Just wondering what everyone's opinion is about this? Where I hunt in Minnesota and Wisconsin you are only allowed 1 antlered buck per season. In Illinois (and others??) you can harvest 2? I go back and forth on how I feel about this, but I think overall I wish we had that option. I would love to shoot one good buck, and then hunt a monster. But, do people end up shooting two small bucks just to fill tags? Are there restrictions on bucks (APR's etc) in your states? What do you guys think? Neal - Minnesota
Without a doubt I wish Illinois was a 1 buck state. This state would produce many more giant whitetails if that was the case IMO
Massachusetts is 2 bucks. This is probably why buck to doe ratio is about 8-10:1 where I live and a monster is about 120".
In Indiana you can only shoot one antlered deer (at least one antler longer than 3 inches) out of ALL hunting seasons for the year.... SO if I get my buck during bow season I am done shooting bucks till the 2012 season rolls around.. Kind of a bummer but in my county we can harvest up to 8 doe lol
In Kansas we only get one antlered deer per year, no matter what season it is. Sometimes I wish we could shoot two, but then again there would be less big deer around. My vote would be to keep it at one buck per year.
Can shoot up to 2 deer a day in Florida, with a posession limit of three. can shoot anything but spotted fawn in During archery and only have one week to kill a doe during Gun. I definately know my hunting would change if i could only kill one buck. But then again even with the loose regs it is hard to kill more than one buck in a season even a small one.
What type of area are you in, Neal? I live and hunt in Minnesota also, but it is a intensive harvest area where we are allowed one either sex tag for both archery and firearms season and up to 4 bonus tags for does. Most of the other hunters around me don't hunt archery, but would rather shoot a small buck than a big mature doe during rifle season which doesn't help the ratio at all. I try to do my best with my bonus tags to keep the doe numbers down, but there is only so much that one hunter can do to manipulate a large deer herd in his favor.
Illinois is one of the top producing states for giant bucks, even with the 2 buck limit. There are dozens of 200 class whitetails harvested each year. How many more do you want to see each year?? I personally don't see a problem with it so long as our herd remains healthy and the quality of bucks doesn't dimish. The only thing I wish they would implement is an earn-a-buck type program for your 2nd buck tag. I feel if you're going to take 2 bucks out of the herd you need to shoot at least one doe, preferrably 2. Part of the issue with an overabundance of does in certain parts of the state is simply due to people hunting exclusively for bucks. This is especially true in heavily outfitted areas where non-residents spend big money to come shoot big bucks. I'm not blaming anyone, just stating the fact there. With that said, if Illinois went to a 1 buck state I wouldn't complain. I would simply start hunting Wisconsin, or another state, more often.
Honest question, and I live by this practice although I do not entirely understand it... How does shooting a doe help manage the herd? I've always wanted to know the best reasoning behind this. I mean, isn't there a chance that doe will give birth to a buck that might become a monster? Or is it all about balance, like the rest of nature where you need to have a certain buck to doe ratio. I guess I can almost answer my own question as I type this becuase now that I think of it, if you dont shoot does, the buck to doe ratio will go to crap and bucks will eventually have so many does that they don't need to fight for them which results in a dismal rut. Can anyone give me some input here?
Justin, come to PA, a one buck state and many with the mentality of anti doe shooting. It's no wonder our state is so out of whack for management plus the case we just don't have the soil that the Midwest does.... If anything drastic happens in my life, I'm moving to your state, having been there and gotten a taste, I hunger.
I like the idea of killing two bucks, but I don't like the idea of anyone killing a 2 year old just to say they killed a buck then going after a buck that I’ve been passing on to let it get bigger. I wish the state would pass an antler size limit, along with earn a buck. Back in the day, we hunted for meat and lived by the unwritten code; if its brown it’s down. Every once and a while, someone would kill a giant, but we were there for meat first. There is nothing wrong with this, especially if you have 4 boys in your family. On the land I hunt I've spoken with most of my neighbors about buck management and most of them agree and will pass on anything smaller then a 130". We all meet at this common ground that a 130 is a nice buck and looks goods hanging on any wall. I like the idea that you can kill 2 bucks, but I hate the idea that you can kill them both on one property and have next to nothing left the following year, as far as shooters.
One buck here in Frankfort KY but you can kill does till you run out of cash for tags if you want, they are unlimited
I live in Indiana, and LOVE the one buck rule!!! The change it caused around our place has been incredible, now all the idiot gun hunters can only sling lead at one buck legally! I've seen more better bucks since the implementation and I don't think it's a coincidence. I now hear there is grumbling amongst hunters and even got a survey from our Wildlife/DNR people down state about going to a two buck rule again for a test period of 3 years.....HATE THAT IDEA, even though it'd mean I could get my hands on two good bucks. Only way I can support a 2 buck rule is if it's 2 with bow or 1bow/1gun like before and you can only earn a 2nd buck tag after shooting 1 or 2 does. Just handing over 2 buck tags encourages terrible herd management.
I also hunt some public land around me that is absolutely full of does and 1.5 yo bucks. After the second shotgun season the 1.5 yo's are nowhere to be found. While I do enjoy being able to shoot 2 bucks in a year, a majority of the places I hunt are nothing more than 1.5 yo's. I pass on so many of these, only to know that some guy is gonna bust 2 of them during shotgun season, rather than shoot the doe he is tailing. I would be on board for an earn-a-buck system, however.
I think you answered your own question. At least that is what I've been told which makes sense to me. Iowa is only 1 buck tag for bow. 1 buck for gun. However, you can shoot and use others tags in groups during shotgun seasons. So essentially you could shoot 3 bucks. This year I bought 4 tags. 1 buck and doe for archery. 1 late season muzzleloader buck tag. 1 2nd season shotgun doe tag. So during shotgun I could actually shoot a buck even though I don't have a buck tag. Most of the group we hunt with doesn't hunt for antlers. Some of our guys will unload their gun on a doe. Only thing I don't like about shotgun season. Great group of guys, but not much for hunters. People shooting at does when a huge buck is coming right at them. More than likely I'll kill 2 does for sure. Trying real hard to get a nice buck this year. Preferably during bow season. I like how it is set up here in Iowa. I wouldn't like the hunting to be over after 1st buck shot. Especially if it was early. Also, would rather not have to travel outside of state to hunt deer. I do like the earn a buck idea.
I honestly like Kansas system the most. One buck regardless what season you hunt, and you must choose which season you want. That is selfish, but hey it would benefit me the most! lol
I'm with Justin on this. It's nice still being able to hunt after taking a buck, but I wish we had some kind of earn a buck system in place.
The only reason IL can get away with this is their gun season structure IMO. Let them go to a 2 week centerfire rifle season statewide and see if having two buck tags doesn't diminish the quality bucks around. I'd be game for KY to restructure gun seasons into shorter segmented seasons for ML or shotgun only and then bump it to two buck tags. End result would be near where we are now IMO and I'd get to chase a second buck without leaving the state. I'm happy with how KY is for the most part though. Keeps gun hunters happy for sure, and bowhunters have nothing to complain about with a near 5 month season.
