I took your original post as you meant it and I appreciated it. I think past conflicts on this forum are tainting peoples perceptions. Personally I'm for persuading non "strictly meat hunters" to let the little ones pass. On my farm, that's my rule, nothing 6 or under (unless it's a huge 6). Even if you're killing a doe try to shoot the bigger older one. I have people tell me it probably won't survive the season and that if I don't shoot it someone else will. Maybe, but if I shoot it it's certain that it won't survive the season. Personally, we have enough deer and I've seen enough and shot enough smaller bucks that I don't have an interest in shooting them anymore. It's like catching bluegills. I'd rather just watch them and be amused. That's just me. I enjoy the filler between bigger bucks to have the others as entertainment. The thing is when you start to legislate these attitudes. I know this wasn't the point of BOW's post, but for some people it is. The problem is defining what is satisfying to a person. BOW sounds like the type that enjoys the challenge. The more difficult the challenge, the more rewarding the payoff. Others sound like just the experience is what makes it fun. Just to be out in the woods and relax and see deer and maybe even shoot one, whatever the size. I'm a little of both. I like a challenge but after a certain level it becomes more work than I want to invest in a recreational activity (sort of like the drag vs. pickup debate on another thread). When you start legislating what is a quality hunt it's hard to satisfy everyone. I would have rebelled strongly against QDM restrictions my first several years of hunting and I'm coming around to more that thinking now that I've had lot's of opportunities to take the smaller bucks. The exception being for kids doesn't sit well with me either because what if I didn't start hunting until I was thirty? I have a friend I introduced into hunting a few years ago and he was thrilled to kill anything and he was in his twenty's. So I'm not for strict legislating of size limits. I think you have to cater to the minimum expectations because you can always enjoy higher self impossed standards but if you raise the standards than those who enjoy lower requirements are left out. The key is to do what BOW is doing and try to PERSUADE as many as you can through reason and discourse. I think BOW's only fault was putting any defining guideline (4 1/2 years) in his arguement. People will always be able to find fault in the details, but you can usually sell them on the concept. Where I hunt, I would be happy to shoot 2 - 3 1/2 year old deer all the time with the occasional older buck. Just encouraging people to shoot 1 1/2 year old or older deer raises the mean age limit for the area, thus increasing the number of deer at the higher end of the spectrum. It's kind of like size limits for striped bass here in the Chesapeake bay, it hurt at first but now the overall quality of bass caught is so much better. Everyone just remember that not everyone has the same motivation or requirements of enjoyment as you do. And isn't it great they don't? Think how crowded the woods would be then.