Antler Restrictions - What are your thoughts?

[Fairgame]

You cant practice it volunatary cause on small parcels of land you would go ten years and never fill a buck tag if you were the only one within 400 acres doing it.  That hunter is forced to have to harvest a yearling cause he would never fill it otherwise.  I wouldnt consider these people to have phoney support. I consider it not having an opportunity to practice their type of management.  They could practice it with absolutely no results.

[Doc]

You cant practice it volunatary cause on small parcels of land you would go ten years and never fill a buck tag if you were the only one within 400 acres doing it.  That hunter is forced to have to harvest a yearling cause he would never fill it otherwise.  I wouldnt consider these people to have phoney support. I consider it not having an opportunity to practice their type of management.  They could practice it with absolutely no results.

And yet there are many posts here and on other forums from many members who claim to do exactly that, including myself. That doesn't mean that I am for mandatory AR, but I have no problems with setting my own challenges and goals. I believe that choice is available to anyone and it doesn't require mandatory AR to do it. But if they are going to claim support for the principle, they should at least be making the effort to practice it personally. Otherwise their support loses credibility.

Doc

[Fairgame]

I could only talk about the area I hunt.  If I would of set a goal (before ars came into affect) example "From now on I'm only going to shoot a 2 1/2 year old buck or older.  It would of probably never happened cause these bucks were really non existant.  Since these restrictions came to our area it honestly alot different. The couple of years I have harvested at least a 2 1/2 year old within a week of hunting passing on all 1 1/2 year old bucks.  This year 3 out of 8 of us already got a nice buck within the first week and a couple of others had the opportunity on a nice buck but got busted before the shot went off.

This is last years buck and this years for me

[nyantler]

In 36 years of hunting I have never hunted anywhere in NY where I couldn't find at least 1 big buck. I agree that if you sit and wait for one you may wait all your life and never find one, but I will bet if you go looking for one there is one somewhere in your area to be found.

[nyantler]

nicebucks by the way

[Fairgame]

Thank You!

[TheHunter]

Nice bucks... How's everyone else doing around your area?

[SteveB]

Nice bucks - show the promise they would hav had if allowed to reach real maturity.

[Fairgame]

Like I have said, You can only go after what you have in the area.  If I knew there was a good chance of shooting bigger I would let those go.  There are a few 3 1/2 year olds in the area that I have seen driving around, but in 4 months of watching my trail cameras I have not seen any of them near my hunting property.  If everyone allows them to get older then then chances increase, the same way the 2 1/2 year olds have increased with antler restrictions in our area. Many bucks of this age group around on my cameras so that is what I went for.  If some of those make it through the hunting season we will see them bigger next year. Then after knowing that I have older bucks walking around my property is when I will go for the older ones.

One person cant make a difference in what we do, but everyone as a group can.  It takes the cooperation of everyone around to make a difference. 

People have said that I was going to eat tag soup waiting for a rack to shoot.  So far two years in a row within the first week. 

[Fairgame]

Nice bucks... How's everyone else doing around your area?

We havent seen alot of movement cause of the winds, but we have all seen deer.  My close group of hunters has already taken 3 nice bucks in the first week.  A couple of guys have been busted by the bucks before taking a shot the others have seen some bucks but nothing they wanted to shoot or the bucks were too far.  So far so good.  Noone has taken a doe yet, they have all been waiting to take a buck. That normally changes after the first week if they havent taken a buck.

[TheHunter]

Nice bucks... How's everyone else doing around your area?

We havent seen alot of movement cause of the winds, but we have all seen deer.  My close group of hunters has already taken 3 nice bucks in the first week.  A couple of guys have been busted by the bucks before taking a shot the others have seen some bucks but nothing they wanted to shoot or the bucks were too far.  So far so good.  Noone has taken a doe yet, they have all been waiting to take a buck. That normally changes after the first week if they havent taken a buck.

So AR's are clearly working in your area and mine?  I thought they do not work, to quote the infamous Steve863, its just a bunch of BS that "Hunting Clubs" pushed on the DEC.    Its funny, are you a part of a hunting club? I'm not.  Nor are the 30 other hunters I personally know and hunt near... They all LOVE AR.  Seems all that hogwash is coming from those who don't hunt in the AR areas.  Kinda funny having a bunch of guys bashing AR's in area's where they don't have AR's don't ya think?  Anyways, nice bucks and let those anti AR guys have fun with their yearlings. It must be so cool to bring a nice 100 pound buck to your butcher to get back 30 lbs of usable meat....  Or if you butcher it yourself, 35 lbs....  I rather have a nice 190-225 pound 2.5 to 5 year old myself...

