I too am like BucksNBears, I can take a small buck many times over every year. I don't wish to go out once or twice and fill my buck tag and my season is over, it is literally that easy. If I want meat (which I always do) I fill
3-5 doe tags between my son and I. For bucks I will never fill my tag with a 1 1/2 year old again in my lifetime, I prefer he grows and get no thrill from it. If someone else wants to shoot every 1 1/2 year old I pass then go for it.
I had a 160" buck I was after last year, the last day of muzzle I passed on 2 140"ers waiting for him, I didn't fill my buck tag last year. My sons buddy got him in archery at 182" this year. There are roughly 30 B&C Ohio bucks taken a year and he got one of them at
age 22, buck of a lifetime and much bigger high than a 6 point basket.Guys that don't like a trophy hunter could care less about the guys that don't like scrub buck hunters, two way street.

The most P&Y I ever seen killed by ONE man that only hunts ONE state is a guy here in London Ky . Won't give his name . He has 34 P&Y with 4 of the top ten bow kills here in Ky . HE HUNTS ONLY KY. He is 64 years young. 3 years ago Cabelas tried to buy his collection but wanted to pay 60% cash and 40 % merchandise. He told me he would be long dead before he could spend the cabelas bucks !!
At one time you could kill you could kill 2 bucks with a bow. Now its one regardless of size or method.

Don't think anyone of the meat hunters said they didn't like trophy hunters. THEY DON"T LIKE being told they can't shoot the smaller bucks. If they are happy and pay the same as you do for their tags they want the option of killing and go to the house. Some people may have ailments that won't allow them to sit in a tree for 15, 20 ,30 days a year waiting to "see" a trophy deer. Some people take for granted their health and or physical condition. My dad has arthritis and is 80 years old . A "TROPHY" hunt to him is sitting in a blind beside his barn and killing the "basket " rack 6 point that he has watched all summer.

More to it sometimes than what you or anyone "WANTS" !!!!!

I'll just let you fellas stew on it
Don't lose any sleep over it though

I'm not calling you a liar. I would like to see pictures of the trophy wall though. I would find it awesome.

Thanks Turkey Time. I lived and hunted in Northwest Missouri for over 30 years. It really dropped the deer numbers up there. Used to be Ray, Clinton, Chariton, Calloway, Carroll counties were full of deer. Not to mention all the northern tier counties. And there were plenty of big bucks for the guys who wanted to hunt them. Now the numbers are way down. And I think its hilarious they also want to blame it on SALT / MINERAL BLOCKS! I mean really? The big ones get big because they are smart. Let natural selection do its work.

I agree with you 100% on the outdoor experiences - not just shooting a deer. And I have done the same with my kids and others kids - Archery or Rifle - any deer you get is a trophy - be proud.

As far as PA goes, sometimes I wonder if we have less of an effect on the deer population than we like to think. Few years ago, some regs, lot less deer. What changes? IDK, maybe more does having twins and triplets, more food, natural cycles and so on. Butchers says a ton of small deer this year, which just means a lot of deer overall, just like if you're getting a lot of medium and kit beaver, you have lots of beaver there. Things run in cycles in the natural world and sometimes I wonder if we know all the reasons why.

Agree 100%, my son in law wants to get into hunting more. So since my son and I are fanatics I am welcoming him. The first thing I tell him or anybody is "you have to absolutely love
being in the woods and outdoors"! If its boring or not much fun then I say find another hobbie. I can sit outside hours on end because theres no place I'd rather be. When its zero out I have
to go to the woods on occasion just to get my fix. Shooting animals and catching them are a bonus.

wish we had it here....our deer get 1-1/2 yrs old and dead. to many hunters ....wish we had 4pts to a side restrictions.. I might be able to see some monsters in 5 yrs. evey one shoots everything here .....want a doe . pick one up on the road here ....there everywhere dead here .... we have so many rules on fishing ...who needs a 50 musky or a 30 in walleye ...lets make every thing trophy .....

