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You know whats pathetic? Guys like you that look down your nose at other hunters shooting whatever deer makes them happy. You should do yourself a favor and get off your high horse and realize your dink just isnt that big and your wife isnt that good lookin.

Although not a huge fan of the 3 on a side AR.. I do like that it finally gets guys thinking about passing on bucks which may in fact allow for greater AR's being accepted in the future.

The one buck rule would really get the guys battling... you can't make rules in hunting.. hunters should be able to do what ever they like, take as many of any size they like... they pay a ton of money to get their one weekend a year in so why should they care about rules, or conservation... it's all a scam anyway... nobody cares about killing a big buck... meat hunting is the right thing to do... besides they don't give enough doe permits... and all the crossbow hunters are gonna kill the deer first anyway... plus there are no proven biological reasons to maintain balanced deer herds... and all you AR lovin' deer management guys are just trophy hunters that coudn't kill a deer if your life depended on it... ONE BUCK??? OMG!!! that just crazy!! That would mean all the hunters would be through hunting at 7 am on opening day.. think of all the revenue the diners would lose out on...

Just a question for everybody on this thread. How would everybody feel if they got rid of the AR's and went to a 1 buck rule for the entire state? I would much rather see the 1 buck rule go into effect than have AR's. John

"And lastly to all of those who say simply go shoot a doe, well gee I would love to but there are zero permits for my area. I hope all of you boys in western NY are ready for steve863 and I, we are pulling up stakes and heading your way. " You can always go back to Burt's place, sure he won't mind!

Propaganda is putting it mildly. Exactly who are ALL these sportsman supporting AR's?? I find this rather amusing. From page 8 of the attached DEC document: http://www.dec.ny.go...rregapc2012.pdf "Summary of public comments: We received several thousand comments related to the proposed expansion of mandatory ARs, as occurred during public comment on the draft deer management plan in 2011. The vast majority of comments supporting mandatory ARs came as form letters, with several variations, and a few petitions. Many of the letters received were undated, lacked signatures, or were duplicates of letters submitted on the draft deer management plan prior to this rulemaking. Also included were letters of support from more than two dozen elected officials (New York State Senate and Assembly)." So the AR supporters flooded the DEC with unsigned chain letters to make it look look like the majority of hunters are in support of AR's? Why doesn't this surprise me? Not like most of them have half a brain to put together a letter in their own words in support. What boggles my mind is how the DEC made their decision based on this. It was obviously NOT for biological reasons since the have said before and say it again in this statement that: "However, mandatory ARs are not biologically necessary to maintain a healthy deer population in New York." Sad day for many hunters in the Catskills. Just sickening how the greedy desires of a few have impacted everyone else. They also use the term "hunters" and "stakeholders" when they talk about AR's in this document. Who exactly are the "stakeholders" here and why should their opinion even count?? My hunch is that these "stakeholders" are a bunch of sportsmans clubs who have been pushing AR for years now in this region. They have illusions of the Catskills becoming a trophy haven where they could charge even more in membership dues and then purchase more leases where the rest of us pee-ons who simply enjoy hunting whether we shoot trophies or not are left with even fewer places to hunt.

To the AR guys: What will you do with all those big bucks? Get them all mounted or will they just get hung in the garage or shed? How many can you really stuff? Plenty of low income & unemployed folks can't afford the taxidermy fee. If you ARE just cutting the skull plate off and NOT mounting a big buck, who cares if it is a 4pt, 6pt or 10pt? Think about it, if the rack is more important than the meat and the experience when you hit the woods than I think your going about this for the wrong reasons. I enjoy the hunt, the meat and the occasional wall hanger.

Perhaps it was some of that "more natural competition among bucks" that put this buck in a world of hurt: I believe those to be some antler wounds that may have led to predators taking advantage of the situation and creating this destruction on the buck's rump: That deer was a mercy killing as it could barely get up, and the story in the snow showed that he had been there a long time in considerable pain. Several bloody beds in one small area. I'm sure that deer would not have made it for much longer. I used to have a deer skull that I found in the bottom of a ravine that had an antler tip embedded right between the eyes. I often wonder how many of those remains that we find in the woods and assume are gun-wounded deer are actually casualties of some of the fights. Anyway, the point I am thinking about is that the buck/doe ratios can also create more violence in the fighting, and also cause some additional trauma in terms of depleting needed reserves for making it through the upcoming winter. I wouldn't think that that sort of excessive exertion would be a good thing. I'm just guessing, but it seems that promoting a more violent pre-breeding season would be of little benefit to anything other than predators. I don't know ..... what do you think? Is it a good thing to create conditions of more stress on the buck population? Just asking.

You find that one waterhole with water in it or that lone oak with acorns on it and you got yourself a a good spot with conditions like this. More legwork to find them but with fewer sources of water and food it will be an easy stand choice instead of a vast enviorment of lots of food and water sources. It might play out in your favor. But I would rather see rain epsecially for the farmers.

Its all about age stucture balance among the bucks... a good representation of all age classes of bucks. Better age stucture produces more natural competition among bucks and help a herd with passing on stronger genetics... not just antler size, but stronger, healthier, more adapable deer. It also puts buck:doe ratios closer with good doe management and gets does bred earlier (during their first estrus) which makes for earlier born fawns that are stronger and better prepared for the NY winters. AR's alone are not the answer... they must be coupled with other sound management ideas.

Propaganda...misleading and filled with half truths.

When you start knitting are you going straight for the challenge like a sweater or are you starting with socks first?

I am not familiar with that....do they guage it by the spread of their nuts?