Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Trying to Legislate Antler Restrictions into NY

The more big 8 and 10 points you put out there, the less valuable they become as trophies. I killed a 195 lb.{dressed} 10 point here in 1981. That was a super "buck of a lifetime" type trophy back then when 90% of our yearly harvest was 1.5 year olds and only 2% of our bucks lived to see 3.5 years of age. It's only the rarity that makes a trophy. Put hundreds of 195 lb. 10 points out there and they become just another average buck.

Nothing screws up wildlife management like leaving it to state legislatures. For the sake of your deer herds and your sport, I hope that cooler heads prevail.

Lol, put me in a place with hundreds of 200 pound 10 points. I promise I will never be disappointed with my average buck. That is argument for the sake of argument.

MM

I'd just get sick of dragging those heavy, smelly bastards out of the woods. I've never cared much about antlers. I go hunting to kill something and eat it. I fed most of that big 10 point I killed to the dogs. The meat was tough and I could tell by the smell that it was meat from that buck {I killed a couple other deer that year too} when my wife took a package of it out of the freezer and left it on the counter to thaw.

Pretty much anymore when we cut up deer there are two types of packages: back straps and burger. Can't really tell the difference between a young doe and old buck on the burger, and never had a bad batch of back straps unless they are over cooked. I like mine nice and bloody.

MM

When I read this kind of thing, I know I'm in the presence of a bullszchitter and/or someone that doesn't know how to take care of the meat.

I've killed and eaten bucks 7+ years of age - both ag fed and big-woods deer and have never had one like you describe. But it makes for a heck of a story.

As a kid growing up in PA I saw more deer and bigger deer before all this BS. Now we have 3 and 4 yr old bucks that are still a 2x2 that you can not shoot breeding and passing on their crap genetics then creating more bucks with bad genetics.

It seems QDMA is driving more hunters away, if you think about it the Humane Society of the United States goal is to reduce hunting, QDMA is doing the same thing.

QDMA=HSUS just saying.

Young bucks and does are milder and more tender in my experience... but I've never had an older animal that was BAD. One big old blacktail I killed a while back had a big rutty neck... he still ate ok. I'd say my least favorite deer out of 20-something of them was a mature high-desert sage country mule deer. That deer possessed some off flavors, particularly in the connective tissues, which is normal but WOW it's strong in that deer. I wouldn't serve it to guests unless I trimmed it really carefully. By contrast the dink I shot last year at the same area is absolutely delicious, rivaling the buttery "acorn buck" I shot many years ago.

I am sort of in agreement with this general train of thought. I'd much prefer to see states have one buck limits and a antlerless tag if the herd supports it and that's it once you have your tag filled you are done no extra tags no special hunts and I don't care if you shoot it with a gun, bow ml or spear. Likewise lengthen the season so that folks don't have to feel like they have one or two weekends to hunt and they might exhibit more selective harvesting . I'm getting a bit tired of the game laws catering to the few that spend their every minute in the woods or on the water.

Wouldn't surprise me if the NY GC is letting the legislature put up the bill so the heat isn't on them. Trump and done.

Old Willys you need to change where you are hunting because many of the guys/girls are bringing in more than respectable Deer and have been doing it for awhile now. Then again, it seems those who consistently punched their tags in the past, consistently still do so. Those who didn't, still don't. Wonder why it works out that way? Just saying.

And how do you know how old they are? Takes a fine hand to tell how old a Deer is when he is screwing. Damn you old guys make it difficult on us old guys.

Anyway, it seems the key to not letting the 2x2's breed is not having too many Does. See if you can figure that one out.

I agree, mostly. That said, I had one big buck that was very difficult to choke back. He was probably a 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 year old deer, well rutted and tasted horrible.

That was the only deer I couldn't eat.

Huh, you must be a liar like me. After all, the deer expert SKane says there's no such thing as bad tasting venison and he knows everything.

what about us guys that prefer to shoot little deer?? Just sayin...

I had a bad doe once too. The meat was very tough and strong flavored. She was an exceptionally big old bitch but I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. The off flavor may have been diet related. Regardless, younger animals as a rule make for better eating than older. This is true of everything from rabbits and squirrels to cattle and pigs. It doesn't change when it comes to deer. While I have eaten many older bucks and does that weren't bad, they still weren't as good on the table as the younger animals.

In my experience point restrictions don't generate trophies. First issue is many will shoot first and count later, simply walking away from sub-legals.

Second, as soon as a buck makes the designated number, he's taken out. Years back we had some 4 by mule deer units. Camps were filled with wimpy 2 yr old 4 by's.

Dumped that system and went to any buck but limited access or tag numbers. Most hunters are happy with the first buck they see and do not put in the time to shake out the educated big boys. That unit now supports some really fine animals, and only a small minority of hunters will put in the effort needed to find them.

This is about a 3 possibly 4 yr old. When he makes 5 or 6, like the guy below, there will be some substantial mass.


Limiting hunter numbers such that the escapement can put on age will also grow trophies. Perhaps a good number of fork only tags, and a limited number trophy tags. This has worked well with a couple elk units in Oregon, with one needing about 15 yrs of preference points to take a trophy. I'll be doing that one next year (2018) and odds of a serious trophy are well in my favor.

Regardless, it should be biologists that manage the states stock, not politicians. Whoever does that job should have population and trend numbers on hand and respond to variations on an annual basis.

Ever the knowitall dickhead. What a surprise. GFY.

Yes, limiting hunters and access will work. However, no living being walks the earth who could get fork-horn and trophy only tags passed here in the East. They are already arguing over 3 and 4 to a side. Combine it with limiting hunter numbers on open State land? Good luck with that. 15 years preference points for a trophy tag?

God could get that done and none other.

I can see where limiting access is working to some extent in the area that I hunt. It's not buy the DEC's design though.There is mostly posted land with no access and no hunting at all on some of it.After the first day or to of gun season the deer pile into these safe zones and stay right there.

This is not a one size fits all across America management plan. Limited access, we've already got that by way of private land posting being the rule rather than exception. We simply do not have the large plots of land to manage, a large parcel in Pa is a few hundred acres with many parcels much smaller. We are seeing bigger bucks, living longer than they did before. The buck I killed this year was the biggest in our camp's 64 year history, with bigger bucks in the area. 2 years ago a buck was killed on our block that grossed 172", one this fall an 8 point that pushed almost 150" and another that made it through the season that would be pushing 160". Simply put those bucks did not exist in our area at any other Time in my family's memory.

I think this is probably the best most accurate post on this thread.