deerslayer223

i have shot 2 knotheads my first 2 deer didnt know either of them were buttons till i got up to them. I will shoot a mature doe over a button any day but if the season's winding down and the freezer is empty ill smack one.

chickory

I see.... when you have just your hunting tales and thirdhand knowledge you quickly resort to a personal bash rather than speak to the issue.

Your little group is no better than any other group of hunters in pa, you may thing you are but thats just internet braggadocio.

Its a fact that when you put an emphasis on doe harvest, you are gonna take the BB with the AL harvest at 20+ percent. IF your not, then your not accomplishing high AL harvests and not getting your HR as per the plan.

Wishfull thinking is all you have, when it comes to BB.

BTBowhunter

Sounds like we got three kinds here....

1
Those who don't necessarily try to shoot BB's but don't make a concerted effort to avoid it either.

2
Those who try to be selective and leave the BB's

3
Those who happily shoot em and seem to be happy that it happens. Coincidentally these are also the most vocal opponents to AR and HR

To the guys (and gals) behind door # 1, I say no problem. They're legal deer. Every hunter can set his own standards within the law. I would be inclined to encourage those hunters to consider letting em go. ( I said ENCOURAGE not dictate!)

To the folks behind Door # 2. Congratulations! Even though that BB may get popped by the next guy down the ridge, you are willing to sacrifice an opportunity to harvest a deer because you believe it might help the resource.

To the # 3 gang, once again, you have proven yourself to be nothing but selfish.
This group also hates ARand HR. Could it be that they "just wanna shoot sumpin" and wont make the commitment to hunt for a mature deer whether it's a buck or a doe?
They further criticize HR cause it's harder, especially for less commited hunters, to shoot any deer when there's a few less of em.
I'd encourage this group to consider golf!

Buckshot

Your right I wasent there to see them killed but I did see the deer and or the pics of the deer, so unless my friends are leaving deer in the woods after they shoot them, I would say you dont have a clue as to what your talking about.

What you said would be entirely true, if not for the fact that ophraned deer dont disperce near as far as deer that arnt. Do your homework next time.

Buckshot

Oh pluuze, give me a break. Your the one who started off by telling me that I should have learned something from BT, I did and when I told you what I learned you cry bashing, boo hoo hoo. Cry me a river.


There are loads of groups just like ours, nothing real hard about it, however there are just as many people out there such as yourself and BT that think brown is down. Thats fine for you, but not for us. You go yourway and Ill go to the taxidermist.

Jason N

I've shot a few buttons in my early years, but I can't recall shooting any buttons in the last 5 years or so. I do try and make sure all of the deer I shoot are at least 1.5. Moreso because I like to have meat in the freezer and they offer a higher yeild than the typical buttons or first year doe. But, I'm in line with Cardeer in that I don't want to kill future generations of bucks so I make an effort to identify them before dropping the hammer. Those are my two main reasons/philosophies on this subject. I'm not going to say that I'll never shoot a button again, but I will say that it's highly unlikely that I'll do it knowing it's a button. I like to still hunt in rifle season and sometimes you bump a single antlerless deer up or multiples that offer a shot....I do my best to shoot the biggest of them, but in those cases it's sometimes difficult to idnentify in a hurry. Archery season I don't see myself shooting a button ever again, but anything is possible.

deaddeer

You are being intellectually dishonest and are intentionallly misrepresenting my position . I specifically stated our group prefers to shoot adult deer and when we have the choice we all harvest the largest deer available. Therefore, the brown and down label does not appply.

The selfish hunters are the ones that pass on BB to create more trophies and then fail to harvest an anterless deer to help with herd reduction. The result of this practice has been zero herd reduction after 4 years of Alt's plan which will result in more drastic measures to reduce the herd , such as a rifle anterless season during archery ,as proposed by the DCNR>

livbucks

The fact that some guys are willing to pass on a BB even though it may disperse to a different area says alot. I always pass on BB knowing full well that it may leave for parts unknown. I am willing to do this for the betterment of the sport and hope that some guys over the next ridge would do the same for me. Some may ridicule this way of thinking but little steps add up if enough folks practice this. If you want a BB, by all means shoot one though, they are legal after all.

chickory

More important than the shallow interests of wannabe rack hunters should be forest health and herd health. If your area is overpopulated, you do a dis-service by not harvesting any deer. (to be politically correct you should say you would shoot another doe in its place).

In the other bb thread I posted a note from Alabamas DNR that says it all. They remind people to shoot bb if they want to achieve their herd reduction goal.

But I'll post another one just for good measure, this one from Arkansas DNR

"Concerns surrounding the reluctance by hunters to kill female deer, on the chance it may be a button buck, could result in a decreased doe harvest. The agency has pressed for a balanced sex ratio in its deer management practices."

If we support the PGC's efforts for herd reductions in Pa then we have to get REAL busy on shooting does for this year. 5 years of modern deer management under this team and they claim we have not reduced one single deer. So you cannot be choosy this year, you have to harvest bigtime if you are going to be a good conservationist hero Alty and get your WMU to the goal of 13 dpm.



..."Be bold in what you stand for; and careful what you fall for. "

rybohunter

If this is true then why are so many people claiming there are no deer left to hunt?