I have zero desire to kill a buck unless I "think" it is 6.5 years old or more. However, I think people should be able to shoot whatever they want. Antler restrictions restrict people's ability to exercise their freedom to kill whatever they legally want in exchange for another guy's freedom to grow bigger bucks.

The guy that wants to get it done with
is the guy that has to go to work.

I found three dead the first year.
I was peeved but it works out.
That herd got a severe pruning that season,
then the "hunters" moved to greener pastures.
Now I average finding one but did find them prior ARs.
Road kill, predation, Ma nature etc.
It's not Disneyland.

Over here it is not the processors job to check tags.
They use their own tag since the license tagger, and butcher service payer
are many times different people.

The guy that wants to get it done with
is the guy that has to go to work.

I’ll take a lone doe if I think that’s the situation at hand I’ll take mature buck or nothing, I’m ok with nothing no problem. A biologist in MI claimed spike and forks will always be inferior rack wise just what he claimed.

Another saying was everyone’s a deer biologist 2 weeks a year so there’s some truth to that.

I think public land mentality is I don’t want this deer but I don’t want the other guys to get it then the buyers remorse sets in when it’s too late.

That MI biologist was a complete moron.

Jump on them with a club, knock em out , measure them then release...

I have shot a fair amount of big bucks, solely hunted them for years, and have never liked the 4 point rule. Problems:
-Leasing has dramatically increased by out of town/state hunters. I am fortunate to have more private land than I can ever hunt. Number of locals that have lost land to hunt and decrease of kids hunting is large. Out of town hunters do very little to help the local economy.
-Zero biological basis for the four point rule.
-People have been told what a trophy is and what is worthy to be taken. My first buck had one side broken off and 3 little points on the other. Couldn't have been prouder and still is first on the row of racks.
-People are being forced to help with the dreams of others. I have passed up many bucks that have jumped the fence and been shot. Want bigger bucks? Pass them up and take a chance of them surviving or buy enough land to make it happen.
-A lot more people, and unfortunately kids, making comments such as, "It's only an 8 point. It's not very big/heavy/wide, etc." Basically feeling the need to talk down/justify their buck. You want to shoot a spike then go ahead.

I don't care what restrictions there is or isn't, but you should positively identify your target that includes the number of points, hen or a rooster tom or hen, 15" bass or 14 7/8" bass.

Absolutely correct Nate.

X2!

Ol Dad

One thing that the food plots have done to improve our hunting is to keep deer and turkeys in our area more than having them disperse to other places.

I'm perfectly fine with killing slick heads.

I could care less about the antler point restrictions..

Never found a way to cook them that the they turned out even close to edible.

Yep them acorn fed does are some good eating.

I'll shoot a nice buck if I get the chance. But it's still just meat since I don't have trail cam pics and patterns and such. If I get a shot at one it will be the first time I've seen it. If I don't get a shot at one that's fine too - a doe or small buck is fine.

X2

How many Does does an individual Buck impregnate in a year?
Each Doe gets impregnated by one buck per year.
That genetically inferior buck is going to pass his bad traits on to numerous fawns per year, while that Doe who carries bad genetics is limited to passing her bad traits to only one or two fawns per year.
While controlling genetics by culling inferior males in a wild herd may not address the affect of the bad female genetics in the herd, the math dictates that it is not next to zero.
To take this a little further, if a large tract of land is flush with numerous quality racks, don't shoot the big Does. They likely are carrying the genetics responsible for that flush of numerous quality racks in tractor of land. They are generally bred by the most dominant bucks with big racks if available.

As many as he can.
Does get pregnant from multiple bucks. Studies have found that twins usually have dna from different bucks. They are prey animals and they have evolved to survive.

Both the buck and the doe pass on dna and traits. Both good and bad. He will breed multiple does and she will be bred by multiple bucks.

And remember, many antler hunters don’t shoot does, they want antlers, so she will get to breed again.

Those fawns will go on the pass on genes. And who is to say they are bad? Just because one dude doesn’t like what the deer looks like? Those genes have survived multiple generations, must be good for something.

The only ones to get rid of are piebald deer, that is a proven issue that can cause many deformities in a deer.

Not necessarily true for herd management for many folks and properties. On many thousand acres yes. But, usually those bucks are pushed out of the herd come the breeding season. The mature bucks you see with does aren’t the offspring of those does you see them with. The mamas of those bucks are on another property. Getting bred by the children of the does you are seeing on your property.
Unless of course you have a big fence and lots of land.

Most 4pt rules aren’t to grow “trophy” bucks, they’re to let bucks grow hopefully past 2.5yrs old. Not every buck will grow a trophy rack, but it’s nice to see if they will.
If I want meat I’m shooting does and lots of them. SWGA has no shortage of deer so we don’t even call it hunting does, it’s I’m going doe shooting. We’re already half way to our goal on our property, so most everyone is now looking for that “trophy” buck, lol. A trophy for us is any buck over 5.5yrs old. We only killed 4 bucks last year and all but one was over 150”.
As Swamp stated, our State allows for one of any antler size and one with the 4pts or 15” rule. I think it’s helped people learn more about deer when they don’t shoot the first deer they see.

Let’s see if I can post pics of a known buck from fawn to a 3.5yr old this year…

Fawn


1.5


2.5 8pt


3.5 10pt (Barely)

Those pics of the piebald over the past 3 years are awesome. Thanks for posting!

…. There’s huntin

… and there’s animal husbandry


… people nowadays confuse the two

…. Only thing left to do is halter break him lol