***2023 Contest Smack-talk and General Banter Thread***

Zone 10 is where I do most of my hunting unless meeting up with you. You have to go into the specific zone regs to find the areas where BB count as antlerless.

2023-24 Deer Season Dates
Archery: Sept. 23, 2023- Feb. 29, 2024
Muzzleloader: Oct. 21-29 and Dec. 9-11, 2023
Private Land Antlerless-only Modern Gun Hunt: Dec. 29-31, 2023
Special Youth Modern Gun Hunt: Nov. 4-5, 2023 and Jan. 6-7, 2024
Modern Gun: Nov. 11-Dec. 3 and Dec. 26-28, 2023

Zone Bag Limit
Limit – Five deer, no more than two bucks, which may include:

• Two antlered bucks with archery, muzzleloader or modern gun,
• Five antlerless with archery,
• Three antlerless with muzzleloader and modern gun combined.

Zone Notes

• Dogs allowed for deer hunting Nov. 11-Dec. 3, 2023.
• Legal bucks must be button bucks or have at least three points on one side of their rack.
• Button bucks count as antlerless deer, but must be checked as a button buck.
• Button bucks do NOT count toward a hunter's buck limit in this zone.

https://www.agfc.com/en/hunting/big-game/deer/deerzones/

 

Depends.

Early in the season, pass.

Near the end of the season, that empty freezer...I'm turning into Troy Landry ('choot em').

 

Well 1” of antler is easier to see than a button with a bit of exposed bone. And what I’m really getting at is that slipping in a rule change like that serves no real purpose other than to trick folks into accidentally tagging a button buck with a little bone showing on one of the buttons as a doe because in previous years that would’ve been a doe. I imagine that a whole mess of hunters are going to fail to notice that slight change. And I think it’s safe to say that very few hunters are actively pursuing button bucks and that most of the ones who get shot were mistaken for a doe, so it isn’t going to have any effect on how many button bucks get shot. Nobody ever sat in the stand and decided to shoot a button buck because its antlers were less than 1” long and they could tag it as a doe. That rule change is only there to trick well intentioned hunters int accidentally breaking the law. Basically they fail to notice that minor change in the definition of a button buck, then months or years later, they take a shot at a “doe”. Then they walk up to it and realize it has buttons with a little bit of bone showing, but they’re clearly buttons, not 1” or longer spikes, so they tag it with an antlerless tag because that’s what it was for the past 20 years. They’re not trying to break the law, but they did because of a pointless arbitrary rule change that the majority of hunters are going to fail to even notice when they read this years hunting regulations.

Also as far as subjective language goes “button or nub covered in velvet” is pretty subjective… one hunter’s definition of that could vary significantly, I mean if somebody shoots a 12 point buck that hasn’t shed any velvet yet then they might consider that to be an antlerless deer with 12 nubs covered in velvet.

 

Lol. I get it and I really appreciate you pointing it out. I was just...pontificating.

 

@Ridgerunner3 is only a pontiff of beer, no special attention required, just make sure you don't run out when he is in camp.

 

This really made me laugh. When a guy shows up in deer camp hauling a mower, you bet your bottom dollar there needs to be some ice cold beer available.

 

Here in Utah antlers have to be 5 inches or longer. There are very very few antlerless deer tags.

 

Looks like we are very close to having 13 teams and still 11 days to sign up. Get the word out!!!!

 

Did I ever mention that I start hunting tomorrow?

 

I’m usually up to camp by now, but I have two granddaughters that are trying bowhunting for the first time this year. I’m just waiting for them to get out of school.

 

I'm prepping for the morning as well! Buck only till September 15th here in SC.

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I'm very torn here. I haven't signed up for the contest for a few years and I have had decent luck. Do I risk it and sign up? Or do I keep riding the luck?

 

Do it!

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Exactly! Just sign up and have fun.

 

Opens on the 9th here, so doubt I'll be first either. Them SC boys might pop a doe pretty quick.