BUCK ONLY means you CAN NOT LEGALLY TAKE A DOE.
So, this means "if you're a meat hunter
why don't you just shoot a doe" is NOT a valid answer
for alot of hunters. Neither is "find a different
place to hunt" or "buy yourself a ranch".
I have not read anywhere on this or any other forum
that a hunter wanting to put meat in the freezer is
by choice refusing to take a doe. While the addition
of a "cull" buck (at least one unbranched antler)
makes the regulation a bit easier to live with, for
the life of me I don't understand how it lines up with
the stated purpose of "balancing the age structure".
But I'm a simple minded sort. Just glad there's
plenty of folks to tell me what, how and when to
do everything. (Plenty more tell me where to go).
Sorry to interrupt.
PK

What would be wrong with maybe giving the counties with antler restrictions more doe days? Then if someone is meat hunting they would have more and easier opportunity at shooting meat instead of a smaller 13inch 8 pt. Is there really that few of does in E. Texas?

Is it BAM, or BLAM? Or is blam the WSM version of BAM?

Sorry, I just don't understand how its gonna help. Guess I am just an old dumb east texas feller, those degrees don't help any, nor did growing up in west texas. Just can't help thinking, that if I wanted bigger, better deer, I'd protect the bigger better ones, and the young ones, and harvest only some of the older, breeding age bucks that are in the "slot" created by the current rule?

I used to think it was all about antlers, but its gonna be short lived even for helping antlers. If you want the populations to explode, dont hunt them at all.

Yes, I am responding to myself, so that the only person that can get mad at me is me.

For the past 2 years, every single thread on The Forum, that has fell off into the Antler restriction morass, has turned into a festering P.O.S.

There are so many different sides to this whole situation, and not 1 person is willing to even remotely try and comprehend anyone else's stance.

Let's look and see how many sides there are to this issue.

Side One: The people that are for the AR's.

Side Two: People that are totally against the AR's.

Side Three: People that hunt in counties with a doe season or who are able to kill a second(cull) buck.

Side Four: People who don't like the Government stepping in and setting up rules and regulations, with out answering everyones concerns.

Side Five: People who are getting frustrated that after paying their money for a lease, fixing it up, and trying to hunt as hard as possible, can't shoot an obiviously older, genetically inferior deer, because it does not meet the AR regs.

Side Six: All of the "Arm Chair" biologists that are only worried about trying to kill a bigger buck than there buddies/friends/co-workers.

I think there are probably 2 or 3 more groups that I didn't mention, but who cares.

Why are so many 1.5 year old bucks being killed? Let's see now. Maybe due to supplemental feeding does are having healthier twin fawns and raising them. Maybe coyotes, over a larger portion of the state than the people in the know think, are not taking out as many fawns as they once were. Maybe because not everyone is interested in a so-called Quality Deer.

This whole argument gets more convoluted every time it raises its head.

It has been established, that:
A. People have less trouble with the regs if they can shoot does.
B. People have less trouble with the regs since they allow for the taking of a cull buck(spike).
C. Some people just want to shoot a deer, most people want to shoot a buck and a lot of them don't care what size it is.
D. Some people only want to shoot a Quality deer, or a Trophy deer, and feel that everyone else should think that way.

All this crap boils down to the same outcome. The Antler Regs are here to stay and they will be implemented over most of the state within the next 5 years. As long as TP&W makes concessions in the affected counties, such as the second buck or allowing does to be killed, the regs will become a lot more readily accepted.

The only real test as to how well the regs are working, is going to take place at the 10 year mark, since their implementation. Only then can it be verified if the restrictions have helped the overall health and age structure of the herd, or if creates the situation where all of the animals doing the breeding are inferior animals that do not meet the criteria of a legal buck under the restrictions, and we end up top heavy with 3.5 to 5.5 year old animals doing all the breeding and passing those sub-standard genes throughout the herd. JMO.

Here ya go, Randall:

THAT SAYS IT ALL CHC!!!THAT IS SHORT STORY!!! THE GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT HAVE IMPLEMENTED THEM UNLESS THEY WORK....THE LONG RUN WILL BE BETTER FOR EVERYBODY!

Wish they would have done a 10 year experiment, rather than a 3 year experiment.


Phish-TX

Right on brother man!

I am glad to see that your recent pass over into GeizerHood didn't dull your senses. At least you knew what I was getting at.

Yes Sir, Let's All Hear It For The Wisdom Of Any Government And The Laws They Pass!!!

I saw a small Hunt county 8 point last night at the processor in Merit. Older man was real proud of him. Kinda large at the bases, prickly old 8 point, right at 13. We didn't measure but it was close. But it didn't matter since it was Hunt Co. Had he killed it a mile north of where he did, it would have been illegal.

I do agree with Randall on the government issue, I know there has to be some giudelines, but dangblastit if I have to like it! From his list, I think I am mostly a 4, sometimes a three and a five. And all these years I thought I was a ten!

Quote:

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Yes Sir! Let's hear it for CHC

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I hope this is where we are not suspose to say CHC FOR PRESIDENT, is it.