Antler Restrictions?
 

Does your state put antler restrictions on deer?If so, do you support it? And if not, would you support an antler restriction in your state? (ex. 4 points, or 3points ona side)

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

No. Our state has no regs on antlers.

Yes. I would support it (in SOME form).

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

They have ARin some zones here. Where I hunt it's 3pts on one side.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Illinois doesnt have any antler restrictions, I really think somthing should be done to keep small bucks from being harvested.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Yes we have em. I support em. But honestly I wish they weren't needed.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

No my state doesn't have antler restrictions (except some small pockets of voluntary QDM drones).

No, I would not support them in any way shape or form. Horrible idea that sends the worst possible message to young hunters IMO.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

I hunt MI and IL. No restriction in either, but there needs to be and I would fully support it. The young hunters can shoot a doe.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

In my home state of Missouri, there are antler restrictions in certain counties. 2 years ago the conservation dept held meetings in various counties and asked landowners and hunters what they wanted. Earn a buck was an option along with antler restrictions and a few others. Antler restrictions is on a trial for several years to see if the age class of bucks would increase. More hunters in these selected counties voted on the measure. The county I own land in is one of the counties with AR. I am in favor of it, as I would rather shoot a doe as a young buck. During our youth season, however, these counties allow youth hunters to take any deer regardless of the size of the rack.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

I don't think they are a good idea as there is always the odd buck or two that seem to have bad genetics and need to be removed for good herd management. I am also a believer in letting an individual make up his own mind on what is acceptable to take. As I get older I am more about a good clean harvest than a big rack. If the two come together thats great. Thats me .02 worth.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

we have them. my side of the state is 4pt. most of the state is 3pt to a side.

i have mixed feelings about it. it would be good if everyone played by the rules...but that aint the case...JRs, disabled people and some otheres get to take any buck...i have no problem with that...but factor in how many get killed illegally ontop of those legal numbers...and some areas dont gain much from the restrictions. first day of rifle i heard guys talking about shooting illegal bucks...i was on the highest ridge around 25 foot high in a tree and my radio has a 10-15 mile range so i couldnt pin point them..but it happens too often...

id love to see them work...but so far after a good 4+ seasons ive seen limited effects...

i do love the guys that shoot a 3.5+ year old buck and say something like "well thats proof antler restrictions work!" BS! that buck been legal for alot longer than the year you killed him!!

alot of 1.5yo bucks are legal in PA. we get alot of spikes and fork horns...but its not uncommon to see a 1.5yo with 6 or even 8pts. heck ive seen some 10pts that were 1.5yr old. thin short tined 6-8 inch spreads..but 1.5yo 10pts...PA definently has some decint genese behind there deer...weve always had some nice ones..

taxidermists and butchers say numbers of trophys gone way up...but guys i dont know...i still have mixed feelings about them yet

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

My state does have antler restrictions and I do support it. I think the quality of bucks has gotten better over the last 5 years.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

No I would not support mandatory antler restrictions in Illinois. My reasons:

We have a healthy herd and that is what QDM is/should be about. A new or young hunter is always proud and excited to take any deer...lets keep it this way. We are beginning to see deer treated as livestock and as such along with that comes greed, jealousy, and in my opinion too much emphasis is placed upon the kill instead of the hunt. In this regard I believe a young /new hunter would be somewhat disappointed if he had to continually pass up deer and perhaps not kill one. JMO.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

We do nont have anler restrictions in the state of wisconsin. I would wholeheartedly support it if we did. Personaly I think they should do it by managment unit so there are still places without them, That way if someone wants to shoot a small buck they have that option by going to a unit where no restriction is imposed.

If wi were to ever do this I would also be for a special 3 or 4 day youth hunt for kids under say 16 to harvest any buck they so choose. It would have to be a special season though so you don't have adults shooting them and making there kids tag it. There are some people that would do that if you would allow the kids to harvest anything during the regular season


Good hunting
Jeff

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Yes, here in Pa we have them in effect. And I'm all for it. I see morelarger bucks than before restrictions. Quite honestly in my region 5-D, I'd like to see "earn-a-buck" go into effect.;)

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

I am in favor of our AR. There has definately been an increase of 2.5 yr bucks harvested in PA since it's inception. Before AR , 90% of the bucks taken were 1.5yrs. old.But I am w/ MAUSER06 that we allow too many seniors,kids and militaryto legally shoot any buck w/ 3 or more total points. Don't get me wrong I know why it's allowed , but even those allowed to harvest any buck need to be limited in some way or AR will have a limited effect.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

I agree with livinfortherut. I've only hunted one season in Arkansas where they have the antler restriction of 3 points on one side, and I support that, but I think that it might be a good idea to exempt youth hunters... especially the young ones who haven't bagged their first buck yet.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

In Michigan, you can shoot 2 bucks so the first can be one without restrictions and the second has to have 4 points or higher on one side. I think it helps and would like to see a regulation where you cannot shoot a buck with under 3 points on one side. But that would only be for the adults, since the youngsters will be goin for anything for that firsttrophy

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Our state has a 3 point rule, I wouldlike to see it go to 3 points on top excluding brow tines. Some hunter use the 3 point rule to say I thought it had brow tines or I thought I saw some.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

No restrictions in Texas. I would absolutely support a 4X4 legal antler restriction! Doesnt everyone want to see bigger, older deer?

