TxCowboy

Great post VC. I can't agree more. I honestly think it is a shame that the state has to make these practices law because people don't have the patience to practice them on their own. I don't mean that to bash anyone but that's how I see it.

The mentality of "shoot the first legal deer that walks out" is why the deer herds are in such terrible conditions in many places. It will take awhile but hopefully in 10 yrs it will have caught on and people will do it on their own without the state mandating it. It's just like catch and release and size resctrictions on fish. Anglers used to have the mentality of keeping every single fish they caught, and they were devestating the fish numbers and the young fish could never grow to become mature. Same thing with deer. The effects on a deer herd can be terrible when there are so few mature bucks.

Oh and yes I'm willing to practice what I preach. I haven't killed a buck sind '98. I've passed up buck after buck because I'm waiting on a big mature whitetail. If I want meat, I'll kill a doe, we have to many anyway. Just my 2 cents.

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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.

BarnesX.308

I think a lot of the "I'll take the 1st legal buck that comes by" might come from the season. There are only 2 Saturdays a year to hunt with a rifle. Opening day was on a Monday and there's no Sunday hunting. Doe season was always 3 days and it was Monday-Wednesday. People didn't have time to hunt if they had limited vacation and taking extra vacation to hunt does was not all that popular. Junior hunters had school and couldn't hunt doe at all unless their parents pulled them out of school. Now that they have the concurrent seasons, getting a doe will be more accessable and meat hunters can shoot a doe and not kill the spike. Things will improve. I don't know why opening is always on a Monday.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

762mm

Every other PA season has a Saturday opener, why not the general deer season? In what dynasty did the PGC emperor come up with this Monday nonsense and why?

03a3

I didn't see any violations but it sure did seem that there was alot less shooting going on the first 3 days compared to years past (from what I've been told). This was only my second time to PA (Clinton Co.) on private property hunting along side guys that have been going since the late 50's. I did get my 1st ever buck though this year up there. Nice 9pt, 185 lbs at 0845, opening day.

SAK

Everybody has an opinion, just like a certain other body part. But the fact of the matter is that antler restrictions do indeed increase not only the size but also the age of the buck population. Arkansas implemented a restriction years ago and now hunters are rallying to increases the restriction. $500 fines were given but NO licesne revocations. The restriction has and will work. I saw 12 bucks after the opener. Most were not legal. That is unheard of in a state that usually harvests 8 or 9 out of every 10 bucks. And the argument that the ones that are "let go" this year will be killed next year. The majority of the bucks let go this year are 1 1/2, next year they will be 2 1/2. 1 1/2 year olds are the easiest deer in the woods to harvest. Given another year they will be that much more difficult to harvest and a higher percentage than usual will make into the elusive 3 1/2 year old age.