Well.....the other part of this is I want them shooting the first DOE that they have an opportunity to take. If that's in the first 10 minutes of their hunt......then I expect them to pull the trigger and not wait on what "might" come by their stand, later.

It runs a 'little" deeper than "3.5 yr old bucks are fair game".

1st doe......goes down. Second...third....yep. ALL does go down. If a maure buck happens by FIRST.....have at it. But don't let that get in the way of the overall plan.

Jeff,
Only you know your friends and what the will tolerate. But be careful. The land you hunt is not your own (correct me if wrong). Your bring them in and they see the promised land..maybe they get their own permission to hunt there. Then any Management scheme you've worked hard at controlling is gone.

Good hunting land changes people..I hope you know them well and it works out for the best. If they are stand-up guys, they should hunt land you bring them too---by your standards--- as long as they know this going in!!

If I am a guest at someone's spot, I will follow whatever rules they want me too.
I'd expect the same in return.

If I was taking someone newer, they get free reign to shoot what's legal.

As everyone else has also mentioned, it's YOUR spot and therefor YOU make the rules and codes of conduct to follow on YOUR tract.

My friends and I do the same thing with our properties we own and manage. It seems each of us have slightly different twistsand our own set of rules but the end result is all about doing as you're asked and being invited back again. For instance on one buddies property he has a 130" minimum, on another it's a 3 1/2 year old minimum. On my own property last year I simply told them one thing,.... "IF you kill a buck he better be big enough for the taxidermist because I'm driving!" For a $550 taxidermy bill I knew there wouldn't be much of a chance that anyone would drop the bowstring on a yearling buck, that's for sure!

Only person with "free reigns" is my son. He can shoot anything he wants to.....and I'll drag it out for him.

Everyone else has to play by the rules.

Good advice, GR8.......but you can rest assured that I "might" open up the woods I hunt to 3 or 4 choice guys, this year. My GW will hunt there....Rob/PA....my son.....and maybe a good friend or 2.

I can't even take them to the "hallowed grounds". My landowner, there, wants no one in there, except me and my son. It's still the same herd, though.....only one property over.

I personally would go for sure. I'd prefer the does. However if you said I could only shoot a buck and it had to be of a certain age or size I would probably prefer to hunt on my own on State land.

Tom

IL.....that's a great point.

Shoot it......have it mounted. I like that.

I don't know why you would feel bad about restricting harvest on your land.
And I , for one , would feel privlidged to be invited to your land. If someone you invited doesn't like the rules you set down , they should respectfully decline the offer.
The only way to meet your management goals is to have all parties adhere to the restrictions. They can be changed by you if a special circumstance arrises. (I'm referring to a first time youth or dissabled youth.)

If someone were to invite me to hunt on their land, and they gave me restrictions on what I could or couldn't shoot, I would adhere to that request w/ a smile on my face the entire time. It's your land, and the folks that hunt on it with you must respect your wishes, plain and simple.

Don't shoot that 2 1/2 y/o though......Talk about being hypocritical.......Yer definetly gonna piss some people off and loose future opportunities.....

edit: Oh, the people I'm referring to are those you hunt with.......Nobody here.

I see absolutely no problem with it. You have your management standards in place and everyone who hunts with you should follow them.

I have a 130" minimum up here at my camp and a $100 fine if they shoot one under. The fine isnt meant to be a big deterrent, its just to make a point. The guys who hunt with me know that I have a waiting list 6 miles long and if they don't want to follow my rules, someone else can take their place that will.