this part of the state.