antler restrictions.

[bogmanjr]

Cant build a decent herd when everybody shoots the babies. Its not about big buck propoganda. Its a way to roughly judge a bucks age in the field so maybe a buck can make it past 1.5 yrs old so they may possibly have the chance to breed with a doe and produce more bucks. How many bucks die a virgin i wonder. I dont think everyone needs to shoot a monster buck,but shoot something you can be proud of instead of a baby, and i bet these folks that are just in it for the meat and dont care about horns arent turning down a photo-op or the chance to brag when they do happen to get a racker by chance. Wheres the pride in shooting a spike 3 days off the teet. May improve safety also if a person actually has to look and see if a deer is legal before they just pop off a wild shot at something that they "think" had horns on it.

 

First post from lyndaker "i shot a spike horn last weekend opening night of muzzleloading season shot the deer"

I like to refer to them as tender morsels of renewable protein. Not babies. Folks should be able to put there tag on what they want.

[upstatehunter]

The tags bought are another completely different issue....still a fairly high number of people who never do buy a license....just go out back....shoot one and put it in the freezer....I'm betting with that and the number of people who don't report deer, the state could add 15% to the kill numbers every year without a problem....of the 10-20 people I spoke to when licenses jumped in price a few years ago...betting that half don't buy one now....LOL remembering when they first instated the call your kill in...some were outraged to find out they were talking to a computer in Arizona.....never to do it again....Reminds me of a humorous story...sitting at a local quick mart having a breakfast sandwich and coffee....DEC officer walks in and says hey to all of us...then asks one of the guys standing by our table talking to us...hey....your wife get another one this year yet?
Yes they do own the deer, and make the regs regarding their management....but how many regs do we need?
Try taking the existing zones, and managing them as one entity...not lump 10 into a group....NY is way to diverse for that....

[upstatehunter]

Well I knew one of us was going to say it Bog.....I'm sure he didn't just pop off a shot at it either....saw the spikes all the way in...
 
One big reason we have trouble getting through to the politicians who decide what we can or can't do....we seem to talk out both sides of our mouths.....

[mookie]

Cant build a decent herd when everybody shoots the babies. Its not about big buck propoganda. Its a way to roughly judge a bucks age in the field so maybe a buck can make it past 1.5 yrs old so they may possibly have the chance to breed with a doe and produce more bucks. How many bucks die a virgin i wonder. I dont think everyone needs to shoot a monster buck,but shoot something you can be proud of instead of a baby, and i bet these folks that are just in it for the meat and dont care about horns arent turning down a photo-op or the chance to brag when they do happen to get a racker by chance. Wheres the pride in shooting a spike 3 days off the teet. May improve safety also if a person actually has to look and see if a deer is legal before they just pop off a wild shot at something that they "think" had horns on it.

I have a proud photo opp. moment with every deer I Harvest , Big or small .

[ramrod]

First post from lyndaker "i shot a spike horn last weekend opening night of muzzleloading season shot the deer"

I like to refer to them as tender morsels of renewable protein. Not babies. Folks should be able to put there tag on what they want.

must b his spike was a little longer off the teat making it a trophy spike. Even if he waS  to embarassed to take any photos w his baby he sure was proud enough to post about  it

[ship of fools]

I have a proud photo opp. moment with every deer I Harvest , Big or small .

me too  ......  then a proud moment as i "put it tween two biscuits and eat it"     .......  that's a saying off the hank parker show that i kinda like

[drobertsinMaryland]

I have a proud photo opp. moment with every deer I Harvest , Big or small .

I do the same thing. I will even clean the blood off the deer and push the tongue back in before the pic. I feel as if I owe it to the animal plus it makes for a great memory down the road. I say if it makes you happy and its legal Choot'em.

[SilentStalker]

"I cant shot the crotch horn off my own property"

Problem is its your properety but not your deer. They belong to the state of new york and all of the guys that purchase hunting liscenses that pays for the upkeep of the herd. By this logic i dont need "big brother telling me i cant shoot every deer i see on my own property.

I'm not sure what you mean...
 

[LIBERAL HATER]

I have shot two button bucks now one last year and one this year and with the difficulties I have seen when it comes to hunting each one of these is a trophy to me. 

[upstatehunter]

They sure are LH...Lyndacker must have shot my spikeasaurus's father....Spikeasaurus REX!!!

[mookie]

me too  ......  then a proud moment as i "put it tween two biscuits and eat it"     .......  that's a saying off the hank parker show that i kinda like

MMMMMMMM ....Biscuts 

[vermonner]

We have been doing it for some years in Vt with limited success.  I respectfully disagree with JD540.   Be careful what you wish for.  My deer sightings have been down steadily for 20 years.  Hunter success percentages have steadily fallen over he same time period from 13% to 9-10%

Antler restrictions grow antlers, Habitat management grows herds.

[upstatehunter]

Well said Vermonner!! I'm putting more stock into the lands I have to hunt next year....far outweighs antler restrictions in my opinion....Just went around my area today....place is torn up with buck sign....We took three small bucks this season off it...guess the older crew finally decided to get going with rubs and scrapes...they didn't need to with the little guys there, they knew they could kick their butts....But with a older population of bucks the doe must have gone into heat late and let them breed them...They will run and fight off a smaller buck they don't want to breed them...or wait until the right buck comes to have "nature" take it's course....Had we waited for the "mature" deer to shoot, we probably would have done more harm than good to the herd...JMO....

[TC Hunter]

I don't know if the antler restrictions are a good thing or not, Always wondered how one would tell fron a hundred yards if the deer was a shooter or not. I am a meat hunter and was raised that way, I enjoy a nice back strap once in a while. Back in the mid 60s we couldn't be to choosey with horn size or there wouldn't be meat for the freezer. Even with a doe permit I tryed to pick a yearling that might not make it through the winter, rather than a nice big breader doe that may have two or three fawns in the spring. Just my way of thinkung be it right or wrong. Not to say I didn't hang a few nice racks but that was always during bow season my favorite time to hunt, and still is today.   

[BigBuckTaker16]

I would love to see antler restrictions up here. Hell look at PA. They are literally bathing in the benefits of it. There are rackers running around everywhere down there now. IMO something that might benefit more than the antler restrictions is a earn a buck program. You should have to take a doe before you are able to take a buck. That alone should help our herds up here in the ADKs. The buck to doe ratio is way out of whack. We would see 5-10 does per day and not one buck. We've been passing up lots of small bucks the past few years and its starting to pay off in the areas we hunt. You'll always have the people that will say "Well if I don't shoot it somebody else will". Well that may be true but it might night be, he might make it through the season.