RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

hey my first deer was a fawn =/

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

I'm on the fence with this issue. I'm a hunter not a trophy hunter. I'm looking to put meat in the freezer. The club I belong to has some unwritten rules concerning these issues. But I belive it should be the decision of the hunter. I pass on the deer I don't want to shoot and I'm very please with each and every deer I harvest for tablefare.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

keyshunter,

I see you are from Martinsville. Have you hunted Fairystone Farms? In case youare not aware it has Antler Restrictions. Must be 4 points on one side.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

Very good point! Antler restrictions alone are not the answer, although they could help.Antler restrictionswill not protect, for example,a 2 year old 8 point buck that has good genes. These bucks will be killed before they have the chance to reach their full potential. IMO VA's main problem in many areas is simply too many does.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

Exactly! Along with hunters whodo not practice selfrestraint by failing to passonthe first buck they see.Do not confuse my post with hunters who are younger and have not harvested many or no deer at all, however, if you've killed your share of basket racks......I can speak with relative certainty that if you were to pass on the first buck you see, you may be surprised with what shows up later.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

Well at this point, you've seen every thing we've taken off our farm big buckwise. We haven't taken any 4,5,6 pts except one that was injured. unfortunatly we've only taken 3 does but have took 5BB. I wish and I'm more guilty than anyone that we would have not killed the BB's

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

BRAD,

I'm sure you guys are doing the right thing on the farm in Madison Co. I just wish more people would have that type of self discipline in the woods. You still got plenty of time to whack some does. Even if you don't, I would say you guys are practicing sound management techniques whether you take a few more does or not. Good luck with the rest of your year brother! Hopefully I can join ya'll next year.

VA

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

I have been hunting in VA for almost 35 years, and in many different areas both public and private. IMHO nothing would help VA deer hunting more than to have an AR rule similar to PA (buck must have at least 3 0r 4 points on one side). Sure an occasional deer may never be more than a 4 or 6 point or whatever, but saving all those typical 1.5 year old spike or forky bucks would be worth it if you ask me. Of course some "hunters" (poachers)would ignore any such restriction, but that is no reason to just give into them and do nothing about the problem.
A rule that only imposes AR on the second or third buck is not enough. The average hunter today is lucky to kill even one antlered buck a year, meaning thata rule allowing the first antlered buck to be any sizedoes little to reduce the amount of pressure on those young bucks.
Happy hunting!

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

Antler restrictions supplemented withSEVERE REPERCUSSIONSforROAD HUNTERSand POACHERS. Just ask the 2 guyswe busted this past Saturday for poaching and road hunting on our property...... luckily our Club is LE heavy. Nothing sets me off more than a f@#!ing Poacher or a road hunter, especially when they told us they had 3000 acres 5 miles down the road they could hunt "legally"........yeah, they actually said "legally" which means they knew exactlywhat they were doing, especially when the only way in had a HUGE posted sign on the gate they had to open and drive through prior to putting their dogs out on our property.Makes you think doesn't it. Needless to say...... we're gonna fry those guys. Man, I'm truly sorry for the rant, but, "Road Hunting" is not hunting in my book, and all it does is spook the hell out of the deer on our property.

VA

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

We, my neighbors and I, have been practicing QDM on our properties for a few years and have seen the results. We are passing on all small eight pointers and smaller deer. The exception being a big-bodieddeer that looks to be older (2.5+)and having an inferior rack. We have not seen a buck that fits this description in the past five years.

I am in favor of AR's if they are done right. Meaning don't let eveyone kill all of the does like in PA. I'm in the Southwestern Mountains and we don't have the overpopulation of deer like the eastern part of the state. I do believe that allowing one buck of your choice and then placing an AR on subsequent deer would work better than nothing.

I do see a problem with AR's east of the Blue Ridge where dogs are used. Because, if a deer is being chased by a dog you are not going to have the opportunity to count anything! Therefore, the only way AR's could work is by not allowing the use of dogs, and I really don't think they will outlaw the use of dogs in eastern VA. So, that is just another point in the argument of AR's. Something to chew on!

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

You make a valid point. But, in practice, no program can be perfect. A certain number of the types of buck you describe will fall through the cracks. Pa, for example, partially addresses this problem by allowing juniors, disabled hunters, and active duty military to disregard AR's.

Personally, I would like to see a sensible AR system put into place in Va. This system could, of course, be tweaked as necessary as experience leads to the emergence ofnew ideas.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

I am not a dyed-in-the-wool dog hunter, but do occasionally go as a guest to my son-in-law's club in eastern Va. They use Beagles, and while the deer do not usually cruise casually along the trails or fields, they do not go as fast as one would think. This particular club has their own form of AR's: the rack must be wider than the outstretched ears. If you shoot one narrower than that, you are assessed a $50 fine.

Oh, and the members there also complain about letting small bucksgo only to have them be shot by others.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

My opinion....

VA doesn't really need AR. Look what happend up in PA! [&:]

What VA needs to do is take a good look at each county's deer herd and take whatever measures needed (more bonus doe tags, for instance in Fauquier/Loudon counties, because of the 9,218 does for every 3 bucks). But in places where the bucks are equal to does in numbers, let it be up to the hunter to decide if he wants to shoot a beautiful 8 pointer or let a small spike walk.

Butch A.

Edit: Deer dogs? Nope... ain't going there... I learned my lesson... [:-][&o]

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

I have been hunting in Va. for 40 years and remeber when doe season was 1 day the last day of the season, I remeber when any deer was a trophey. Consider yourselves in the glory days of being able to harvest all you want, the mentality of most Va. hunters is to kill everything they can, Most hunt clubs stack deer like cord wood. I have returned form my fathers and have seen where people drop a trail of carcasses on side of the road for miles, I have seen piles of deer 4 feet deep after the Tender loins and hind quareters have been removed.It bothers me to see these animals which were so presious only 25 years ago so disrespected. But eventually the huge harvests in my opinion will reduce the populations again. Prince William County opened a Doe only season this year that runs fron Jan 4th until Feb. 4th That should tell you something. I support a trophey only program I have hunted where they work namely British Columbia but until Va. gets a handle on their herd and the mentality of most hunters changes it ain't going to happen.

FYI It was back in the 1940's that there were no DEER in Va. a restocking program began and Deer were purchased from Alabama (90%) and Pennsylvania (10%) today Va.s best tropheys still come from the areas that were stocked with Pennsylvania Deer.

RE: Antler Restrictions in Virginia
 

I remeber as well. 2 bucks (1 buck a day)and 1 doe with doe day being the last day or two of the season.