nyantler

Welcome jennifer... god to have you with us!

true that qdm is kinda futile on 150 acres but its more about the mindset of passing on the young bucks, maintaining a good food source. I couldn't care less if I was the only guy passing on the young bucks and harvesting a few does. If I pass the buck up he just got another chance to get a bit older... if I kill him, I'm 100% sure he will never be any older.

I think it is harder to pass on a buck sometimes than it is to shoot one.

If you give up until gun. I guarantee you won't get a buck with the bow... it only takes one deer and one arrow to get the buck of a lifetime.

I think Burts 14 year old gets it! good for him... keep being patient kid and you'll have all kinds of excitement.

Sorry I meant the other steve and i agree that a points based AR isn't the way to go

Sorry ADK I'm sure that would be part of the ajustments the DEC would have to look at

I would agree that there are some so called QDM people out there that are more motivated by bigger bucks than by the management aspects of the original QDM model. I'm not one of those people.

I agree...

A little of both Doc... it is not a part of any management plan..no.. it was my idea to spark some debate. What I really was trying to find out is .. If it was something that we knew needed to be done, would any hunters really be willing to do it... or would there need to kill a buck at all costs override helping out the whitetail herd.

Plants Deer Will Not Eat Plants Deer Will Not Eat. by Mary Jane Frogge, Extension Associate ... cinnamon fern; interrupted fern; Oriental poppy; ribbon grass; balloon flower ... lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/deerplants.shtml - Cached - Similar That is in Nebraska.. might not all apply in NY... still interesting though

We have 125 acres of white clover, mixed in with 350 acres of corn the farmer plants on our lease, it gets eaten but the deer don't seem any more excited about the clover than they do the corn... although we have a bunch of other natural food sources on the property.. The clover is not a hybrid its just regular white clover.. part of a NYS program the farmer got involved in.

If it doesn't protect 1.5's, what does it possibly do to help? I always thought it was hunting season and not antler season. ??? Yeah, it's a bit amusing ain't it?? They are constantly throwing these theories at us about what's best for the herd and in the end it all comes down to what could be done to get a buck to have bigger antlers on it's head so it would make it easier for them to gun it down! A blind man could see what their garbage is all about. Wow really? Is that what you take out of all these conversations? Couldn't have said it better myself Burm! The only one bringing antler size up has been steve and doc... the rest of us are talking about age...

Doc its more that you fail to pay attention to what guys are trying to say before you jump all over the topic.. just because you don't like it doesn't mean it is a good idea.

I have only mentioned 3 times that the question was just posed to spark conversation ... I was actually trying to be a smart ass and go over the top a bit to get a good debate going.. it worked. And there were some great points made. unfortunately Doc none were yours

not if you have a restriction on the size buck you can take. And there ya go again doc... i can tell you don't even know what we're talking about when we say healthy herd. And again I'm not seeing WHY hanging a big buck up on the wall is a bad thing. Plus I thought you were all about the experts, but now even they don't have a clue about buck:doe ratio... make up your mind.

It protects spikes and crotch horns... but 3 on a side could be a 1.5 old - 4 pt, 5 pt or 6pt. The idea would be for an AR that allows almost all 1.5 old buck to move on the next year to become 2.5

and when the program is over there will be all kinds of bucks running around

They can still hunt near home.. just not for a buck.

Every time someone says AR you guys start talking about big bucks... When I talk about any kind of antler restriction at all.. I am always refurring to how it help the age structure of bucks. MEANING... instead of having a majority of 1.5 year old bucks and only a few bucks in the 2.5 or 3.5 age class, and nearly 0 any older than that. How AR might help give a more balanced age representation among the buck population in a given area..

getting skunked isn't all that bad..if you had a good time getting skunked.

I have known it works for years.. the only time I've seen AR's not work is when the huters didn't stick to the plan. I'm personally not a fan of the 3 on a side AR.. I don't think it protects 1.5 yr olds.. but like you say... its a start

What a handsome buck!

That's very true Culver... I think the problem comes when the population gets to where they start to deplete the food source in that area.. mainly winter browse... and when they start to become a nuisance to homeowners plants and bushes..but yes that is the great thing about whitetails is that they are highly adaptable.

thanks Hunter... nice to have some help with these 2 guys...