The Expanded Antler Restrictions - Who is excited?

[dave6x6]

WNY had his chances in 2010. He was killed in 2011.. I heard 163 gross as an 8 pointer. That picture doesn't do it justice. He's a beast of an 8..

[silent death]

I just wonder with this in affect how many people will leave the 4s region to hunt on 4b with no restriction. i hunt on 4b and we catch people every year poaching and jacking on the property iam wondering if this year is gonna be worse. ill have to put up more signs . it is bad enough the cops have to patrol the property as it was last year do to the people coming on the property and theres state land right down the rd

[Larry]

I save all most everything I type cutting and pasting saves time when you type with 2 fingers then I only type what I need. I did order that dragon soft ware but it hasn’t come yet. Beside this is the same old crap rehashed anyway. so sorry it Doesn’t meet with your approval

[Dom]

Was i wrong our buck tagg is good for the whole state of newyork is it not?Every one might want to keep it this way it sure give's us a better chance at the big one.Could you imagine if our buck tagg was only good for the town or county we live in,This would stop most hunters from even buying a license.Let's all just hunt and most of all get along with each other.

[silent death]

the problem is land in the southern tier 4b and 4s is hard to come bye. most people hold there land to them selves and family. and the 340 acres i hunt theres only 6 of us who have permission to hunt it but people still sneak on. but with 4s having the ar this year iam just concerned that those people that hunt in that zone will be looking elsewhere like 4b and so on to hunt where there aint a ar . just my 2 cents . i know a couple of landowners in 4s that are not happy with what the dec said they can shoot on there property and in a way i understand its there property they pay for the taxes and everything for it. if anything make the wmu state lands in any county ar that way the deer will have a safe zone to grow bigger. that would make more sense

[Ford]

Well, the State already dictates what can be shot, or when. The wildlife is not owned by the landowner.

[Meat Hunter]

This bickering is none sense.If you are not happy with ar's then go hunt in a different area,our Buck tag is for the entire state of Newyork or did some forget or not know this.

Dom I heard that Dutchess County wants ARs what is the story with that?

[Dom]

Dom I heard that Dutchess County wants ARs what is the story with that?

Not sure if they want to im good with it,I choose what i want to shoot any way's.The amount/size of the antler's do nothing for the age it's not uncommon to see spike's that are 4to5 years old.

[Meat Hunter]

Not sure if they want to im good with it,I choose what i want to shoot any way's.The amount/size of the antler's do nothing for the age it's not uncommon to see spike's that are 4to5 years old.

Hey Dom, love ya but I have learned and it is true that there are no 4-5 year old spikes. If you look at the DEC pdf of harvest data they show a graph with the number of points and age which clearly show this. Also this was in the letters section of the Outdoor news- issue before last. Dick Henry DEC Biolgist was quoted saying he had check 28,000 deer and had only see one two and a half with a fork horn. All the others had more points. He teachs aging in the area if you want to check it out.

[nyantler]

Not sure if they want to im good with it,I choose what i want to shoot any way's.The amount/size of the antler's do nothing for the age it's not uncommon to see spike's that are 4to5 years old.

LOL.. sorry.. but it is very uncommon. And antler size generally IS related to age... I dare you to find a yearling buck that scores140 in the wild... or even 100 for that matter... if you could it would not be natural and has no place in determining conservation decisions for whitetails as a whole. Where some of you get this stuff is a mystery... ignorance I think is conservations biggest enemy.

[Meat Hunter]

The old spike is one of the most common misconceptions. And I see why it happens. For the first 16 year I hunted I never saw or harvested more than a spike ( ok a tiny 4 or two as well) Even off season I did not see adult bucks. It is hard to believe that there just are not any bucks left to be adults. Since we got ARs it’s been a racked buck every year and the largest I have ever taken 3 out of 5 years. I am going to have to learn how to measure these things on the head.

I have also seen many adult bucks, scraps sparing, grunting etcetera. This is all new and the result of antler restrictions.

[burmjohn]

I've never seen a 2+ year old spike.

I save all most everything I type cutting and pasting saves time when you type with 2 fingers then I only type what I need. I did order that dragon soft ware but it hasn’t come yet. Beside this is the same old crap rehashed anyway. so sorry it Doesn’t meet with your approval

Nah its fine, wrong, but fine, no approval needed.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Let me tell you what I would really like to see.....This put to bed once and for all. I practice it myself but do not support it being forced on others. (That is my stance). I would be willing to put it on the line and support a 100% mandatory poll of hunters with future license sales. If the supporters of AR really have the numbers that they are quoting they should realllllly support something like this. if the numbers come in over 50% put it in state wide, if not it is gone.

