jhalfhill

well, sort of. i don't agree with the mass population reduction, but the antler restrictions seem to be taking effect. in about the area of one square mile near my house several really nice bucks have been taken/seen. Prior to antler restrictions, there would always be one big bruiser romaing around that no one could bag. Now it seems that theres a bunch of them and everyone's getting a crack at one. Four bucks have been taken out of this area this season that are 135" +, with the biggest being a whopper. Don't know his score yet but its B&C. I know of about four or five more good ones that are still alive that no one has gotten yet. Definetely seeing a difference here in SW PA. How about the rest of you PA guys?

PaJack

It working in my area also,seen some nice bucks this year...

whitetailhunter4637

its working, only not in my favor. There was talk of a huge 12 point hit right on the road that it would of crossed in front of my stand.[&o] Also some 10 points, but the cracking all around my area, id say theres a good chance some are gone. But the first day i was fortunate enough to take a pretty big doe. No bucks seen tho

jimmy the foot

i sure wish new york would follow in PA's footsteps. if you think about it it wouldn't take that long to get a nice number of quality bucks. what did you mean by mass population reduction? are they giving out more doe tags or is the season longer for you guys now?

rybohunter

they handed out MANY doe tags over the past few seasons and in some places the deer are thinned down. Much to the dismay of some hunters, but its all in who you talk to.

Personally in my areas the restrictions have made it real nice for bucks.

Ptrbilt

I think that the antler restrictions are working. I hunt public land, either Forbes State Forest or game lands, in 2C. I haven't been seeing any really huge monsters but I've seen more bucks then before.

Opening day was tough with the thick fog but I still saw a few deer and yesterday they were just bedded down hard in the driving rain. Kicked up one legal buck and we had the stare down going till he disappeared in the Laurel. Two days of miserable hunting weather and I saw 4 deer. I can live with that.

Peter

ShaggyPA

PA has 2 programs in place... AR = Antler Restrictions and HR = Herd Reduction. Most hunters seem to be in favor of the antler restrictions however the herd reduction is a different story. I haven't hunted PA the last two years however the you can get all the info you want from the following message board:

http://www.huntingpa.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

SteveBNy

Being allowed to shoot 2 year old 6 pts scoring 80 has nothing to do with QDM.

Fl Still Hunter

I was born and raised in Washington Co PA, moved to Alachua Co Fl 22 yrs ago. We practice QDM on 3.200 acres in central Fl. I have killing Fl regestry bucks for the last 4 years running, three 8 pts and one 10 pt. Theantlers must be over 100 inches to make it in to the books. Before QDM You were luckey to see a nice 6 pt. The moto here was brown it is down, kind of like PA was, but no more. My brother still lives in PA and I still kill biger antlered bucks than Him every year. Last year He killed a nice 11 pt but my 8 pt was bigger 115 inches with a 18 inch inside spread. Give it some time, it will work. We have had the 4 pt rule on one side for 6 years now. It has payed off in a big way. Loose the doe reduction, keep the antler restrictions !!!!!!!!!!!!

NY Bowhunter

Antler Restriction and QDM are not the same thing.