Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

What do you other Missouri guys think about antler restrictions in MO. We have never had them where I hunt. There, its nothing to drive by other peoples camps and see bunch of spikes hanging from the trees on opening day of rifle season. I personally wont take a spike during rifle season, id rather kill a doe.

I am lucky becauseI can get plenty of time off to hunt during rifle season. I know some people my not have the same oppurtunity that I doso they mayonly get onechance to kill a deer. If so,I can understand killing a spike. I would personally like to see bigger and better deer here in the south part of the state.

What do you guys think? Do the restrictions work?

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

AR is not the best way to increase the mature buck %, but given the politics involved it is about the only method that can get voted in. Yes everything I have heard indicates AR's are working in Missouri, and soon they will be statewide. Will be hunting your state first time next month for turkey. Looking forward to it.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Sorry, but I do not think it is rightfor the statetell a hunter he can't shoot a young buck because another hunter doesn't want him to. Matters like this need to be dealt with privately.

I'm sure that AR's help to a degree, But all too often it comes with a higher cost to many hunters in the area.

I'd like to see some info on who is for/against AR's, and how theiropinion relates to the security of being able to hunt the same property for a long # of years.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

My personal opinion is let the young ones grow and mature. If it comes down to shooting a spike, I would rather take a doe if the regulations allow me to. I get no joy in taking a buck for it's spiked or forkedhorns. A lot of places people beg for hunters to take does to get the doe herd thinned out to make a overall healthier herd. But forsome reason some people has to take a buck even if it has spikes or forked horns. I have seen a better qulaity of deer and deer herds formAntler Restrictions in other states. Keep in mind that this is my personal opinion

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

I agree with you. Some people just have to kill a buck no matter what it is.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

While I regularly pass on young bucks and encourage others to do so, I don't like the idea of the Conservation Commission telling a first-time hunter that they can't shoot a young buck. When I first started hunting, it was exciting to see and shoot a deer, whether it was a doe, small buck or wall-hanger. One of my first bucks was a fork. To me, it's sort of a rite of passage.

I'll admit that it will probably increase the number of older bucks in the woods, but I think we should be encouraging young and first-time hunters to kill deer, period.

And with telecheck, where you can tag and check in the deer on the phone or on the Internet, will hunters still shoot young bucks and just decide not to check them in?

It's all about the money and politics.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

I can understand totally about a young or first time hunter being able to kill whatever. I have never killed one with a bow and i plan on shooting whatever walks by when archery hunting. If we still had check stations, you could allow that for younger hunters. Of course, you will still have some guys kill one for their kids to tag, there is no way around that.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

If they want larger bucks why don't they eliminate the rifles???

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

well, i guess that worked for you guys in IL. I personally love to rifle hunt and would hate to lose that option.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

If we couldn't use rifles, would Missourians be able to kill enough deer to keep the population in check?

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

first thing i told my dad when we started talking about it! look at illinois, and iowa. two of the best deer hunting states in the country, neither of them can use a rifle. a lot more bucks will live older, if you cant shoot them at 300 yards.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

x2

and they should have the right to

my first 2 bucks are a 3 point, and a little 6, before i killed my 5th deer, id shoot whatever walked by! and you should be able to, especially if youre young, or just starting out!

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

my whole family used to too! then guess what, we switched to muzzleloader and have killed just as many deer with it!

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Although it has not been in place where I normally hunt, I voted for it earlier this year on the Conservation website. The only downfall I see is not being able to take out the inferior mature bucks because they don't meet the antler restrictions.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

In my opinion I hope we get them this year. There are enough deer in most area of the state now, that filling a tag for meat isnt a problem, I would rather shoot a doe than an immature buck, I just dont see a reason to shoot young bucks, but everyone has their own opinion on it. We have been protecting young bucks on our property for several years, and I can say there has been a significant increase of mature bucks on the property since they are able to reach mature age. We also have a couple neighbors doing the same thing, our only problem is a piece of neighboring property lets many hunt on it, and they shoot everything that looks like a deer. This past season, there were 7 bucks taken off that property and the largest was a 5 pointer, and all were 1 1/2 year olds. That really took out a lot of our bucks we have passed. There has also been a huge increase in people hunting that property since word is getting out about the size of some of our bucks in the area. If people give it a chance I think most will appreciate it after a few years. I also think the youth hunters should be able to take whatever they choose. The best scenario would be to propect young bucks under a certain age, but that would be impossible for everyone to judge age accurately before taking the shot, I judge by age more than antler points, but antler points are the easiest way for everyone to follow the same rules. These are just my $.02 but I hope in May they tell us they are going state wide with ARs.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Yes everyone wants the ar to come to misssouri. Are they going to let us shoot more does? They are going to tell us we can't shoot small bucks. The really nice bucks are a good thing, the only problem is they haven't made a recipe for horns yet. Most people who hunt big mature bucks are mainly hunting for the head, not everyone, but most. How is the conservation going to enforce the AR. With the tel-check nobody knows who kills what. People are still going to take small bucks bottom line. Hunting is hunting, most of the people in southeast Mo hunt for food. Big bucks taste like sh*t. Little deer taste better,bottom line. If a person wants a big buck good for them, but to tell everyone who pays for hunting license,tags,gear and gas that they can only shoot what the conservation and the trophy hunters want is a bunch of crap. What are they going to regulate next? Big bucks are everywhere,if you can't find them get a little farther from your truck. Iv'e hunted in Mo all my life, killed really nice bucks and I hunt public land, but if we let the government regulate our hunting rights and TELL us what we can or can't shoot it will be a never ending process. If people like the hunting in Ill and Iowa then go there and kill their bucks.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

i hunt butler and stoddard counties a lot every year, and youre right, most of the people we know down there, shoot whatever walks by, if it was the law or not, they would still do it. which they should be able to

and the second thing i bolded, i completely agree with.

