RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

That is sad - very, very sad.[:'(]

Not "normal" equals not healthy? How? Not "healthy" from a trophy standpoint maybe.
Where a lot of sickly, malnourished deer being taken? If so, it was a numbers management problem.

To be "normal", we would have to eliminate all human predation, bring back all the natural ones, and reduce the human encrouchment and population by about 99% - you know, like it was here 400 years ago. Not going to happen.

Steve

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

I know you don't agree with the guy Germ, most people that are truly into managing deer do not. That is why I think the term QDMA should only be used by those that buy into the growing and shooting big bucks.

How would issuing fewer buck tags not work? Not work as to what goal, managing the deer or having more big deer?
Poaching hasn't increased in any of the areas that I hunt where they issue fewer tags.

We do have a size limit on walleye here, a slot. 15-18 inches goes back. You can only keep one over 18. Limit of 4 per day.

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

MI hunters love the Mulligan buck tag system(I am coined that phrase):D

We tried to get an OBR passed here in MI. 90% MI hunters would not stand for it, we would have a revolt[&:]

We had unlimted doe tags and were making progress, majority revolted, we now are in serious trouble in SLP in some spots.

States like MI and PA have a deep hunting tradition, That tradition is hard to break.

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

REgardelss of the entire discussion that has been goin on, I have to say I am all for AR. I manage my property very strictly and not only have i seen decent antler growth but the overall health of the deer on my property has improved. i began doing this long before missouri even started AR in the northern counties.

I'm not sure why but i felt that i should include this paragraph from my MDC fall regulations.

"The experimental antler-point-restriction proved to be popular with hunters in the pilot counties in north and mid-Mo.The AR more adult buck in the harvest but only increased doe harvest in the central group of counties.Although not all population/harvest management objectives were acheived, there were no negative biological consequences. Since a majority of hunters in many northern and central counties wanted the program expanded to areas where they hunt, the resriction was added to 36 more counties this year."

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

People are against letting people kill small bucks but are for hunting elephants....interesting. I thought we are supposed to allow people to hunt how they like and not infringe on their freedom of choice.

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

It goes beyond shooting small bucks. What is wrong with trying to manage for a proper age structure?

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

What is a proper age structure...4.5 year old bucks running all over the place? Is that the proper age structure for the ecosystem or for the hunters?

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

Proper age structure for the way a deer herd is meant to me made up. (numbers just guessed, may not be exactly correct)

Which seems more healthy to you?

50% 1.5's
30% 2.5's
10% 3.5's
10% 4.5+

85% 1.5's
10% 2.5's
5% 3.5+

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

You claimed that this is the age structure of PA's bucks:

So, do you also know the age structure of the Does in PA? What is that? How will you manage for the proper age structure of the Does since managing for proper age structure and not bigantlers is what is supposed to be going on?

RE: Antler Restiction programs ...are you for or against them?
 

I'm sure the age structure of the does is just fine, since we don't attpempt to shoot 80% of the existing does each season.