How do you guys like the antler restrictions? How many seasons have you had them, how many doe tags can you get, and are you seeing more or less deer. Same thing in PA and we' re killing does like crazy.

I believe that this will be the second year for the new laws. Personally, I think it is a good idea. As I will only take 2 deer at most, and then for the venison. In my area, even an 8-10 point will still be a small rack. (I do not live in the delta.) Last year I passed on two four points, guestimated their weight at about 60 lbs. The limits are 3 bucks, 3 does, (one per day). Two additional does can be taken with a bow.
The state has a deer management program that will issue tags in certain circumstances, such as extreme imbalance, crop damage etc. They are not handed out indiscrimontory. The game commission will check out these requests.
As most of the hunters I know seem to be agreeable with the changes, as our doe population is out of balance, and this new regulation should help.

Russ

Mike,
There is one other thing I might mention. I don' t think thare are more than 6 other MS hunters on this website. I have watched and have hardly ever seen more than that number. If there are, I guess they are readers and not posters.

Russ

We' ll there aren' t too many of us from MS ' round here. But, I don' t think all the yankee' s could handle it if there were

As for the Antler restrictions, I think they' re great, with a minor exception. They don' t really allow for culling deer that might have a deformed rack and might only have 3 visible points, but is an older animal (I admit this is a pretty rare exeption however). The most import thing is to get people to start thinking about what they are shooting. I grew up in Georgia and at the time if it had horns it was legal, as a result we ended up with a bunch of Doe' s and not too many Bucks. I think they have corrected this problem now but as a kid this didn' t make sense, why should people shoot all of their future wallhangers, when they were young. The realresults of this will be seen in about 3 to 4 more years, however it is a promising sign that most of the Hunters I know are letting Buck' s walk to shoot a Doe instead.

Gordon

Russ, I hunt in Woodville and I believe this is the fourth year MS has a 4 point or better rule (could be wrong). This is probably the best rule that MS has ever made. This rule lets the deer get bigger. We personally shoot 6 point or better and will let small 6 pointers walk. The club next to us shoots 8 points or better and archery only. We shoot one nice (10pt+) wall hanger between 9 of us per year and we all get meat for the year.

Man I wish the idiots in the Wildlife and Fisheries would stop fighting in Louisiana and Mississippi so I could pay a descent price for a license ($375 a year SUCKS).

I hunt attala county. The new rule is the best thing MS could do for the deer. Last year we shot an 18, and two big 8' s. It wasn' t too many years ago to even see a buck was a big deal. If we will all let the little bucks walk, we will all have the wallhanger, eventually.

This rule is great. Especially for me since the land that I hunt on in Rankin county is over run with does. It is nothing for me to go to the woods and see 15-20 deer, but they will all be does. We have started to see a few more bucks, six or seven points that will be really nice bucks in another year or so. We only kill Bucks that have eight points with approx. 17" spread.

i hunt primarily lafayette county but also hunt yallobusha,panola and marshall.i believe the 4 point and jake laws in ms. have improved the quality of our hunting in the state.i take the limit of turkeys every year,thanks to our biologist ron seiss.i take at least one good buck each year and pass several that are taken by other hunters.i do not use food plots or bait and hunt private and public land.while i have taken 140 class bucks on the ms. river, i have taken the same class bucks in the hills.they are there if you know how to hunt them.

I am all for letting 1 1/2 year old bucks go, but I believe that the restrictions that we have are not as good for the herd as many think. In my opinion, if you let spikes and threes go and then kill the fours, sixes, and eights you have taken the better bucks from that age class. In fact, I read some data recently that suggested that while we might have more bucks now in Mississippi, but the average total antler measurements for 2 1/2 year old bucks has actually decreased 15 -20%. (Don' t ask me to tell you where I read it, cause for the life of me, I can' t remember).
The best thing about the restrictions put in place was that it caused more people to let young bucks walk. I personally don' t shoot anything without a 15" spread (and I haven' t killed a buck in 2 years!) I think it is time to raise the bar higher, therefore protecting more of the 1 1/2 year old bucks.
Just a po man' s .02
By the way, Russ, I moved from the Delta to South Ms two years ago, and I miss the hunting terribly!

HP,
Glad to see more MS hunters on this site. but your mention of the deltais not my area for hunting. I am 60 miles East of Memphis, in the rolling hill country only 2 miles from Tenn. The land is quite poor, therefore the food supply for deer is not all that great, except for the plots that we try to get to grow in this clay, sandy soil. I have seen the deer weight drop slightly each year since I moved here in ' 77 from Ill. It has been 5 years since I have dropped a deer 160lbs or more, buck or doe. They may be around, but I have failed to see them. In the morning I am going to try and find one. Best of luck to you.

Russ