Would you get upset if your state banned buck hunting?

MeekAndMild · October 14, 2005, 06:30 PM

Would you get upset if your state banned buck hunting for 2 years and put a long time ban on any buck which didn't have at least 4 points on his biggest horn?

Me, I'd be really happy if my state did that, as we have does tearing down the electric fences to our goat yard, eating our flowers, eating our apple and pear trees, eating our cabbages, rousing all the neighborhod dogs to bark at 6 AM, running in front of cars, causing a general problem.

Mannlicher · October 14, 2005, 07:05 PM

yeah, I would be upset.

siotwo · October 14, 2005, 07:58 PM

Meek, what is the limit on does? Time to tag-out!

I could deal with statewide restrictions of 4 points or better.

chemist308 · October 14, 2005, 08:17 PM

Quote:

I could deal with statewide restrictions of 4 points or better.

We have that in Pennsylvannia. The buck must have 3 legal points on one side...

And to the original question: I'd move.

stevelyn · October 15, 2005, 09:48 AM

Yes, I'd be.........am upset. We have areas up here that are spike-fork or 50" only for moose. The ADF&G in all of its infinite wisdom

manages these areas as trophy bull areas. They start by killing off a large number of cow moose to thin the population down. Then they place the antler size harvest restrictions on the specific area. Wouldn't be such a bad idea for remote access areas, but they do this BS in places where the local population depends on the meat.

mtnbkr · October 15, 2005, 10:10 AM

I wouldn't mind much as long as they increased the number of does you could take and the number of "either sex" days. I hunt on public land in Va and while we have a surplus of does, the public lands have very restrictive "either sex" limits. IIRC, the National Forest has 2 "either sex" days (in a 2wk General Season) and you can only take one per day. If they increased that to all season and set more restrictive limits on bucks, or allowed you to take more than one doe on "either sex" days, I would be fine with that. I'm a meat hunter anyway.

Private land restrictions are more lax, with some counties having entire "either sex" deer seasons. Even so, there are still a lot of does around.

Chris

Art Eatman · October 15, 2005, 11:14 AM

If the problem is does doing all that pestiferous stuff, what does not-killing bucks have to do with anything at all? You just wind up with more bucks along with too many does!

The way to deal with the problem is to kill more does, which is easy enough to encourage. Worse comes to worst, put a bounty on them!

Raise the limit, and have landowners be more accomodating to hunters. Landowners have the final say, regardless.

Art

22-rimfire · October 15, 2005, 01:02 PM

Having a minimum point count to be "legal" only increases the number of older deer. The older bucks typically have larger antlers. It has no relationship with the number of does and in fact, you may have more does if nothing else is changed.

Canceling deer season would be a sore point if there are a lot of whitetail deer in the area. Again, that would only increase the herd size. Some of the southern states years ago had small deer herds in some areas. Deer hunting was not allowed in these areas to encourage the natural populations to increase. It is a herd management tool. Hunting brings in a lot of dollars to the states and supports much of the conservation activities with these funds.

wyrdone · October 15, 2005, 03:19 PM

I would not particularly be upset. Proper herd management.

Besides the does taste better.

pointfiveoh · October 15, 2005, 08:17 PM

I wouldn't mind a 3 or 4 point rule. But I'd rather have less restrictions than upstate sc has. Insurance companies have been wanting higher limits on deer b/c of the increase in claims with people hitting deer on the road.

yorec · October 15, 2005, 09:32 PM

It would seriously tick me off.
My area is mule deer and is managed differently than most of your white tail areas. Seen the 3/4 pt limit before - doesn't work here. All were discontinued as far as I know.

impact · October 15, 2005, 11:28 PM

I would like to see it where it's 7 points or more for a shooter buck. one thing that really ticks me off is when someone shoots a young 4 point. Now if it's a kids firts deer and there are plenty of deer in the area! thats fine. I think the doe to buck ratio is to high in most states. I have no problem with taking does. I also could care less about the monster buck. Sure if a big 12 point let me get off a shot I would take it. But I would rather shoot three does and pack them in the freezer.

kjm · October 17, 2005, 08:59 AM

They did that here in Texas a few years back and lord the griping we did about it. It almost caused a revolution in the three counties that they did it in. Four years later and now we have bucks that my grandmother hasn't ever seen in her 80 or so years out there. In TX it is a rare case for a whitetail deer to live to see it's third birthday. It is why the bucks always were small.

