There are states that have had these rules for many years.It is an excellent rule and the proof can be seen by researching the P.W.C..They collared deer and studied them and proved that the numbers of bucks increased as well as the average age and size of horns..If you want to just hunt meat then I guess youll just have to take a doe instead of one of our future trophies. lets face it Texas doesn't bring in billions for the great doe hunting nor would you pay thousands of dollars for a lease because the does tasted better there.

Oh I thought TPWD said there was an age structure problem.

You post mentions:


Help me understand how it is working.
What was the age structue at the begining? What is it now?

What do Personal Water Crafts have to do with AR's?



The results of research will always reflect the views of those paying for it.

I wish that counties with AR would let you take a doe or two instead of your bucks. That way you can pass on the young bucks and still get some meat for the freezer.

Our county does. We can take two does starting at the beginning of the season to the Thanksgiving break.

OK.......nevermind....

i wish that they would let doe days run all deer season. in my county doe days end the weekend after thanksgiving. Did not kill one doe and only one small spike need more meat

Nope can't resist....

(preface, most here know, but some are new, so: I hunt several places, some AR's, some not; I plan on killing deer to eat, but I like big antlers too)

My name is Vernon and I am an anti-antlerrestrictionaholic...




Where did it say we had a problem with our deer herd before?

Why should "meat hunters" have to bow down to trophy hunters?

I thought Antler Restrictions were about the health of the herd, fawn survival rates, and age structure?

Show me where a 13 inch rule accompanied by a 400 percent increase in harvest has helped a deer population? I have researched it, and it doesn't exists.

Ok I have to ask...where is the 400% increase in harvest coming from???

ya in the original AR counties, they went from 1 buck to one buck and one spike. whiich is how it went for all 4 ccounties i hunt on. we are seeing more deer than we ever have before on those places.

as for age structure, idk... they mightve used it as an excuse, but it is about antlers....

In northeast texas, antler restrictions were accompanied with new bag limits of 2 bucks, 2 does...... replacing the "one buck" that had been in place for many years.

I hunt in Red River/Fannin Counties under Antler Restrictions...

What county do you hunt in under Antler Restrictions?

You are correct, most people don't pay the money they do for leases cause the does taste better, it's for the fun, fishing, hunting, shooting, overall good time/experience that they get to do. Atleast that is my opinion. If I was that worried about shooting a "future trophies" as you call them I can always save my money and go to a HF place and get one and it would be pretty much gauranteed.

if u think that when people go to get a lease that they dont think about how big of deer they will kill, then u are ignorant. when someone is looking at a lease, most of the time they will ask how big the deer are. its what almost everyone is worried about. sure u cant eat the horns, but if u hang the meat on the wall, it starts stinking......

Stinking as bad as ARs.....Anter Revenues....dammit I really tried to stay out of this one.

lol curly.....

lol

LMAO, you weren't very successful. Yall know my opinion, so I won't state it again.

Can we all copy and paste that one Brad.

A spike is a BUCK, and the restriction wasn't just for a spike, but 2 bucks where only 1 may have an inside spread of 13" or greater and the other buck with an unbranched antler on at least one side.

I think you are ignorant, if that was the case then why do people pay for the same lease year after year when that have not taken a trophy deer?

This is the first year I've had to deal with A/R's in the main county I hunt. Frankly, I welcome them with open arms.

I have nothing against meat hunters, but just don't understand the mindset of those who shoot everything that moves. I don't call that hunting, I call it killing. I help cull deer from friends high-fenced ranches and definitely understand the difference.

Last year on opening morning, I would estimate that I heard 10 shots before the sun had even hit the horizon. This is in an area where 100 acres would be considered a fairly large track of land. By the end of the day, I felt like I was in a war movie.

Now it's one thing if these folks were shooting does or hogs, but I know that isn't the case. I've seen them leaving their 50 acre leases with 2.5 year old and younger bucks in the truck. If it had horns, they shot it.

Four mature bucks have been legally harvested(don't get me started on poachers) off my place in the last 6 years. We've taken a few does and a couple of spikes over that time as well.

My place would be considered very large for my area. In fact, I know it's the largest place within a few miles. I share a fence with at least 11 other property owners, their places being anywhere from 5 to 150 acres, with most being on the smaller side. Of those 11, all but one of them that hunts (or leases to hunters) has their feeders set up on my fenceline. When they shoot, I'm fairly certain it's a deer I have on camera going down.

I'm one of two property owners that feeds the deer year round. We have most of the cover, water, and food sources that all of our neighbors benefit from. I've talked with most of my neighbors about trying to grow some bigger deer and being more selective in the bucks they kill. They nod while I talk, but they don't listen.

I've never like high-fences, particularly on small properties, but I'm starting to really understand why people install them. I've always felt my place was too small to put up such a fence, but the last couple of years I've really started to reconsider. I'm now hopefull that A/R's will help me in my cause. If they don't I may start to more seriously consider making an investment in my deer heard that will have a direct impact on my neighbors and their abilities to hunt their land.

WOW, we are already calling people ignorant, these one last long.