This is an often debated topic among hunters from all around the country. Should antler restrictions be imposed on hunters.This would only allow bucks to be taken that met a certain criteria. No more spikes or small 4 pointers,does and bigger bucks only. What do yall think? Could the hunters of North Carolina Benefit from such a law, or is that imposing too much ? Pennsylvania is the only state that I am aware of to create such a law.From what I gather, in some parts of the state a buck must have at least 3 points on one side of his rack. In other parts of the state 4 points on one side of the rack are required. I found a very interesting article on how things have played out in PA since these restrictions were put into place in 2002 :http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/huntingtactics/NAW_0907_10/ (you have to copy and paste the link, I cant get it to work right at this moment)
I am not sure where I stand on this topic. The first buck I ever killed was a spike, and I was very proud of it. Though I have killed several other bucks since then, I have never killed what most people would consider a trophy class buck. I have had a few close encounters with really good bucks, but never sealed the deal. The idea of antler restrictions raises a few questions in my mind, some are touched on in that article above.
1. Are antlers really the most important thing? Maybe so
2. Will these restrictions help to recruit new hunters?
3. How will this affect the overall deer population of our state?
4. With tougher restrictions in place, could we get a few more weeks of deer season?
If I dont kill a deer this season, it will make 3 straight years of no deer. This is not because Im lacking the opportunity. This year I have seen deer(within bow range) almost every time out. The 2 years before that I lived in Maryland and while I didnt get to hunt as much as I would have liked, I still passed up plenty of deer waiting for the big boy. I realize now that I probably should be taking a few does each season. Since I have now stuck my foot in my mouth saying I always see deer, I will not see another deer this season. However if I do have the opportunity to take a doe I will. I have taken enough smaller bucks to hold off now, although my heart still pounds when they walk by. Antler restrictions or not, I want to take mature bucks. It doesnt even matter to me that they have eye popping antlers, I am after the smart ones who have survived a few seasons. While I feel that I may have rambled a bit, and forgotten a few points I meant to make, hopefully this will make you think about the next deer you take. Once again, I have no problem with people taking smaller bucks, but hopefully hunters begin to evolve, and as seasons pass they become more selective. I just want to get the ball rolling on this topic, plenty more to come later, as we take a look at different aspects of deer hunting in North Carolina.
By the way, the antlers in the daily photo were from a buck found dead this fall in Winston Salem, NC. I havent seen them in person but I am told the inside spread is over 25 inches!!! I didnt get to go hunting today like a said I would. My wife was supposed to get off of work early, so we planned to spend the afternoon together. She is walking in the door right now at 7:30 pm. It must be tough being the worlds best nurse. It is really tough being the husband who messed up dinner.
-Andrew
While creating an antler restriction sounds good in theory, it wouldn't work in reality. I know many times when I am hunting it is hard to even tell from a distance if a deer has antlers, much less how many points it has. This would lead to hunters accidentally shooting deer with fewer points and then not reporting it for fear of citation. Then the state would not have an accurate count of deer killed for management purposes. Also the number of antler points doesn't accurately indicate age, but nutrition. Therefore setting an antler restriction wouldn't accomplish the goal of preventing killing young male deer.
ReplyDelete-Jeremy-