Now I trust the biologist a lot more. I'm glad we had that regulation put on us before the rest of the state. I've got three bucks now with a 13" inside spread or better.

I also went from 3 doe permits to a max of 7 last year, so now we get more meat and bigger bucks. It's hard to argue results.

Clayfish · October 17, 2005, 09:53 AM

I'd be upset but it's a good idea for management. Here in Georgia we can only kill 2 bucks and one must be over 4 points one inch or longer on one side. We can kill 10 does though.

NRA4life · October 17, 2005, 04:04 PM

I would/have/am, you name it. That's why I don't hunt in WY anymore. I think the 4 point restriction on Mule deer is ludicrous. My biggest muley EVER was a 3-point I killed in MT a couple years ago. That buck may well have NEVER been a 4-point. I have also seen other gigantic 3-points in the same situation, off-limits for their entire lives.

October 14, 2005, 06:30 PM	#1
MeekAndMild Senior Member Join Date: August 2, 2001 Posts: 4,988	Would you get upset if your state banned buck hunting? Would you get upset if your state banned buck hunting for 2 years and put a long time ban on any buck which didn't have at least 4 points on his biggest horn? Me, I'd be really happy if my state did that, as we have does tearing down the electric fences to our goat yard, eating our flowers, eating our apple and pear trees, eating our cabbages, rousing all the neighborhod dogs to bark at 6 AM, running in front of cars, causing a general problem. __________________ In a few years when the dust finally clears and people start counting their change there is a pretty good chance that President Obama may become known as The Great Absquatulator. You heard it first here on TFL.

October 14, 2005, 07:05 PM	#2
Mannlicher Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2001 Location: North Central Florida & Miami Posts: 3,209	yeah, I would be upset. __________________ Nemo Me Impune Lacesset "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.".........Ronald Reagan

October 15, 2005, 09:48 AM	#5
stevelyn Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: Fairbanksan in exile to Aleutian Hell Posts: 2,655	Yes, I'd be.........am upset. We have areas up here that are spike-fork or 50" only for moose. The ADF&G in all of its infinite wisdom manages these areas as trophy bull areas. They start by killing off a large number of cow moose to thin the population down. Then they place the antler size harvest restrictions on the specific area. Wouldn't be such a bad idea for remote access areas, but they do this BS in places where the local population depends on the meat. __________________ Stop Allowing Our Schools To Be Soft Targets! http://fastersaveslives.org/ East Moose. Wear Wolf.

October 15, 2005, 03:19 PM	#9
wyrdone Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2004 Location: Blacksburg, VA, USA Posts: 246	I would not particularly be upset. Proper herd management. Besides the does taste better. __________________ Current Collection Marlin Model 60 (my first gun) Ruger Mark-II .22LR Competition pistol (heavily modified) CZ-50 CVA Bobcat .50Cal Blackpower Mosin Nagant 91/30 (1942) Marlin 336 .30-30 Lever Action Yugo SKS 59/66 CZ-52 Bulgarian Makarov Swiss K-31 Rock Island 1911A1 Near Future (hopefully): M1 Garand CZ-75

October 15, 2005, 08:17 PM	#10
pointfiveoh Senior Member Join Date: December 18, 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 207	I wouldn't mind a 3 or 4 point rule. But I'd rather have less restrictions than upstate sc has. Insurance companies have been wanting higher limits on deer b/c of the increase in claims with people hitting deer on the road. __________________ Just doing the best I can.

October 14, 2005, 07:58 PM	#3
siotwo Senior Member Join Date: February 6, 2005 Location: The Woodlands, TX Posts: 217	Meek, what is the limit on does? Time to tag-out! I could deal with statewide restrictions of 4 points or better.

