Hey, read Otis' reply. That' s how hunting in PA is gonna be in a few years.

Mississippi' s game commission has gotten into QDM for everyone. They have changed their rules. Buttons and spikes are no longer legal. A legal buck is one with 4 or more points. Granted, the points need only long enough to hold a ring, but this may give the buttons and spikes a chance. One compensation, you can take 3 anterless deer and an additional 2 by bow. Not too bad of a deal. And MS has a fairly large herd.

Russ

I can speak for myself, but i shot a young 2.5year old 7 point last year becasue it was the only deer i saw all week and it was the last day of season. And yes this year again i will shoot the first deer i see doe or buck doesnt matter because i can only hunt for 2 days of the season. As with a bow i will also shoot anything that comes with 30 yards, i quess in my mind if it makes the hunter happy to kill a deer(of any kind) then it is a trophy in my mind( expecially with a bow). But then again i am only 15 and maybe it will come with age to have the need to kill a monster buck but right now im perfectly happy with taking does, young bucks, or a mature buck,(any deer) but then again like i said it might be because that is how i was brought up the " if you see a legal deer shoot it" mantality. or maybe it is because i am young and do oot desire to kill a huge deer.

Happy hunting!

If you want a big' un you gotta let the little ones walk , they don' t get bigger on the wall or in the freezer . I gave up fishing the Smallmouths where I live because the local yokels overfish them so badly that you' re hard pressed to find one even close to legal size . Some folks just don' t get it . [:' (]

i think its because they dont care....they are after a deer and if they see one they shoot it and thats that.....and yes they do brag about a small buck.....i got a 4pt you only got a doe........i get that once in a while......meanwhile my doe outweighs their 4pt by a ton.....i shot a small buck once....my first and only to date......and its not a SMALL buck compared to most that people shoot here......spikes and 4pters used to get whacked like you wouldnt believe.....my 6pt basket rack was a decint buck believe it or not....a basket rack used to be considerd a big deer by alot of people.....those who dont know any better.....but ive seen what we have out there.....and now we have antler restrictions......so theres alot less except the kids in school....the ars dont apply to me yet because im a junior but im applying them to myself.....1 small buck was enough.....im addicted to antlers now....took 4 years to get that first set of antlers on the wall......but now thats all i want is more antlers.....bigger antlers......im not going to think of taking a doe until my buck is tagged.....or until late muzzleloader season i might take one if we have no venision for the freezer....but dad should take a doe or 2 in rifle season so we will be good i bet......but im only 16.....and im done shooting SMALL bucks.....i mean my limits now arent huge but i have them.......and i choose to put them inplace....not the law.....

i think shootin lil bucks is fine. i try. we on our mproperty here in WI have way too many does and we have always shot liler bucks and we always see at least 8 or9 really good bucks a year. we dont practice QDM (i dont believe in that B.S. 17 in my god what r u hunting moose?) i hunt to enjoy the spirit of the wild to get protien not only for my belly but for my soul! if the only way u can " get high on nature" is shootin a big ole buck once or twice every 5,6,7,8,9 years so be it. i would rather fill my tags and help the herd. those genes get passed on. i argue this all the time. but as hunters we cant let arguments turn us against ourselves when there are ppl suchas PETA out there. so i leave u with this
every1 has a right to there own opinion, just too bad urs is wrong

That rules Beagle!! Well said!

i think 99% all depends on where you hunt.

when i hunt my farm out west i won' t shoot anything with less than 20 inch antler spread, period.

when hunting here on the east coast those kind of deer are basicly unheard of unless you hunt private land. i hunt with a club that prohibits anything less than 6 points (this is only the second year the rule has been in effect and the first time everyone has seen deer on opening weekend)

however i also hunt on public land and will shoot anything ...the reason being that for the 1 or 2 deer i see a year if i don' t shoot them someone else will, so might as well be me.

the arguement for not shooting to let them grow is only valid if others hunting the same land also follow the rule.

I hope I' m using this quote stuff correctly.

Beagle....
In that statement....to me your a meat hunter...which for one I' m not bashing and everyone can hunt the way they want to, but I have never once ran into a meat hunter that didn' t argue the concept of QDM to their grave. That' s why you think it' s BS.

QDM has nothing to do with " Being high on nature" shooting a big buck every 5,6,7,8,9 years. It' s way more than that. Hunting(unless needing meat for your family to survive) should never be out the kill. Although very exciting and gratifying. It should be about the hunt. The experience out in nature and the experience in your hunting camp. Tradition and the great stories that come about from year to year.

Your kidding yourself if you think that by shooting little bucks....it helps the herd. Have you taken the time to read ANY articles on QDM? I really doubt it. About the genes getting passed on....sure they do, but just think of what it would be like if you let a couple little ones go and the older, more mature bucks did the majority of the breeding and the herd was healthier when talking about age structure. Fill your tags with doe or doe fawns if you want meat. We all know they are fairly easy to shoot anyway. Take some satisfaction in shooting a wary old doe and shooting a spike or fork. Probably a harder hunt.

Beagle please don' t take offense to the things that I' ve said. Just throwing out my two cents on what I not only believe, but from the studies and statistics that I' ve read. I' m not here to bash anyone in the way they hunt. Hunter numbers are dwindling every year and I think that' s sad. Fellas, get your kids out hunting...boy or girl. We need more of us!!

if it is a legal deer I will take it,be it a doe or a buck.each person has to do what he or she thinks is right.
In my area of Fla. there are no " BIG" trophy bucks as some of you call them.we just do not have the gene pool to make them,and never will.to me a trophy is in the eye of the person that takes that deer.

if you live in an area that holds good genes and the chance to make big trophy animals then go for it.just don' t bash a person that doesn' t believe what you do.that is what this country is all about,each person has the right to believe his or her own way.
JMHO