and my family gets on plenty of good bucks every year, if people actually knew what they were doing, theyd be able to also, without the government having to practice QDM FOR THEM.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

I guess this is just another one of those things that some people agree with and some dont. All of you guys that are against the AR make valid points and I understand where you are coming from. I guess thats the advantage to being able to hunt private ground. That way you can manage the deer herd the way you want.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

But, it sounds like the government will be managing the herd for us. Again, I support voluntary participation in QDM. But the antler restrictions aren't necessary.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

How many do you want to shoot??? Isn't Unlimited enough???

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

i was thinking the same thing;)

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Not every county in mo has unlimited tags. Do your homework. All I was saying is that if the conservation is going to put a size limit on bucks are they going to allow more does in EVERY COUNTY to be harvested. This debate could go on for ever, some people want it some don't care. Why don't they let the public vote on sectioning missouri off and run dogs? Another topic that could go on for ever.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: turkey harvester

Why don't they let the public vote on sectioning missouri off and run dogs? Another topic that could go on for ever.

I hope Missouri will NEVER allow that. It's hard enough to keep some hunters off your property let alone some yahoo's mutts. Although some dogs might recognize POSTED property better.:D

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Since they started the AR in Northern Mo. we have been volunterally following the same rules on our Farm here in Southeast Mo.,and several other property Owners around us have been doing the same with some really great results of larger Bucks on their Farms while others have not been letting the smaller Bucks walk and have been shooting anything that comes within range,thats fine but when you have older Hunters that have hunted for years and have shot plenty of deer in their life times and theyshootSpike Bucks or Deer that has 1 side broken off from sparring when they could have let the Deer walk and shoot a Doe instead need to have AR's in their area's.I used to not like the idea of of AR's but as time went on and we have invested more time and money in our property it would be nice to have bigger Bucks in our area and it will take having AR's state wide to improve the deer quality.

I hope they don'timpose AR's on the younger Youth Hunters so they can get some experience hunting Bucks and maybe shoot any Bucks that would have inferior racks or to have a chance at shooting a decent 1st Buck!

How do they keep the Hunters honest with the Tele-check System?
If someone calls in that they shot a 7-Point Buck or larger legal Buck if there are any doubts the MDC can call on that person to see if they are telling the truth or check at the local Meat Packing Company.Sure there will be some dis-honest people out there that won't follow the rules or guidlines but that is where use honest Hunters have to report anyone that is poaching or cheating the system because it hurts everyone if someone is illeagally killing/hunting Deer!

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

i just heard that they are doubling the number of counties in miisouri to be under antler restriction. around 60 from what i heard.

just my opinion......YEEEEEEAAAAAA

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

They listed some of the Counties that will be under the new AR regulations in MO. and I don't think they added very many on south of St. Louis...at least they didn't have our County on there? :(


They did change the Youth Deer Season to 2 Seasons and I believe they are Nov 1-2 2008 and Jan 3-4 2009.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Where is the list? I just checked the MDC website but didnt see the updated list.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

ya i wanna see the list too
and for the youth deer season being doubled i like that a lot

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

this is all i see right now
counties

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

Looks like nothing has been released other than opening days for archery and rifle season. We've got another month to go before the announcements are scheduled.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

http://www.shomeoutdoors.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=6729 Heres a link to some info Ive read..

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

grrr i hoped that the restrictions wouldnt come to one of the counties i hunt the most, montgomery.[:@][:'(]

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

thanks for the link, AR havnt made it down to my area yet. Prolly will in a few years

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

where are you at ccsd34?

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

im in jackson, but i hunt mostly in wayne county area

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

i am so glad we got it in ray. and i will be helping the area cosevation agent in enforcing these regs.
i'm sick of being nice to people. that could have something to do with me having a stan stolen...off my own private property.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

jacksons off of 55 isnt it?

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

yep, bout 100 miles south of st. louis

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

AR in Missouri is only part of the management program.I have been lucky eough to have hunted in many states and able to view their hunting rules and laws.Missouri hopfully willnever put restictions on youth hunters.Kids should be able to shoot anything.Lets try and Keep them in to the sport.Missouri needs to change all the mangement hunts to OCT.Not shootingantlerless deerin Jan.We are putting a undue stress on our bucks.We have the bucks breed all the doe's then we shoot off the doe's after the rut.This is putting unnessary strain on the bucks.WHICH does effect the health of the bucks.That will effect the antler growththe following years.The easy the rut is on the bucks the healthier the herd will be.Shoot the antlerless deer before the rut.

RE: Antler restrictions in Missouri - opinions
 

The problem I see with having two set of rules, one for the youth and one for adults is that you will see more smaller bucks taken by "youth" hunters,meaning adultschecking deer with their kids youth tag. What is wrong with youth abiding by the same rules as the adults. Would it not be better that the youth learn that rules should be followed by all? The youth can still enjoy and get excited by the hunt by taking a doe (if legal) as well. Especially if they know that they have a much better chance of seeing a big buck by having antler restrictions. I know that different people have different opinions and this is just my opinion.