BTBowhunter

aging a buck from a photo would be a guess at best. You cant get a good look at body structure, the location will make a difference.etc etc. Too many variables not answered by one photo.

livbucks

Where is that buck from?
Is he wild or pen raised?

bluebird2

Here's all the pics that exist of those....


I found a 2.5 roadkill this fall that had a 12" spike on one side and a Y on the other. I also found another road kill a few years ago yhat wasn't AR legal.

Furthermore, before ARs were implemented 18% of the 2.5+ buck harvested ,weren't AR legal!! With ARs, based on Kroll's study, the percentage of non-AR legal buck should be over 20%.





















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livbucks

I just don't see that very often where I come from.
I have seen fewer 1.5 spikes in the last few years actually.

tsoc

Some people's minds are alreadymade up and then they look for "facts" to support their opinion.Dr. Kroll disagreed with several conclusions coming out of the Mississippi study.Pages 105 through 108 of the August North American Whitetail issue.
We are three years in to antler restrictions in some of the NYS units that I hunt.I cannot say that I have seen a dramatic effect in the amount of older age class bucks I have seen and killed.In all fairness though I am primarily hunting in the mountainess outer edges of these trial units,our deer densities are very low.What I have seen in the last couple of years is evidence of a greater population of bucks surviving in to their second year.Much more scraping activity,many more sightings of 2.5 year old bucks.
I don't believe AR's to be the best answer or the only answer,but if it is AR's versus let's just do it like we have always done it,I will opt for AR's!

bluebird2

So have I, along with a lot fewer Y's, 6 & 8 pts.

Actually you should be seeing more spikes since they are only legal for juniors and military.

bawanajim

Some people just refuse to believe that each and every one of us can make a difference. Improving the habitat where we live and hunt can attract and keep deer on your land. Passing on mature does that are of prime breeding age and passing on young bucks that have good genetics are all simple ways to improve your hunting. Its not the "man" who will better your hunting, it is you.
You can sit and bitch or you can get out and make a difference,the choice is yours.

petropedro

yes you are in a dream world. its not going to happen. to many people dont have time and will not wait for a chance at another deer as you say to pass on. over million hunters in pa and i say 85% are not going to pass on a deer that is legal. especially now when seeing a deer is hard to do anymore while hunting. i am not passing and will shoot everyone i have a tag for. you are living in a dream world to think that even 1/4% would do what you suggest. you know its a dream that will never come to without the pgc stopping it themselves. i am not a trophy hunter as i say as over 85% who buy tags. we are meat hunters and we are not prejudiced over what a deer looks like to drop it. that is reallity that everyone will tell you on here.

i am not giving away money to them just to walk around in the woods with a gun and shoot nothing or see nothing. no way. i bought the license to harvest a deer as anyone else.i intend to do my best to do so.

bowtruck

jim you are 100% right
pedro i am or was ameat hunter till this year seeing less deer than i like so i let em
walk you have to do your part in your woods to keep the deer pop where u need it

bluebird2

Kroll said the Miss. study was based on the premise that spiked yearling are genetically inferior and that is not true. Dr. Demarais specifically stated that the decrease in antler size was due to the effects of high grading. He said additional studies would have to be done to determine the genetic effects of protecting spikes.

Dr. Krolls own study supported the results of the Miss. study in that Dr. Kroll determined that spikes develop at a slower rate than 1.5 y's and bigger buck. That supports Dr. Demarais's high grading theory.