Gary Alt put the Apr in place because Pennsylvania had the highest deer hunting pressure in America and it was a way for.more bucks to survive past 1.5. Not being able to count antler points while the deer is bounding away is one of the ways an Apr works.

Sorry, if you want to kill any antlered buck you see in the woods, its just not the best.management practice. Imagine harvesting bobcat kittens because all Bobcats are trophies. While they are, the sporting thing to do is let the small ones go.

And its hilarious how someone equates deer hunting regulations with liberal vs conservative political ideologies.

Worst thing that ever happened here Anglinscreek. Your hoping for something that will drop your harvest rate and hunters rate big-time.

All you'll have is 21/2 year old deer getting shot, and no more of them than before. Our camp went from shooting a dozen deer a year to a 3 deer average. All those the last ten years have been basket rack 21/2 y.o. When we were shooting a dozen a year, guess what? There was always 3-4 at least, basket rack deer. The biggest 5 racks ever shot at our camp were shot before A.R. went into place, including mine.

All we got from that is less hunters shooting bucks and more posted ground...PERIOD.

How many 41/2 yo bucks have you shot the last 10 years, on your lightly pressured private ground? I'll guess it's closer 0 than 5.

Now, think how many a guy who hunts pressured ground has shot.

That's hilarious?Almost as bad as somebody comparing harvesting bobcat kittens to shooting antlered adult deer for management purposes.

You are wrong on this one . Ok you are setting in the stand a doe and 2 yearlings come thru . Give you one guess which one to shoot if you want to HURT your deer herd. The doe!!! She already knows how to raise her young and not let them be killed by predators. The young ones may survive with out MOMMA but odds go down quiet a bit. So shoot momma and good chance the coyotes / BIG bobcats will get at least one of the youngsters ....
So if you shoot bobcat kittens you won't hurt the population the next year except by one.......

What some of you guys a failing to see about this subject is little Johnny kills a 6 pt . He is done. Joe Blow gets a spike he is done.If Sammy Snotnose has tagged out on a 4 pt he is done home watching football They are not sitting out there to kill the 5 year old 140 in ten. More hunters in the woods longer =more mature deer killed. Thus you are seeing less mature deer. Yes you have to have seed to grow but if you only have so many deer to shoot but more people soon all the bucks that meet the restrictions are gone. Think on that logic for awhile..................

discuss or cuss all you want we had AR restrictions for years did it matter not as much as the mild winters did now one tag of the combo license is 4 point or better on 1 side we also have the Gov. helping out type in usda deer sharpshooters your state has them too

When Alt was given the task of reducing deer numbers in the state, it was mainlyy because the PGC was under tremendous pressure from the timber industry and (less so) from farming interests in the state. At one of the first public meetings held around the state to present the herd reduction plans to hunters, he asked the attendees, How many of you would like to see antler resistrctions put in place for PA hunters?, most of the croud applauded.
He next said that those who hoped for ARs would be disappointed because his sole assignment was to reduce deer numbers state wide, and the killing of bucks had no role in controling deer numbers to the degree needed.

The game commision, upon seeing the opposition to the great increase in the antlerless harvest, saw ARs as a tool for gaining support from hunting groups around the state.

ARs have lead to a great increase in the number of posted properties and lands that used to be open for everyone is now leased by groups who try to copy the management plans they fill their heads with by watching the trophy-above-all-else hunting shows.

5 to a side statewide is whats needed.

1.5 to 2.5 year old bucks are dumb, they run around everywhere at all hours of the day looking for does,public land,private land,dusk,dark,noon it does not matter to a forky looking for a doe. The 3.5+ year old bucks are no longer stupid, they generally hide out on private land and if they venture off it is typically after dark. Antler restrictions force public land hunters to pass young deer so they can grow bigger and wiser and hole up on private land and leases. Antler restrictions sacrifice the enjoyment of the public land hunter killing a deer so that private owners can shoot bigger ones. Selfish.