I never sweat one deer..disperal evens things out

I love when the ar lovers chime in and say, fact is they work! Fact is they work in some places and not others! I think they would work in hopkins co. if they would have left the spike and 2 does out of the works. And yea i know the answer to that question, just dont shoot em! How about dont make it legal to shoot em and then they wont get shot. Only person that can do that is TPW. iF THEY WOULD DO THERE JOB WE WOULDNT HAVE THE PROBLEM!

If there's one thing TPWD definitely likes, it's revenue generation.

Excatly! As I have said many times before, in reality, bottom line, AR = Antler Revenue.

I'm still on the fence about AR.

I hunt in Nac. county (an AR county) and this is only my second year hunting. This year we had all but one water source dry up from the drought and our land isn't connected so we didn't feed off season. I'm not sure how detrimental to antler growth this was, I do know it didn't help. I'll have to wait until next year at least to compare, and praying for rain the whole time! It was so dry that some of our 15 year old pine trees started dying not to mention it took care of most of our volunteers that had since sprung up.

So far this year I've seen a yearling buck with no antlers, a buck with an uneven and illegal rack (2 points one side and full 4 points on the other) an illegal 4 pointer, an illegal 6 point and one legal 7-point. And 5 does, though probably really 3 as I think the same yearling keeps coming back to one of our feeders and I think I saw the same mature doe twice in one day.

The four pointer and basket rack were buddies and the basket rack had a distinctive hide, so I know if they survive my neighbors and I see them next year they ought to have better racks according to AR thinking.

I know it isn't scientifically relevant in the long run but if we get out of this drought then there shouldn't be any reason for their racks to still be tiny, except genetics.

Thus the fines including B&C score. I still wonder if I shoot a 12" wide 200+" deer in the middle of 20k acres if they'll will bring me another one of equal quality for their retribution/restocking fee.

You know what I mean, the people breaking or ignoring the rules today are alot of the same ones that broke the rules 10 years ago, probably did not quote the best post to try and make this point.

I kinda really doubt that.

how old would you say this one is?










and this one?



and this one?

TP&W's law says he's too young to shoot. That's how we roll now.

apparently 13"+ deer aren't allowed on that particular ground scrape.

1 5.5- think he will make ar
2 3.5- probably won't ever make it
3 3.5(double throat patch) bet makes ar at 5.5

I know what the law is, but any GW that would write a ticket on that first buck if he came up a fraction short is downright evil...

What camera is that rifleman? It sure takes good night pics.

Earl

I'd say that's right on ages, but those deer in that part of the world aren't known for producing much width. Only way to know on that first one would be to pull the trigger & measure, imo.


I have several cams out trying to see if they still work, I believe that one is an old bushnell, but I could be wrong.

An old Bushnell? Yup sometimes there's nothing wrong with the old..........

I'm willing to bet that the majority of AR lovers out there were raised as "trophy" hunters claiming that they only shoot mature bucks for the health of the herd. So ARs fit right in to the way they always hunted. Had the TP&W created some kind of law protecting mature bucks where they could live to breed for the health of the herd and forced everyone to shoot does and unbranched antlered bucks only, AR lovers would be outraged.

PreAR camera for sure.

Curly, I love ARs because I love the Lord. And if loving the Lord is wrong, I don't want to be right. Now I'm gonna pray for you, and I want you to pray with me because he helped Joshua fight the battle of Jericho. He helped Daniel get out of the lion's den. He helped Gilligan get off the island.

So, in summary, ARs are the Lord's work.

Amen.

The THF has been fantastically entertaining today.

No, no, no... The good Lord fully expected hunters to wander in the wilderness for 40yrs before finding that buck of a lifetime & hitting promise land/pay dirt. And he was against HFs (wall of Jericho). FYI

Ok, this is all in jest mind you but my Bible says that God put man here to rule over all the fishes of the sea, wild animals and such - not just the bucks with 13" or wider spreads...dang TPWD rewriting th Bible...



Earl

The reason the state had to restock East Texas with deer was back in the 70s and early 80s they tried to manage it like the Hill COuntry with 4 deer 2 buck limits. You cannot do that with a lower deer density and 1 hunter per 5 acres.

Now that's kinda witty!

Sent a buddy down to hunt the place this afternoon with the criteria of whatever he shoots needs to be a for sure taxidermist bill... he said that first buck stepped out in the road a little before dark and there was no way he was 13" wide... But did say there's a 3yo 7pt that looks to be in the 13-13.5" range.

Not everyone can afford to hunt on big managed leases or large tracts of land. There are people that don't trophy hunt they just let them happen when they come that is the hunter's choice. Hunting used to not be just about trophy hunting. AR's make me sick, takes a lot of enjoyment out of the sport for young people also who we should be encouraging to hunt. Instead they will turn to something else when if they would have been successful at an early age they may be a hunter for life and as they grow older can be more selective in what they harvest.