AR's suck

[the blur]

Lost 2 deer due to AR's.     1st deer was a beautiful fork.   Perfect 4 point,  perfectly symmetrical.    I would loved to have had him on my wall.      He was bedded down behind my stand the entire time.   25 feet away,  we both spooked each other when I came down to take a leak.  Then he looked at me all pissed off that I was in his home territory.    He gets up slowly & calmly; stares me down, and walks off slowly.      I could have blasted him 10 times over.

The 2nd deer was a big bodied bruiser.   But 180 yards away.    I couldn't make out the # of points.    I tried to look, and confirm, but I couldn't be sure.   But the time this was happening,  he was gone.    Very muscular deer.   Had to be legal, but it's hard to tell at a distance.

[Jamoke]

Why do you need to get out of your stand just to leak? I would understand if you had the angry gorilla brewing.

[YFKI1983]

I didn't like them at first but now I'm seeing much bigger bucks on my property (atleast on cam) that I never saw 5 or 6 years.

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[coonhunter]

Right there with you blur. I was in an AR area yesterday with a gentleman that has shot one buck his whole life. He got to witness, for the first time in his life, two bucks chasing does all around him. Unfortunately for him, both were forks or spikes. He was excited about the grunting, chasing, and the mouths being wide open, but he sure was disappointed in not being able to shoot. Especially, when he was denied a doe tag for the second year in a row. 

I just don't like them being forced down hunters' throats. Voluntary works for people that want them.

[YFKI1983]

Right there with you blur. I was in an AR area yesterday with a gentleman that has shot one buck his whole life. He got to witness, for the first time in his life, two bucks chasing does all around him. Unfortunately for him, both were forks or spikes. He was excited about the grunting, chasing, and the mouths being wide open, but he sure was disappointed in not being able to shoot. Especially, when he was denied a doe tag for the second year in a row. 
I just don't like them being forced down hunters' throats. Voluntary works for people that want them.

I do hate that it's impossible to get doe tags in areas that also have antler restrictions

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[DaveJr.]

1 hour ago, YFKI1983 said:

I didn't like them at first but now I'm seeing much bigger bucks on my property (atleast on cam) that I never saw 5 or 6 years.

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This. Just about every year since the AR's were put in place, we have seen bigger deer on camera and have been more successful. In 20 years of hunting the same 40 acres, my dad never saw anything bigger then a 6 pointer. In 2015 and 2016, I shot 8 pointers both years and this year my dad shot a nice 8, the biggest ever taken on our property. They have definitely worked in my area at least.

[GreeneHunter]

Where I hunt (either 4H or 4B ) there are no AR's thankfully . But what I have seen over the years is a big drop in hunters ! This year a took a 6 pointer with the crossbow and an 8 pointer with the gun , believe me I'm not bragging ! A good hunting buddy of my said that we usually never see any decent bucks where we hunt on my property (4H) and he thinks I took all the bucks . Well in order to retrieve my 8 pointer I had to drive around to the other side of my property and ask the Farmer for permission to cross his field which was a closer drag for me , on the way driving over we noticed two spikey's just standing near the road . Neither area (4H or 4B) is an AR area but I would also attribute bigger bucks to less hunters !

[TreeGuy]

I know it's not the perfect ending to his hunt, but enjoying these animals as they do there thing can be as exciting as putting one down. As I read this I thought it was awesome that he couldn't shoot and had to watch ! The rut is cool, and he will never forget that. Shot or no shot.

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[Larry]

AR’s are bull shit you don’t need AR’s to have big bucks. I don’t even look at racks anymore if a buck looks like it weighs 200lbs live weight or more it gets shot. At that weight they will have a decent rack on them. My last 10 bucks none of them weighed less then 175.

[YFKI1983]

AR’s are bull shit you don’t need AR’s to have big bucks. I don’t even look at racks anymore if a buck looks like it weighs 200lbs live weight or more it gets shot. At that weight they will have a decent rack on them. My last 10 bucks none of them weighed less then 175.

I think if they switch to a weight restriction it would be alot tougher to manage

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[travisrage]

Great improvement ar’s are! For the first time i can see a buck every 5 sits. Used to be two bucks a season !!!


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[mowin]

Wow.  Seen the thread title and was like how the hell is AR platform responsible for a miss or bad shot compared to a bolt action in the same caliber. Lol.  Was ready to bash the OP.   