[Culvercreek hunt club]

NY...you are so full of it....If you guys like it...great....working for you ....great...My biggest point is it is not NEEDED where others are..and you keep saying you only speak for your area...but then out the other side of your mouth start spewing about a statewide AR...as do others. I see easily over a half dozed deer a year that would break 150 class and very mature. Not to mention a pile between 100-140...get them ...a few...but they are where I hunt. I dont see the problems everyone is screaming about. I guess from my point of view...as I have said before---I hate to see new reg's imposed on others and if it isn't broken here...don't fix it....Seems like every time the regulatory groups get their fingers into something they frigg it up

[Fairgame]

I have said it that they have been working for me and everyone else I hunt with and others in my area I know and talk to.  They will only work if everyone around your hunting area does the same.  The people I hunt with havent shot any bucks that are 1 1/2 years old reguardless of how many points they carry knowing that they have seen bigger deer that are around where they hunt.  They are not expecting 170 inch deer to pass them but they do know that there are at least 2 1/2 year olds frequenting the area that they could have an opportunity to take.  I'm not talking about one 2 1/2 year old either, I have seen at least 5 different 2 1/2 year olds on one camera where I took my buck.  My stand sits in the bottom of a valley next to a small swamp.  The deer come off the top of the hills and drop right down in front of me  Crazy setup, perfect spot.   

[wztirem]

Clearly, AR as a tool is not an effective way to manage a deer population. It just postpones/commutes the death sentence or those fork horns and spikes. AR is difficult to manage state wide, especially on public land. It is easier to implement on private property. Why cant they manage 1 1/2 year old 5 ,6, 7 and up? its all about the racks and not the age of the deer. Trophy hunting and marketing have eroded the true meaning of what hunting was all about.

[Fairgame]

Culver,

You are fortunate to see deer like that where you hunt, and I could guarantee most of the state doesnt describe their hunting experience in NY like you just did.  If most people would be able to see deer like that it wouldnt even be an issue to discuss.  You are probably a small percentage of hunters that sees what you see.  Hunting where I hunt I have never seen 6 150 inch deer in my entire time hunting.  I would love to see one in a year.

[Fairgame]

Clearly, AR as a tool is not an effective way to manage a deer population. It just postpones/commutes the death sentence or those fork horns and spikes. AR is difficult to manage state wide, especially on public land. It is easier to implement on private property. Why cant they manage 1 1/2 year old 5 ,6, 7 and up? its all about the racks and not the age of the deer. Trophy hunting and marketing have eroded the true meaning of what hunting was all about.

How is the 3 inch spike rule an effective way to manage a deer population?  They all have a death sentence.  Bucks aren't going to manage the deer population, does are.  Older bucks in the woods are going to give you more of an exciting hunt.  reguardless if a spike makes you happy a bigger buck is always nice to be able to get and would make any hunter happy.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Culver,

You are fortunate to see deer like that where you hunt, and I could guarantee most of the state doesnt describe their hunting experience in NY like you just did.  If most people would be able to see deer like that it wouldnt even be an issue to discuss.  You are probably a small percentage of hunters that sees what you see.  Hunting where I hunt I have never seen 6 150 inch deer in my entire time hunting.  I would love to see one in a year.

I am lucky with soe of the property I can hunt, but I know a lot of guys from central Ny to western regions that have teh same sighting. I havve to admit I see way more during bow....the little buggers all head to Myrtle beach around Holloween...lol.

[TheHunter]

NY...you are so full of it....If you guys like it...great....working for you ....great...My biggest point is it is not NEEDED where others are..and you keep saying you only speak for your area...but then out the other side of your mouth start spewing about a statewide AR...as do others. I see easily over a half dozed deer a year that would break 150 class and very mature. Not to mention a pile between 100-140...get them ...a few...but they are where I hunt. I dont see the problems everyone is screaming about. I guess from my point of view...as I have said before---I hate to see new reg's imposed on others and if it isn't broken here...don't fix it....Seems like every time the regulatory groups get their fingers into something they frigg it up

HAHAHA... I'm full of it? I'll say it again, I speak for my area. It works, period.  You are telling me I'm full of crap because I speak from first hand experience, are you insane or just an ignorant? 

Great for you with the 150 class, thats not the norm.  Clearly you don't need AR's in your area. If your seeing all these great mature deer why the hell in gods name would you give a rats ass if there were AR's in your area.  You have all these monsters walking around, then a measly 3 point AR on one side is not going to make ONE BIT OF FREAKING DIFFERENCE FOR YOU OR ANYONE THAT HUNTS IN YOUR AREA!  So stop whining about how AR's are so horrible and go get your 150 class deer that we have yet to see you post.

[burmjohn]

While I dont agree 100% with what ^^^^ said, the truth is, how is a statewide AR going to effect those like you Culver who have the opportunity to harvest a 150 class deer or the pile of 100 to 140 class deer?  Your not running out and shooting a 1.5 spike knowing there is a more mature buck available are you?  You gotta understand, AR has brought that opportunity for us to have a choice now, we can get a buck that is  2.5 +, that was not the case a few years back, it literally was ALL immature 1.5's running around.  Now we have trailcam photo's of deer sparring, more mature (legal) bucks to have an opportunity to harvest. 

[Buckstopshere]

Not everyone drank the Pa. AR koolaid. Sit back and enjoy some youtube vids by John Eveland, formerly a Pa. wildlife biologist. His credentials seem impeccable.

[burmjohn]

Buck, that attachment doesnt work.  What type of file is it?

[Buckstopshere]

Trying to link to a youtube vid.

[burmjohn]

Buck,

Just post the link right in the text area here...

[Buckstopshere]

Sorry: Try this...

This is the first of eight short vids. The first three are by means of introduction and very interesting. The last five are about how the state of Pa.'s deer herd came to such a sorry state.

[SteveB]

I really don't see the point of letting 1.5 go to shoot them as a still very young 2.5 buck.