I took this pic last season. Where i Live and Hunt due to antler restrictions this is considered an illegal deer to shoot. We have a strict 3 points on one side in PA and an even stricter 3 up rule in my WMU meaning brow tines dont count. This is obviously a mature deer and a really cool rack especially since this big boy was caught on State Game Lands. Whats everyones thoughts on antler restrictions. I personally like them and totally get the point they lead to bigger deer but this is a very cool unique rack to me. Thoughts???
I like restrictions also but if I had a giant 6 pointer come in I might get in trouble. Another thing on the other side of the debate if a child is introduced into hunting I think they should be able to shoot what they want especially when we don't get enough time or quality areas to hunt these days.
That looks like a 6 not a 4 (it has brows). Regardless that is illegal in 2B as you said. To me the problem with antler restriction is in most units of the state a lot of 6 points getting killed are 1.5 year old deer. What is the difference between a 1.5 year old 4 pt being spared and a 1.5 year old 6 pt being killed? I would prefer to see the whole state be 3 up but I doubt it will ever happen.
Calling that deer a monster is a stretch for me , a big stretch. As far as antler restrictions, not in favor at all. The OP nearly makes my case. That deer is a monster to him and it is just another deer to me. I want a choice in what I shoot as I don't want to be forced into shooting what every one else wants me to shoot. Freedom. Over 20 thousand laws hit the books in the US recently . Not in favor of another restriction. When I came along hunting was the experience not the size of the headgear, don't get me wrong , I like nice bucks. The hunting experience is fading away , dollar by dollar!
Thanks for the thoughts guys. In response to Bowsage i agree he's not really a monster but he does appear to be a big mature deer. COOP you also make my point for me. I just think its stupid that you can't shoot a deer like this and you can legally shoot a 1 year old who just happens to have 3 points up on one side.
Here in Minnesota if you are under the age of 17 the ant let restriction doesn't apply to you it applies to me but that's besides the point. I like this rule though
Also our angled restriction on Minnesota for over the age of 17 is a strict 4 point rule the deer has to have 4 excitable points on one side to be legal
I'm all for antler restrictions if it is deemed appropriate for the area. I've got a friend that shot a monster 6pt. here in Illinois. it was an old deer missing it's brows. it probably still would score 140" . anyway I was showing a Co-worker (I work in Missouri) and his jaw dropped and said he couldn't shoot that buck where he hunts (antler restriction). I need to dig up a pic of this thing. Just can't imagine not being able to shoot it. Body was huge.
IMO the Antler restriction is to get to the point that you have more mature bucks. So people aren't going out and shooting spikes. The problem, as has been posted, is some deer mature but never produce anything rack wise. The solution would be to restrict by age, but how do you confirm a deers age before you shoot it. The point restriction was the easiest to confirm in the field solution. What I would like to see is, youth and first timers excluded, a modification to the restriction for mature deer. If the buck doesn't meet the point restriction and you firmly believe its 3+ shoot it. If you're wrong then you're fined. But its your call.
Antler restrictions were put into place because people whined that they were not seeing enough deer with bigger antlers, so the gov't tried to give people what they wanted. Now we have some people whining because they can't shoot certain deer that do not meet the requirements yet are still big. Ever wonder why so many states big game managers might be fighting an unwinable battle?
I love them. PA used to be brown and down, anything close to 3" was in trouble. At least now, we see some of the mature bucks. Sure, not everyone kills a buck every year, but when I compare the prerestriction year antlers to the post restriction antlers, no comparison at all. Also has made for a better rut, IMO.
I've never been a big fan of the point restriction either because of this exact situation. I'd prefer to be able to pull the mature 6's out of the herd legally. Here in MO the only way to do that is to let a youth hunter do it. The other problem is tha ta deer that's going to really have good potential won't be helped reach maturity because of the point restriction. Our good bucks are "legal" at two years old at least. The question is does it help more than it hurts? I dunno, I'd say probably so. There's really no ideal solution to meet everyone's goals.
You don't eat antlers. Bigger racks does not mean bigger or healthier buck, just means genetics for growing big antlers. Perhaps if someday we were able to eliminate the genetics that produce small narrow racks I might think about a point restriction but I doubt that is going to happen in my lifetime. And I don't see passing up on an injured or big buck with a small rack just to try and raise trophies.
The problem for some areas that have imposed antler restrictions, like in some of the mountainous WMUs of PA, the quality of habitat and variety of nutrition is lacking so it doesn't really do much help. Where I used to hunt, there's literally only pines and some oaks, and steep mountains and hills of game lands. No fields, no crop, just deep mountainous woods that we can't manage. Acorns only last so long and then deer resort to tree buds and what little grass there is. Every deer we used to field dress was filled with grass, green foliage, basically all non-nutritional food. Antler restrictions are fine and do work in many areas, but they should NOT be the only strategy for achieving deer management objectives, especially for the areas that lack quality habitat.
I hunt PA and remember no resrictions.. I am glad we have them now.. the buck quality is far above where it was... I have a big four on my property too but it's easier to let him walk knowing the woods has more to offer now.
I would rather see age restrictions than antler restrictions. However, that's never going to happen on a state wide basis. So... antler restrictions are the next best thing
I am against antler restrictions. I hunt to put Meat in my freezer because my family prefers it over beef. I don't like being told what I can or cannot shoot. Also I think its to hard to enforce and a lot of people take bucks illegally. I haven't seen a game commisioner at my camp in 10yrs