Have to agree the AR he's taking about would suck.  

[coonhunter]

Treeguy, that is how I feel about him seeing the action. He was excited as hell jabbering on the radio. The only problem is that he has only killed one deer his whole life and is still in the early stages of deer hunting where a kill is a lot more important than someone that has killed a bunch. He will feel better when I get him back on one of the farms I hunt with no AR and a doe tag. He found this property himself and we scouted a little bit and he picked his own stand site. I told him what a great job he did and how much he has learned in two years of hunting with me, but he was only partly feeling better. Let him get a couple more deer under his belt and he will be more accepting.

Larry, that is exactly how i do it. Not all of them will have 120+ inches, but most do. My last nine bucks average out to 184 pounds and some of them were leaned right out from running the does and patrolling their rutting territory. I will say that three of these bucks didn't even have 100 inches of antler.

[TreeGuy]

Treeguy, that is how I feel about him seeing the action. He was excited as hell jabbering on the radio. The only problem is that he has only killed one deer his whole life and is still in the early stages of deer hunting where a kill is a lot more important than someone that has killed a bunch. He will feel better when I get him back on one of the farms I hunt with no AR and a doe tag. He found this property himself and we scouted a little bit and he picked his own stand site. I told him what a great job he did and how much he has learned in two years of hunting with me, but he was only partly feeling better. Let him get a couple more deer under his belt and he will be more accepting.
Larry, that is exactly how i do it. Not all of them will have 120+ inches, but most do. My last nine bucks average out to 184 pounds and some of them were leaned right out from running the does and patrolling their rutting territory. I will say that three of these bucks didn't even have 100 inches of antler.

Guess my point was that it's not always about the kill.... I get it though.

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[reeltime]

there has always been some form of antler restrictions throughout NY state. All they did was up the restriction a couple points.  had they done 3 points to a side when they first made the buck rules this all would be a moot point.  His day was a success and who knows the next day he hunts maybe he will shoot the biggest deer he has ever shot in his life.

 

[hrvat]

it's fine if the area in question has the potential to grow big bucks...but i hunt an area (3k) that has awful soil and i am convinced  it CAN'T produce  outside of a few rare  genetic freaks

i have ONE deer (decent 6) on that property in the ten or so years since they implemented AR and with it being impossible to get dmp tags it's becoming pointless to even try hunt it anymore 

Edited November 20, 2017 by hrvat

[Bionic]

8 hours ago, hrvat said:

it's fine if the area in question has the potential to grow big bucks...but i hunt an area (3k) that has awful soil and i am convinced  it CAN'T produce  outside of a few rare  genetic freaks

i have ONE deer (decent 6) on that property in the ten or so years since they implemented AR and with it being impossible to get dmp tags it's becoming pointless to even try hunt it anymore 

I couldn't agree more, I live, and hunt 3K Eldred, people in 3M don't understand that the deer they pass on in 3M,  are NICE up here in 3K.  Big deer do exist up here, but if you pass on deer, you may not see another legal buck.  Its catch 22, you want to pass on the smaller legal bucks, but at the same time does are off limits, and you may not see another legal buck.  

[chas0218]

On 11/19/2017 at 10:25 PM, coonhunter said:

Treeguy, that is how I feel about him seeing the action. He was excited as hell jabbering on the radio. The only problem is that he has only killed one deer his whole life and is still in the early stages of deer hunting where a kill is a lot more important than someone that has killed a bunch. He will feel better when I get him back on one of the farms I hunt with no AR and a doe tag. He found this property himself and we scouted a little bit and he picked his own stand site. I told him what a great job he did and how much he has learned in two years of hunting with me, but he was only partly feeling better. Let him get a couple more deer under his belt and he will be more accepting.

Larry, that is exactly how i do it. Not all of them will have 120+ inches, but most do. My last nine bucks average out to 184 pounds and some of them were leaned right out from running the does and patrolling their rutting territory. I will say that three of these bucks didn't even have 100 inches of antler.

Depends on the area. I have saw on our property a bunch of 100" 2.5 year old 8 points. 

On 11/19/2017 at 9:09 PM, Larry said:

AR’s are bull shit you don’t need AR’s to have big bucks. I don’t even look at racks anymore if a buck looks like it weighs 200lbs live weight or more it gets shot. At that weight they will have a decent rack on them. My last 10 bucks none of them weighed less then 175.