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

The county that my family hunts at in Georgia has an atleast 4 points on 1 side rule. If you go to the local butcher/check station you will see a lot more does than expected being shot. Leads me to believe that QDM management is being created just by this law. In the 5 years that I have gone there the # and quality of bucks have definitely increased however the days of seeing 25 does in a foodplot in 1 night have gone away

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

New Jersey.........3" spike on at least one side.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Oh my God, don't get me started....[:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

If the legislate it I'd be all in favor of it. Problem with self imposed things on public land and shared private land, you really need all to agree. I've said for years, just close the buck season for about 2 or better yet 3 years and everyone will become a believer.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

No - there is NO biological reason or proof that points based AR does anything positive for the herd.
Also leads to hy grading - if you don't know what it is, then look it up before supporting a program that creates it.

Steve

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

A legal buck in NY is one with at least a 3" antler one one side. If it doesn't meet that requirement, it has to be tagged with a doe permit. I would be against any additional restrictions for us.

One thing I have noticed being able to talk about these issues with people from all over the country ..... everything is relative ...... you midwest guys seem to have 130 class deer running all over the place ... it's not that way here ... we also do not have the thousands of doe running around that some of you other guys seem to have ... I mean ... 6+ deer / year allowed? WOW...

This past year in my area, I knew people that did not get even ONE doe permit .. they had a buck tag for gunseason, and an either sex tag for bow ... if you bought a muzzleloader permit, you got another tag for antlerless ..... I'm against it here ......

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Steve, You need to check some of the threads that are in the N/E section. The PGC, as some of you may be aware, initiated AR AND increased doe tags 4 years ago to balance the herd. We had 1.5 yr old bucks doing most of the breeding because the older bucks were only 10% of the buck population.
AR may be the question here, but it's a double edged sword. A balanced herd needs to be part of the attempt.
Some stateshave a fairly good buck to doe ratio. AR in this situation is IMO QDM. NY state is looking at PA as a model and I am to understand that NY is cutting back on the # of bucks you will be allowed to take this year. They are trying to balance the herd. AR will be next and it's the best thing PA has done, and NY can do for the herd and quality of hunting.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Arch, that statement right there is subjective .... what's quality hunting to me, may not be to you .... I think it all comes down to percentages ...... the lower the number of P&Y Bucks, the better a 100" one looks, AND a 150" buck ..... it's the whole "bigger is better" deal ...

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

It would be a "bigger is better" deal if your herd was balanced now. NY is in the same situation we were 5 years ago. AR is not intended to create trophies in this circumsatnce, it's intended to help balance the herd.

It would seem to me that if "Hunter A" can take a buck in two or possibly 3 different zones and 3 different seasonsAND was unable to otbain a doe tag , if his success rate is 50% , he will be taking too many bucks out of the herd. If "Hunter B" repeats this scenario or close to it, the buck/doe ratio after a few years of this is way out of balance.
This is what NY is facing..the need to balance the herd...not to create P&Y bucks. AR is the way to do it AND limit the # you can take. In your state you can take a buck w/ a bow, and one w/ a rifle, and (you tell me) I think another w/ a muzzleloader. Taking out that many bucks doesn't leave many to breed the does. You will have what we had in PA, buck fawns doing alot of the breeding in the second estrous period. A large # of does may not be bred at all. It's a spiral downward anyway you look at it.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Yep we have antler restrictions here in FL. Must be atleast 5" in length on atleast one side.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Is there anyone here that can honestly say, "I want to shoot that small 4-point instead of that monster 10-point"? Give me a break! We all want bigger bucks, otherwise we would squirrel hunt! There is no shame in that.

It is a "fact" that if you shoot a 4-point, he will never be a 10-point.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

We started QDM 3 years ago on our property. We now have more big bucks, a more intense rut, and a better buck to doe ratio (just like the research said we would). My dad was totally against QDM at first until I told him this, if there was a 4 point, a 6 point, and 10 point infront of you which one would you shoot? His answer was obviously the 10pointer, My reply was if you let the bucks grow there will be a lot more 10 pointers. He then said what if a 4 point is a trophy to me? I said you've never mounted a 4pointer, but you have mounted 2 10pointers & 2 big 8pointers. Dad has sense come around to the right way of thinking. It comes down to self control, almost all hunters would rather shoot a bigger buck. The science has proved how to have more mature bucks, let go of your stubborn pride and open your mind, and if you are truley a "meat hunter" just shoot does, they taste better and there are plenty of them to shoot in most areas of the country.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

Ditto....(from my greedy side)

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

I would like to someting here in MI ar might help but we do still have bucks that would meet the requirements that are year and half old deer my friend works in a butcher shop and they hadalot of young deer in there So I think we need something maybe even a 1 buck rule and doe permits where needed

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

A couple of our management units have them on an experimental basis.This season will be year three of the experiment.I do support them.I do believe there are better ways to improve the habitat,the deer herd,and the quality of hunting.But in the absence of those things being implemented,I will continue to welcome and support antler restrictions.

RE: Antler Restrictions?
 

I have friends in MI that tell me the problems that exist there are the same as we had in PA. MI needs a management plan. Before AR and doe reduction all you saw at a butcher shop was 1.5 yr. oldspikesand 3 pts.and a bunch of does. The exceptions were bucks taken from private prop. and hunting leases.