[Meat Hunter]

What happened to the good ol days when hunting was more about ...

8Y here i come!

You hit the nail on the head. Good ol days. In 1911 before the science of wildlife management was invented someone arbitrarily decided that a legal buck would be one with one 3 inch spike. Old time thinking at a time when hunting had removed deer from the landscape in NY and when the whole state had been clear cut and when hunters hunted with open sites and shotguns. Now we harvest does and have become so affective at killing bucks that most do not reach adulthood. It is not about the hunter killing a deer; it is about doing what is best for the deer and as a result having the best hunting and deer viewing experience. Funny fact, only 15% of the hunters kill a buck. 85% do not kill a buck. It is very evident that killing a buck is not the driving reason for hunting. The number one hunter satisfaction is seeing deer. I actually eat deer, about 99% of all the meat I eat is venison but I still look to harvest less deer where they are in recovery and more in areas of over abundance and since I only get one buck tag to fill during gun season I try to harvest the biggest buck. It’s all fun. It is not about being able to kill every deer we see. In fact, if you do not have a doe tag then you cannot shoot a doe. No one thinks that is abnormal but for some reason if you can not kill every buck it a huge deal. See good ol days- kill all the bucks never kill a doe. That is just not the way it is anymore. Now we kill 50% Antlerless and 50% Antlered (mostly immature bucks). There is no biological justification for removing any yearling bucks let alone most.

BTW you should go out to Western NY they have 10 times the number of deer that you have where you hunt. BTW where is that? I will go with you.

[growalot]

In fact, if you do not have a doe tag then you cannot shoot a doe. No one thinks that is abnormal but for some reason if you can not kill every buck it a huge deal.

OK...I am not going to respond to that statement...I am just going to implore you to..... PLEASE re-read what you wrote...and hope it doesn't take too many reads to click in....

[Dom]

Think what I was trying to say is you cant positivly age a deer by the antler's ,also think later in a deer's life he would'nt allway's have a big or even that many point's.Diet climate genetic's and good conservation is what is nessasary to preserve the herd's that we now have.My question is if you can age a goat by the amount of teeth they have then why not a deer the same way?

[Meat Hunter]

Yes teeth work to age deer for fawns, a range of yearling bucks 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 months old, for 2.5 and 3.5 pure science. The older ages require experience and is somewhat of an art form but reliable. It is based on type and number of teeth in the yearlings and below. It is tooth wear for the older deer.

[nyantler]

Steve and Doe are always welcomed at my place, they can shoot what they want. Never put restrictions on people and never will. Don't see why the state has to do it. There are 11 guys from PA that come up here to hunt, put AR's in they are history. They pay for their tags and want meat. The icing on the cake is a nice buck. I got a gun club that preaches AR's, they hit all the neighboring properties preaching letting the small ones walk. During gun season we see small bucks hanging from their meat pole and there always is a bogus reason why it was shot. Don't see a need for it and never will doesn't help anyone except the trophy hunter. In my eyes every deer is a trophy.

It's not designed to "help anyone".. it's designed to help the deer herd... you're still missing the point.

[erussell]

Hunting isnt about helping the deer herd in NY its about filling the freezer, silly NYANTLER. Hunters are no longer conservationists they are exterminators,sent by an under funded arm of the government of NY who couldnt game manage there way out of a paper bag and are yrs behind the rest of the country in even basic game management.

[nyantler]

Hunting isnt about helping the deer herd in NY its about filling the freezer, silly NYANTLER. Hunters are no longer conservationists they are exterminators,sent by an under funded arm of the government of NY who couldnt game manage there way out of a paper bag and are yrs behind the rest of the country in even basic game management.

Tough to argue with that...

[Meat Hunter]

well said

[Dinsdale]

Hunting isnt about helping the deer herd in NY its about filling the freezer, silly NYANTLER. Hunters are no longer conservationists they are exterminators,sent by an under funded arm of the government of NY who couldnt game manage there way out of a paper bag and are yrs behind the rest of the country in even basic game management.

Does that make what DEC does, ancillary?

Hey; am I using that right ?.....hmmm; not sure.

Can anyone help me with that?

[Pygmy]

Does that make what DEC does, ancillary?

Hey; am I using that right ?.....hmmm; not sure.

Can anyone help me with that?

I sure can't, Dindale...

WNY and Growie are the vocabulary experts here..

[WNYBuckHunter]

I started a trend lol

[Meat Hunter]

Hunting isnt about helping the deer herd in NY its about filling the freezer, silly NYANTLER.

We always hear about this filling the freezer and I need the meat but the surveys show that only 22% of the hunters said that meat was the most important reason for hunting which makes sense since so few hunters get a buck yet still go hunting.