A mistake cost 25 and the deer with up to 500 later when it gets review. If it does happen take your chance to get it home is what we say

I remember as a kid, our local paper ( 20 pages once a week lol) would
take and print a picture of any ones deer they brought to their office,
every year they would have 2-3 pages of pictures,30-40 deer each week
ranging from spikes on up with usually double digits of 8 points or better,
and it was only bucks ,since ar the most they've had was 6-7 pictures.
I have seen 7 bucks so far this year none have been legal.
Don't like the AR.

If you don't like horn restrictions because it's to difficult to count/identify, why not just hunt does??

No need for the counting B.S. Wolfer.
It's just a crutch for guys who couldn't control themselves before to shoot a nice deer. I shot the first customer that came up, and i've got as nice of deer as they are shooting now, just that i also shot deer the years i didn't see a nice one. Antlers, or what we call horns don't excite me at all.

I went to the attic and dug out my nicer ones, most said i should've mounted. I just don't see the fascination with them to be completely honest.

Pardon the dust on them.


Front one is over 20 wide and rear on is about 16. ALL SHOT BEFORE A.R.

Was their a biological reason for antler restrictions? Just wondering?

They wanted to reduce the herd, and this was their lolly-pop.

Interesting stat. According to the Game Comm., even with the A.R., 43% of buck killed are still 1-1/2yo. Very few make it to 4-1/2.

Let me rephrase.
Very few being killed are 4-1/2.

No problem don't blame you for being touchey !! If I wanted to fill my freezer I'd shoot any buck I saw.....

How do you reduce the herd by limiting harvest of bucks? Thanks!

Ok now your average is down to close to 10 deer a year LOL !!!!!!

They sold doe tags out the wazoo. Knowing people would revolt, the came up with this scam.

Nationwide, greatest monetary & recreational value of white-tailed deer is directly related to the size/symmetry of their antlers.
In most cases, stage of antler development is directly correlated to age of the animal.
70% of all annually harvested bucks in the US are 1.5 years old...they never get a chance to grow up.
There is a great movement to "educate" hunters on the importance of maturity along with trophy status of bucks harvested.
Since 8 out of 10 hunters can't (or won't) accurately field judge buck age "on the hoof", game departments try to increase average age of buck harvest by restricting antler size.
A spike yearling buck retains a 20% chance of becoming trophy status at 4.5 years old, while a multiple point yearling has an 80% chance of becoming a trophy at 4.5 years old...play the odds, take out all spikes.
Whitetail fawns are born about 50% male; 50% female. In a male-biased activity like deer hunting, sex ratio gets out of wack very quickly if a doe is not removed for every buck taken from a population.
It is well documented that such imbalances in population characteristics like density, sex ratio, and fawn crop recruitment have profound effect on trophy antler production of bucks within a deer herd. Thus, careful regulation of these characteristics via harvest quotas can influence overall "quality" of a deer population.
Serious trophy deer hunters tend to be the loudest (political) imput in state deer management plans. Meat hunters that resent restrictions can stick to killing does or spikes-where applicable.
A good state game dep't will try to accommodate both types of hunters by liberalizing number and sex of deer included in annual harvest quotas.
Yes, active whitetail management by state agencies sells non-resident licenses.

Wildlife Biologist

HA HA do a little research about the one to one buck doe ratio that western states are using. Recent articles and studies have shown that since the ehd and cwd out break in the past 4 years some or all of the deer herds are in bleak conditions. The 1 to 1 has bit them in the behind. It has long been known that the mature bucks are hardest hit by these conditions. Some outfitters have had to reduce their "minimium" because of low success rates among clients. Google it won't take you long to find these facts.

So we are talking " tyranny of the majority" ?

Didn't recommend 1:1 sex ratio...that is simply a target that usually nets about 1 buck to 3 does in most areas. 1:1 produces higher injury/mortality rate in bucks from more increased fighting & competition.
I prefer 1: 1.5 as 1:2 gets densities too high for intense quality management.

B-T-W, I don't need to google anything, I teach whitetail management & disease monitoring seminars all over the country and currently have about 75 k acres under direct management.
Be careful what you quote from your education at Google University ; as you might run in to someone who does it for real.

Thanks for your opinion.

OK I have a compromise. Just change the wording on the license and the law, from antlered and antlerless to buck and doe. If it has a twig and two berries its a buck tag. And a doe is a doe.
Stop a lot of button buck from getting shot. And then shoot what ever buck you wish.
I've suggested this to many people, not many like it.
What say you Pa hunters?

I think he just dropped the mic

All of us neighbors get (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) if anyone shoots a button buck. Plenty of deer in farmland, can be choosier. I would agree with that. I like shooting and eating deer, always try for nicer deer. Horns a plus, meat a plus. Should always be my choice.

There has always been a difference in a question asked by Pa. "Deer hunters" and "Big Buck" hunters in other states.

A "Big Antler" asks: " Who is the best taxidermist you know ?"

A Pa. "Deer Hunter" asks: "Who makes the best deer bologna or snack sticks ?"

Pa. has always been a "meat" hunter state and that will not change. It never has been a "Big Buck" state and it will never be one.

I'm going to open another can of worms.
Some people feel that hunting over bait is somehow unethical.
I disagree.
I feel that there is no difference in taking a deer over a pile of corn or a pellet feeder than taking a deer in a Food plot with whatever deer attracting munchies a person has planted.
I feel that when hunting over bait, a hunter can have more of a choice and more discretion on what they want to take. He can have more time to count points and either take the first legal buck he sees or he can wait it out until Mr. Big shows up. If he choose to fill a doe tag, he can either take a small yearling or old single doe.
A hunter can take his time and make a clean kill, rather than shoot at a deer running at full speed, hoping that he will hit it, and if he does hit it, it may not be a killing shot at first, but somewhere down the line the deer dies anyhow. To me that is a waste.

Bait piles equal easier dieses spread. And with Pa now blowing smoke up hunter's butts about CWD, baiting will never happened. CWD is a crock of s*** just a way to make more money off the hunters.

Interesting isn't it! LOL