If you only shot deer in my area that have a live weight of 200lbs. you would never shoot a deer let alone a buck. 

We have practiced a type of AR's on our property since 2008 and have killed a number of quality mature whitetails that were 4.5 years old or older and 10 points (10 point rule on the property). None of those deer were close to 200lbs. live weight maybe 180lbs. with the biggest at 5.5 years old and 160" 10 point. The weight of a deer doesn't dictate its age and not many guys can accurately estimate a deer's live weight compared to counting antler points. I can't tell you how many times people say a deer weighs 200lbs. and it doesn't make 160lbs. I have seen deer for western NY that are pushing 200lbs. and only 2.5 years old.

Edited November 21, 2017 by chas0218

[ApexerER]

5 minutes ago, chas0218 said:

Depends on the area. I have saw on our property a bunch of 100" 2.5 year old 8 points. 

If you only shot deer in my area that have a live weight of 200lbs. you would never shoot a deer let alone a buck. 

We have practiced a type of AR's on our property since 2008 and have killed a number of quality mature whitetails that were 4.5 years old or older and 10 points (10 point rule on the property). None of those deer were close to 200lbs. live weight maybe 180lbs. with the biggest at 5.5 years old and 160" 10 point. The weight of a deer doesn't dictate its age and not many guys can accurately estimate a deer's live weight compared to counting antler points. I can't tell you how many times people say a deer weighs 200lbs. and it doesn't make 160lbs.

You have a 10 pt or better rule? Aren't there a lot of deer that will never have 10 points?

[chas0218]

3 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

You have a 10 pt or better rule? Aren't there a lot of deer that will never have 10 points?

Don't know only have killed the ones that have 10 points. There are several of us that practice AR's on a total of 400 acres. One guy shoots 8 points and better but has never shot a 10. I know why he has never shot a 10 point, because he shoots the first 8 point that walks in front of him. He complains all the time he never gets a 10. I have nothing against him and just happy he passes all the small bucks. In the past 9 years we have had the AR's on our property we have never had an 8 point that didn't grow into a 10. The neighbor kid killed a 10 point this year that had 6 on one side and 4 on the other complete stud of a buck and there were 2 other 10's running around bigger than his. Basically an exact copy of the one pictured below was killed this year. 

[steve863]

All I will say is to HELL with AR's and this past weekend proved it to me more than ever!  Instead of wasting my time in the Catskills where I wouldn't be allowed to shoot anything I was invited up to forum member Culver Creek Hunt's Club cabin (non AR region) this past weekend and I shot myself a buck that wouldn't qualify under AR's.  I for one could care less how many points a deer wears on his head.  Thanks to Culver's gracious invitation I got myself a freezer full of venison and had a super great and memorable weekend up at his place.  I tell you all, it would be hard to find a more generous, hospitable and friendly guy than him!  So the moral here is that AR's may make some trophy obsessed people happy thinking that they will sooner than later kill that monster buck, but the honest truth is that many of those people will NEVER know what hunting should really be all about!!

 

 

 

 

 

[brownclown]

i just cant understand the objection. first off the safety aspect of the practice alone is enough of a reason to implement it. It forces people to slow down and know what they are shooting. But 2ndly after two years the entire age structure of the population has increased.  so all those 1.5 spike you see are now more then likely shooters. people are afraid since they dont see mature deer now that the would continue to be the case. this just isn't true. now instead of seeing lots of 1.5 youll see l of 2.5 and 3.5 in the place.

[turkeyfeathers]

On 11/19/2017 at 9:09 PM, Larry said:

AR’s are bull shit you don’t need AR’s to have big bucks. I don’t even look at racks anymore if a buck looks like it weighs 200lbs live weight or more it gets shot. At that weight they will have a decent rack on them. My last 10 bucks none of them weighed less then 175.

For Christmas I’d ask for an accurate scale. 

[Larry]

Have taken them all to the local archery shop or the rod & gun weighed them on their scale after being dressed.

[turkeyfeathers]

15 minutes ago, Larry said:

Have taken them all to the local archery shop or the rod & gun weighed them on their scale after being dressed.

Buy in bulk. One for you , coonhunter and archery shop and gun club. Volume discount.