Champlain Islander

I hear ya JW and agree. VT hunter your point is well taken. I don't see the 3 point per side working here. It was painful just to get the spike ban. I don't know if it lack of big woods or over harvest but not many mature deer left after the seasons here in VT. I hunt other states and the 3 1/2 to 6 1/2 yr old deer do make it through and are huntable. Not so in most of VT.

Vermont_hunter

all i know is that something has to be done, and i know what you mean champlain, i hunt in ohio each year and the those older bucks are hard to get to say the least, but i know a few older VT bucks are still kicking i know of a 2 1/2 7 pt and a 3 1/2 8pt that made it through as well as a nice 9 pth that i think was 3 1/2 that made it, we have 6 trail cams so the can cover alot of ground. my dad ran them all year and he got the 9 on cam i found the 8 but ill try to get some pics of the 8 up, him and a doe were the only things around my parents farm this year, well one small spike came through in the rut..

Gunplummer

I don't know where you guys get the idea that antler restrictions worked in Pennsylvania. It only worked on private property where the owners restrict doe hunting and power feed the deer. I saw a hell of a lot more big racked deer 20 years ago than I do now. The Game Commission picks out every big racked photo they can find and puts it in their magazine so they can "blow their own horn". What a bunch of crap. I have plenty of old (1960's) Game News magazines with really big buck photos from areas which supposedly never produced "Quality" deer. Years ago the pressure was so hard that only the strongest and smartest deer survived hunting season. With the new policies, we allow the weak and stupid deer to survive. Think about that.

Champlain Islander

You may be on to something with that one. I remember many years ago seeing a weekly addition to the sports page of the Burlington Free Press called “buck bulletin” and there were many 10 and 12 pointers listed every week. Rare today to see one that large

edgecam

What part of Vermont are you hunting? I am up in Franklin county and the amount of does in crazy. It is nothing to see 20-30 does in one day and not see a shooter buck all season. Most guys around here were all for the October ML season.

tndeerhunter80

Grew up hunting Vermont. My uncle still does. He has a 900 acer dairy farm that he hunts during rifle and muzzle loader season. There are many years that he doesn't see a deer to shoot. Some of the contributing factors according to him are deer jackin, some hard winters a couple of years ago and more moose moving into deer habitat. I don't know. All I know is that I remember seeing deer every where when I was a kid growin up in VT. Now when I come home on vacation I don't see a thing. Something is going on. Down here in TN there are tons of deer. I think the state should start listening to biologists that know what they are talking about and no one else.

vtbuckrulrss

all i can say is since the ban went into affect, the hunting has gone down the crapper.most of the people that i know that used to take a deer fairly consistantly now see nothing. and unless you live in areas like frankilin couny, with far too much posted land, you arent likely to see very many in a days time. i love the way the dept gives out so many tags for the champlain valley, but with so much posted land, how do they expect people to be able to fill tags? i say shoot the first s.o.b that introduces a 3 per side rule! put things back the way they were, the way most of the state wants it to be, stop catering to the traveling, well heeled sportsman, and let the common, 5 day a week, blue collar hunter get some meat on the table, without having to add the other two seasons and expense.

Champlain Islander

I have the feeling it could happen. The spike rule was supposed to be a 5 year trial and from what I can see they didn't get the results they wanted. There are a few more 2 1/2 year old deer around but since they started this the biologists here and elsewhere have theorized that letting the spikes live can negatively impact the herd genetics. Then again …here in VT any F&W change is usually difficult to implement.