October 15, 2005, 10:10 AM	#6
mtnbkr Senior Member Join Date: May 1, 2000 Location: Manassas, Virginia Posts: 914	I wouldn't mind much as long as they increased the number of does you could take and the number of "either sex" days. I hunt on public land in Va and while we have a surplus of does, the public lands have very restrictive "either sex" limits. IIRC, the National Forest has 2 "either sex" days (in a 2wk General Season) and you can only take one per day. If they increased that to all season and set more restrictive limits on bucks, or allowed you to take more than one doe on "either sex" days, I would be fine with that. I'm a meat hunter anyway. Private land restrictions are more lax, with some counties having entire "either sex" deer seasons. Even so, there are still a lot of does around. Chris

October 15, 2005, 11:14 AM	#7
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	If the problem is does doing all that pestiferous stuff, what does not-killing bucks have to do with anything at all? You just wind up with more bucks along with too many does! The way to deal with the problem is to kill more does, which is easy enough to encourage. Worse comes to worst, put a bounty on them! Raise the limit, and have landowners be more accomodating to hunters. Landowners have the final say, regardless. Art

October 15, 2005, 01:02 PM	#8
22-rimfire Senior Member Join Date: February 19, 2005 Location: Tennessee Posts: 5,323	Having a minimum point count to be "legal" only increases the number of older deer. The older bucks typically have larger antlers. It has no relationship with the number of does and in fact, you may have more does if nothing else is changed. Canceling deer season would be a sore point if there are a lot of whitetail deer in the area. Again, that would only increase the herd size. Some of the southern states years ago had small deer herds in some areas. Deer hunting was not allowed in these areas to encourage the natural populations to increase. It is a herd management tool. Hunting brings in a lot of dollars to the states and supports much of the conservation activities with these funds.

October 15, 2005, 09:32 PM	#11
yorec Senior Member Join Date: February 2, 2000 Location: Wyoming Posts: 2,328	It would seriously tick me off. My area is mule deer and is managed differently than most of your white tail areas. Seen the 3/4 pt limit before - doesn't work here. All were discontinued as far as I know. __________________ What part of "... shall not be infringed..." don't you understand?

October 15, 2005, 11:28 PM	#12
impact Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2005 Location: the great state of Texas Posts: 854	I would like to see it where it's 7 points or more for a shooter buck. one thing that really ticks me off is when someone shoots a young 4 point. Now if it's a kids firts deer and there are plenty of deer in the area! thats fine. I think the doe to buck ratio is to high in most states. I have no problem with taking does. I also could care less about the monster buck. Sure if a big 12 point let me get off a shot I would take it. But I would rather shoot three does and pack them in the freezer.

October 17, 2005, 08:59 AM	#13
kjm Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 1999 Location: College Station, Texas Posts: 1,871	They did that here in Texas a few years back and lord the griping we did about it. It almost caused a revolution in the three counties that they did it in. Four years later and now we have bucks that my grandmother hasn't ever seen in her 80 or so years out there. In TX it is a rare case for a whitetail deer to live to see it's third birthday. It is why the bucks always were small. Now I trust the biologist a lot more. I'm glad we had that regulation put on us before the rest of the state. I've got three bucks now with a 13" inside spread or better. I also went from 3 doe permits to a max of 7 last year, so now we get more meat and bigger bucks. It's hard to argue results. __________________ COME AND TAKE IT!!!

October 17, 2005, 09:53 AM	#14
Clayfish Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2005 Location: Valdosta, GA Posts: 953	I'd be upset but it's a good idea for management. Here in Georgia we can only kill 2 bucks and one must be over 4 points one inch or longer on one side. We can kill 10 does though.

October 17, 2005, 04:04 PM	#15
NRA4life Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2001 Location: WA Posts: 183	I would/have/am, you name it. That's why I don't hunt in WY anymore. I think the 4 point restriction on Mule deer is ludicrous. My biggest muley EVER was a 3-point I killed in MT a couple years ago. That buck may well have NEVER been a 4-point. I have also seen other gigantic 3-points in the same situation, off-limits for their entire lives.