bigmike924

i live in ohio an have for 25 years an i am tired of seeing ppl shooting little bucks. first rack an stuff why not kill a doe the buck to doe pop. is way off i think they need to step in. OK why not shoot a doe in stead of a 4 pt buck let them grow an we will all see better than we have now

ManofTheFall

Why not try something like this. In order to shoot a buck you have to take a doe first. I usually take out several does in the early season then get my buck around this time generally. I know this would upset the gun hunters cause they don't have as much time to hunt. Antler restrictions, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But, there are so many things that come into play. There are newbies, kids, wanting to take their first deer and I can't blame them for wanting to shoot their first buck even if it is a little 4 pointer. With today's computer age you would think somehow they could log the results of your previous hunts into a computer and if you shoot an immature buck, 1 1/2 year old you would be penalized after you shoot your first buck. I don't know, just throwing out an idea. Any other thoughts?

2 Lunger

I have an idea. Why not let people shoot what they want. Just because you want to be a trophy hunter doesn't mean that 12 year old boy or girl out there does. Is this what hunting has become? Just a bunch of guys out there for bragging rights?

Valentine

States have so many deer; so many to be harvested, at a minimum.
So many not to be harvested; so many hunters; hunters that make a short appearance; some longer; some newbies; some experienced; some old and glad just to make an appearance in the woods.

The object is not to be overrun by deer; have too few for hunters; cut back when hunting and weather take a toll; increase doe harvests when needed; decrease doe harvests when necessary.

Keep a season short; make a season longer; permit certain weapons; refuse to accept certain weapons.

And there still remains -the hunter looking for the perfect season.
And often times, as not, he measures the same square mile; the some half square mile and as small at the quarter square mile, he knows intimately.

bigmike924

Hey i have kids that hunt an what is the diffrence between a 8 or 9 yr old killing a doe in ohio why kill a first rack buck why not teach the about deer management an.

or lets say the first week of gun season an youth deer weekend anything can be shot but second gun an muzzaloader an bow season have antler law on these deer couple yr you ppl wouldnt be mad when theres more big buck run the woods an a kids kills a 140 inch you be happy. sry to me theres no need to kill a first rack buck just me

lovethebigguns

Unfortunatly to a lot of folks that is what it has become and I think it sucks.

Sorry bigmike, but I do not agree with you at all. There is a lot more to deer hunting than seeing how big of a rack you can throw on the wall.

You are right, a 140" buck would completely make my 10 year old son's day! BUT so would a 125 pound doe.

There's nothing wrong with antler management but I think what size of deer I shoot on my property should be MY choice, not the DNR's choice.

M.Magis

How about you keep doing your job and let people who understand deer mangage the herd? The DNR has done a fantastic job in the last 30 years and I doubt they need help from an armchair biologist. Fact is, all you want to do is make rules based on your ideas, not sound management.

JoshKeller

if you can only shoot 1 buck a year in ohio, what difference does it make if its a 1.5 yr old 4 point, or a 5.5 year old 12 point? Or does the trophy hunter in you just want it easier to see that older buck?

bigmike924

Hey good thoughts an ideas so far an i am not trying to say my thoughts are law or i am a pro biologist. bc ohio does have big buck every yr but the ppl will shot a lil baby buck over a mature doe an y is that to say i killed a buck last yr wow. i think my point is trying to bring the buck to doe ratio up i get we dont want to make laws every where. an you guys drive home my point we can only kill one buck bc everyone kill the lil ones off an more would hurt the ratio even more lets say a temp law or something. I love to here ppl thoughts an ideas keep them coming great stuff i could be way off but thats how i feel on this thinks guys

accman

It's a tough situation to consider adding restrictions on any type of hunting. It's great to have the RIGHT to take a spike or not, being told you can only take bucks with 3 on one side isn't fair for the meat hunter or anyone who wants to exercise their right of choice. If I relied on keeping a full freezer to feed my family, then restrictions would put an unfair burden on me. In our rifle camp, we put these restrictions on ourselves 7 or 8 years ago and have found that we see bigger deer, along with spikes and y's. The landowner wants no does shot, and that's in our bylaws and it doesn't bother me. I just grew up that way. Our bylaws also state that Jr hunters and Seniors can take any legal buck, 3", but many 1st timers have passed and feel they can go by the same rules. Are we looking to grow 10's and 12's to put on the wall, Hell no. Can't eat the horns, but it's just the quality of deer we see has been better, that's all.

Where I bowhunt, I choose not to take small bucks cause I'd like em to live a few years, make little bucks, and learn the ropes. Besides, I can only use 1 deer in the family and if me and my son get one, it's overkill, specially knowing that during rifle, I have a chance at seeing bigger deer and have a better shot at it with a rifle. If we don't get one, c'est la vie. Just beware of asking for more restrictions to be placed on your hunting, cause you may not like what you get.