So here’s my $.02 on antler restrictions...I hunt mostly in northern PA. Neither a hotbed for deer numbers or antler genetics. Almost 20 years into AR’s and I am a huge fan. Yes it can be frustrating trying to count points and ending up without a buck after seeing easy shots on bucks we used to be able to harvest.....going into Ar’s I heard my dad and the older guys complaining that we’ll never see a legal buck because all the deer in PA were spikes and y’s....and the first year our club got skunked on bucks. But after the first year we started getting a couple bucks every year that were once a decade bucks under the old rules. I’m not talking about monsters, just average 6 and 8 pointers. On average we get just as many bucks as before AR but they are now 2.5 year old and older deer as opposed to all 1.5 year old deer. The older guys always said all those PA bucks would always be spikes and y’s no matter their age and that simple isn’t true. In almost all cases, a spike or y whitetail is a 1.5 year old buck and in PA we were killing about 90% of our male deer every year, do the math...1 out of 10 1.5 year old bucks were surviving the hunting seasons. I know we all want to get a buck, and young hunters are easily distracted by other things but we have to be aware of the reality of the situation. Killing 90% of all male deer every year isn’t healthy for the deer herd. I used to see lots of fawns that were born in late summer because there simply weren’t enough bucks to breed all the does in the traditional rut. A 3 month rut isn’t healthy for the bucks doing the breeding and it certainly isn’t good to have 3 month old fawns entering winter. I don’t see nearly as many of those late born fawns now. In the old days for every 10 deer i saw, 9 were does and 1 was a spike or y....since AR’s for every ten deer maybe 5 are does, 4 are sub-legal bucks and 1 is a shooter.....I like that dynamic better. I’m am no trophy hunter, if a buck is legal and presents a shot, I’m taking it. I shoot just as many bucks as before AR’s, but now they are just a bit older.
I haven’t hunted all over, my feelings are based on my experience in PA. If people want to quit hunting because they can’t shoot a spike or because they didn’t get a buck for a couple years, my feeling is that the point is being missed. And frankly, my experience is that the people who complain the most about not getting deer are the ones who don’t put the required time in the woods scouting and hunting. I know I killed a lot more deer before I had kids and a real job because i was scouting all summer and hunting a few days a week from October through January.....most of the people I know that complain hunt maybe 3-4 days a year and scout even less. Some years I’m in that category but I’m complaining i have no time instead of complaining there’s no deer. Anyways, my novel is over.
Happy hunting.
Topic: Antler Point Restrictions and Traditional Bowhunting (Read 22886 times)
