Jimimac

I took a ride along the border of Westmoreland and Indiana county this morning and saw a huge buck in a field. I pulled out the 50 power bino' s and the buck was incredible. A couple inches outside of the ears and super mass. This deer had to have 5 inch bases. What a specimen! Canyou tell I' m getting excited about the upcoming archery season? I have also seen some really good bucks spotting this summer in the Westmoreland county area. Also saw a couple big bucks down in Greene county last week. I really hope that these antler restrictions stay in place. It has to make a big impact on the age structure of our bucks in the future.

JimboHunter1

That' s exciting Jimimac. I hope that Maryland adopts a law similar to Pennsylvania' s in the near future. Good luck this season!

mauser06

i hope they work....i did ALOT of thinking about it and i really think everything that we are doing should improve our deer herd....i find it kinda cool because im kinda thinking about becomeing a wildlife biologist..everyone was crying about it and it got me thinking...it makes alot of sense to me....i cant wait for this season....i have atleast a week to rifle hunt and thats going to be stricly buck hunting for aslong as i can hold out or until a buck is wearing my tag an an earing....and even though the ARs dont apply to me until next year im holding my self to them...4pts to BOTH sides or better.....unless it comes down to the lst day or 2 and a REALLY nice 6pt comes out....but my rule it nothing smaller then the basket rack 6pt i shot last year nomatter how many days are left.......well see what happens....all you guys seeing alot of good bucks is getting me pumped.....i cant wait

Rob/PA Bowyer

Allowing small bucks to live and grow really is a no brainer and it still confuses me why people had/have a problem with this...it really is a no brainer.

whelen36

in the areas that i hunt , i' ve seen a variety of big bucks ranging from 6 points to 10 points this year , and they are all looking well fed , maybe this is the year for the big one for me

Jimimac

It truly is a no brainer for me too Rob. Not to flame anyone but the biggest opposition for the regs came from gun hunters for the most part. I hunt with both and was behind the regs from the start. Things change and you either adapt or are left behind.

PaJack

Everyone I talk to said the same thing," BIG RACK' S" this year...[:-]

rem700man

I just talked to my Dad in Clinton Co. & he has been putting up ladder stands in different areas all day during the past 2 weeks & sitting in the different stands in the evenings to see what strolls by & he said that in his45 yrs of hunting this land he has never seen such tremendous bucks nor did he think he ever would. He' s seen 17 different rack bucks all 7pt' s & better & the nicest one being a 11 or 12 he said would go 20 inches wide easy. IM STOKED TO SAY THE LEAST. I have to admit that i was a little scepticle about the new laws the 1st year even tho i knew it could do nothing but good for our hunting, but the hunt club that surrounds our land has been practicing the 3pt per side for 3 yrs now & it' s really made a wonderful difference. I never thought we would see these caliber of bucks running on our mountain NEVER. good luck to everyone this season

vtbuckrulrss

sounds like some nice deer running around down there, but just to throw a monkeywrench into things, the reason so many of of are against ar' s are for regions where i live, where it can be very hard, at times, to even see a buck during the season, let alone tag one. penn. has always, at least up here, been known to harbor a lot of deer, and a lot of bucks, just not large in weight. don' t forget, yes, you may see more bucks for the moment, but this doesn' t mean you will tag one, in fact, following qdm guidelines, your buck harvest will decrease, and never be the same as what you were shooting before. in vermont, i have heard the average hunter goes seven years in between tagging bucks. how would you like to be in that catagory, and then have AR' S put in place that will prolong your tagging out even longer. how? by taking away the age class of deer many put their tag on. one troublesome aspect also is that many states rely on yearling deer for their pop. information on the health of the deer. AR' S just took that tool from the biologist. and don' t forget, article after article since the mid 1960' s has trashed AR' S, and most states that adopted them in the past, have dropped them because they don' t work.

BarnesX.308

My buddy lives near Valley Forge Park. I see some pretty nice bucks when I drive through there. I don' t think antler restrictions are the cause there.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge