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ORIGINAL: AK in PA

I loathe them in Pennsylvania. I never have been, nor never will be hung up on antler size. PA has had point restrictions for several years. Upon initial discussion, I honestly didn't think they would affect my own hunting and almost didn't care one way or the other if the regulation was passed. Now, I can see that I was wrong. During the same period as the antler restriction inaugauration, Pennsylvania's game commission went on a crusade to reduce the deer population, under the pretense of increasing the average antler size. Funny now, how I don't see the bigger bucks, let alone the number of deer that I once did. (Formerly, if I so much as bumped a deer heading in or coming out in the dark I considered myself lucky. I neverdid see the "herds" of deerthat the game commission claimed. Last season, I went 15 days straight without ANY encounter or sighting to even know whitetails still existed.) The bucks that I do see are smaller than before, and I feel like such an @ss staring at one throught binoculars at 5 or 10 yds trying to count their points and make sure they are all an inch long. I don't care what it is. After 20 yrs of hunting, I'd still be thrilled to shoot it! But, I abide them, and ifI can't be certain, I let them walk, albeit shaking my head in disgust the entire time...

I don't see what theso called "QDM" buzzis about. WHAT is the point of shooting a deer with large antlers if ALL the deer have been cultivated to produce such? Where's the trophy?!!! Even if some hunters only want to kill "big" deer, "big" is still relative to the region.

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