Buckmasterflex

I hate going into a check station and seeing the pictures on the wall of these little spiked, forked-horn, little 6 pts. ect. It's like most Oklahoma hunters don't care to take a trophy they just shoot the 1st buck they see. The average deer killed in Oklahoma is a 1 1/2 year old. I think that is crap. Thats why Oklahoma doesn't have many record book deer killed. Yea there is some big deer killed here but just think how much bigger they would be and there would be more. I know people just want some meat in the freezer but why not just shoot a doe. just a thought. What is yals opinion. What does everyone think about have an 8pt or better rule for a couple of years. I can see someone shooting a little buck for management purposes just to get them out of the herd.

SWOSUMike

Well, I have hunted Oklahoma for a long time, and I don't see a problem with guys shooting what they want. I think many guys shoot the smaller bucks becuase some guys just don't see many bucks and have to take the one they see. If they don't shoot the first one they get a chance at, someone else will. I personally would go several years w/o a buck if I had to wait around for an 8 pointer. I just don't see them. Now I know that your point is that I might see them if we enforced a size rule, but I still don't think it is the best deal for Oklahoma. We like to put meat in our freezers, and there is no wrong in that. Now I agree that we'd start seeing a lot nicer bucks if we did this, but I'll also bet you that our harvest would be waaay low if nobody could shoot smaller than that. We already have enough deer in our state, and I think this would just make more. Now, what do you think of an "earn-a-buck system?" Every hunter must shoot a doe before earning a buck tag. This would still allow hunters to shoot what they want and be happy, but it would also narrow the buck-to-doe ratio margins and would probably help many a young buck escape a bullet on opening morning. Oklahomans are crazy that first opening day of rifle season. I say hunt hard with a bow and beat them to the woods, then when rifle comes around, go out with a rifle and just enjoy it and hunt for nice bucks since you've already bagged an archery deer. Either way, I imagine a nice chunk of Oklahoma poachers would ignore any rules. There are already plenty of poachers who shoot deer w/o the proper tags just becuase they think they have the right to. Now the department doesn't need to charge so much for a tag, either, just becuase they have the right to. I say for now, though, show congrats to the hunters who get any deer. They consider them to be nice deer and nice stories to tell and that is their right.

SWOSUMike

By the way, where ya from Buckmasterflex?

North Texan

A lot landowners here south of the Red River have rules of 8 or more points, with a spread past the ears, with exceptions for spikes and management bucks. I am a big supporter of the landowners voluntarily doing things like this. I would rather not see the state get involved where it doesn't have to. My philosophy is it's better to put minimal regulations on yourself than to wait until someone else sets regulations for you (like the state). More people need to realize the five factors that govern antler size:

1. Age
2. Age
3. Age
4. Nutrition
5. Genetics

I have found several people that do all kinds of things (food plots, protein supplement, etc.) only to forget that when they shoot the 6 point bucks this year, there will be no 8 pt. bucks next year. It takes some time to get them to practice the most difficult of all management practices.....RESTRAINT. That's why I see it as my duty to try to educate others about the issue. Too many think that a successful hunt involves going out into the woods and bagging a buck. To me, a successful hunt involves going out into the woods. Even seeing a deer is a bonus. A successful hunter is the one who has waited, season after season, passing up shot after shot, until he is rewarded with that once in a lifetime trophy others can only dream of.

Buckmasterflex

SWOSU I am from Amber, Oklahoma. I didn't mean that we need to put an 8pt or better rule on the whole state of Oklahoma, I was just wondering what people thought about it. I do think that earn-a-buck would do us alot better, and it would be just fine with me to do that. But I just don't like to see everyone shoot these little deer when they could wait a year or 2 and he would be a really nice deer.