DBL-LUNG

Michigan -

We have test areas in MI that are requiring antler restrictions, and have produced some decent results, but it took three years to get the respectful results.

I think some of MI problems are during the rifle season... The lower portion of the lower peninsula in MI is all shotgun zone. 75% of the large bucks shot each year are in this area. Above that area, three out of five hunters are using huge caliber guns and taking over 300 yard shots at what they think are does! This is where the spikes and small four points are taken. The states that have above average bucks, 2 1/2 and older are all shotgun states. Plus they have limited amount of days to hunt. Our gun season is 15 days long! (above numbers are my evaluation!)

How many states are all shotgun zones and how long is the gun season???

BTBowhunter

I personally believe it is helping us here in PA.

MD Piney

We don't have state sponsored antler restrictions here in MD, but I'm sure it could be looked at as a good thing if established. We all would like the increased chance of seeing/harvesting larger bucks. Currently our DNR is attempting to balance our whitetail herd so I don't see antler restrictions here anytime soon.

JimboHunter1

As with any debatable issue, there are pros and cons to antler restrictions. Pros being that it allows more young bucks to mature and therefore become higher-quality bucks. The downside is that many feel that killing the 1 1/2 year olds with basket racks are actually taking the best genes from the herd.

I, for one, and all for antler restrictions and I wish that Maryland would adopt a law similar to Pennsylvania!

SchuylkillOutdoorsman

I like them, as far as results Ive talked to a few taxidermists in my area and they all agree there is more mass and wider spreads. No their not P&Y but better than before.

My uncle has a taxidermy shop when I was there a few weeks ago he had alot of bigger rack buck. Nothing like it use to be, small racks before and maybe 5-6 big racks. You could argue with the restrictions one is forced to wait for a bigger one to come along. But I dont have a problem with that.

stealthycat

When/if your state decides to go to Quality management, ya'll better realize that along with larger buck aspirations come fewer deer. What happened in AR is the G&F went with 3 points on one side antler restrictions and either left the doe limits alone or increased doe tags. People killed the hell out of he does (not being able to find a legal buck for meat) and we have had 3-4 years of declining deer herds.

And they cut archery season by 20% too .....

bkkeys

bad bad bad

JimboHunter1

Stealthycat- Our deer in Maryland are so plentiful that the land can barely support our herds, so we desparately need to reduce the number of deer. Sure, it's exciting to see 80 deer on opening day of rifle season, but how exhilarating is it when just one of those deer MIGHT be a buck and even less likely, a buck that is older than 1 1/2 years old?

Moving to an antler restriction lawset will change our herd and our hunting, but I think it's a change that would be for the better. There is a large percentage of hunters in my region (Maryland, Region A) who don't even kill does, period, so an elevated doe harvest would be a good thing. Maybe once the herd gets knocked down after the first year or two, the state should reduce the number of does that can be taken to keep the buck/doe ratio at a desired level...

AR's would yield healthier, more mature deer. Isn't that what interests most of us?

10pointer

i'm just glad mo is finally going to jump on the band wagon, this has been a long time coming, almost all the surrounding staes are known as trophy deer states but mo is never mentioned (although numerous big deer are killed each year) i think an antler restriction will definitly help the state.

mammasboy

stealthycat, i may be wrong, but I believe that PA had one of the highest deer per square mile ratios in the entire country.They needed to reduce the deer herd substantially!IMO.