Response to thedealer8

Thank you for your comments on the Antler Restriction piece. I know exactly what you are talking about. Many times it is very difficult to tell whether a deer has antlers or not at long distances. You are also correct when you mention antler points are more a product of good nutrition then an indicator of age.Generally I find that older bucks have more mass then younger bucks with impressive head gear. There is no doubt that the success of a program like this would face many challenges. First and foremost, hunters are basically operating on the honor system when it comes to how many deer we take, along with when and how we take them. There always has been and always will be people who think the law does not apply to them and people who lack the vision to understand its not all about them. As I mention in one of my entries about deer and hunter numbers, the NCWRC has in place a method used to calculate total deer harvested by hunters, killed in automobile crashes, by poachers and disease. I feel confident the NWRC is not as ignorant as some hunters think when they calculate these things. While we will never be able to get everyone in agreement, what if 50 or 60 percent of the states hunters jumped on board. What a difference that would make. To address another point you made,
Instead of issuing citations for killing an illegal buck, we could come up with another system. Perhaps we could count that one buck as a buck and a doe on the hunters big game tags. Maybe people get a free pass the first time. There are lots of things we could come up with. I would not be in favor of punishing any one except for people who are repeat offenders. Another option that may help to limit people shooting young bucks is to include more teaching on how to field age bucks and does as part of the Hunter Safety class.Sure people will mess up, misjudge or whatever, but as long as we begin to change hunters mentalities we are on the right track. This restriction would be a process just like any other big change in life, but I am confident that most people would adjust in time. I am still not all in favor of antler restrictions, more people are practicing quality deer management now then ever before. It is a great time to be a deer hunter any where. Thanks for bringing up some great points. All of these things you mentioned would be important considerations in creating such a drastic change.

-Andrew