Is it me......

[Rusty]

13 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

Question to Rusty - every year i see that spike with the bone just barely piercing the skin - like 1 to 2" spikes.  Any chance those are early born 1/2 year olds (which would generally be buttons) ?   Body wise they are not much bigger than buttons if at all. 

An early born button with great food can have a bit of hard horn at 6 months but if they are true spikes it's most likely a late born yearling.   It's mom was probably a fawn that was bred in late winter.  

[Hitemnasty]

I understand what bucky is saying now. I agree that less bucks should be killed. 

[Hitemnasty]

I haven’t shot a buck in two years but have passed dozens and a handful of mature bucks that just didn’t quite tickle my fancy. Hunting 90 percent public land. 

[_X7]

Not being able to hunt I'm sitting here yelling at my disability. I need to stop seeing these great nucks going down. There are a lot of good ones being taken, but then there are a lot of cell phones taking pictures.

I'm also in agreement with two bucks per year any method and end it January 31st. They are just chased into traffic after that anyway.

 

[Lunatic]

11 hours ago, Hitemnasty said:

I understand what bucky is saying now. I agree that less bucks should be killed. 

We have one problem in NJ. We kill more bucks than does in NJ= we kill too many bucks,. Point restriction will not work in NJ because unlike the big woods in PA we have great numbers of 3 point bucks. At the end the 3 point restriction in PA had one goal, and that was killing fewer bucks.
The answer IMO is two bucks per season and I mean any buck, BB and shed including. No need for point restriction, lets just kill fewer bucks. No Need to shorten the season, lets just kill fewer bucks.

Edited November 4, 2019 by Lunatic

[SPEARFISH]

Everyone has there own standards and a lot of people are setting them higher.  I even pass a buck once in a while.  I'm sure small bucks are still getting shot, but people don't post pics of them.  More and more people visiting forums so the big buck pics are more visible.

[pphantom538]

I've been seeing some real monsters in central z18

[vdep217]

2 hours ago, Lunatic said:

We have one problem in NJ. We kill more bucks than does in NJ= we kill too many bucks,. Point restriction will not work in NJ because unlike the big woods in PA we have great numbers of 3 point bucks. At the end the 3 point restriction in PA had one goal, and that was killing fewer bucks.
The answer IMO is two bucks per season and I mean any buck, BB and shed including. No need for point restriction, lets just kill fewer bucks. No Need to shorten the season, lets just kill fewer bucks.

Lunaticsaying that nj kills more bucks than does is not completely accurate nor is it wrong according to harvest data..  the percentage could come down though we haven't killed more antlered since 92 but adding antlerless bucks could bring that number up..  so I wish they would differentiate doe or buck in data

Edited November 4, 2019 by vdep217

[Lunatic]

2 hours ago, vdep217 said:

Lunaticsaying that nj kills more bucks than does is not completely accurate nor is it wrong according to harvest data..  the percentage could come down though we haven't killed more antlered since 92 but adding antlerless bucks could bring that number up..  so I wish they would differentiate doe or buck in data

You are forgetting BBS and shed bucks which are in the antlerless column. State had once calcs based on population, showing the number of Bucks killed as antlerless and adding this number to deer killed as bucks exceeded the number of killed does. We kill too many bucks 

[vdep217]

5 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

You are forgetting BBS and shed bucks which are in the antlerless column. State had once calcs based on population, showing the number of Bucks killed as antlerless and adding this number to deer killed as bucks exceeded the number of killed does. We kill too many bucks 

Correct I did say numbers were skewed do to that fact..

[JHbowhunter]

10 hours ago, Lunatic said:

We have one problem in NJ. We kill more bucks than does in NJ= we kill too many bucks,. Point restriction will not work in NJ because unlike the big woods in PA we have great numbers of 3 point bucks. At the end the 3 point restriction in PA had one goal, and that was killing fewer bucks.
The answer IMO is two bucks per season and I mean any buck, BB and shed including. No need for point restriction, lets just kill fewer bucks. No Need to shorten the season, lets just kill fewer bucks.

If we had anywhere from a 1 to 1 to 1 to 3 buck to doe ratio, there would be a much better rut.  See less deer, less chasing phase, but the bucks and larger bucks would be on their feet a helluva lot more.  I used to think "don't shoot the does, they are great to have around as live bait for the bucks."   The problem is - if your 5 square mile area is 1 to 5 or even worse which it is I think - as the peak of the rut gets closer, buck activity dramatically diminishes... They find a doe about ready.  Hide in some thicket where no hunting is allowed for a few days, breed her then move onto the next which means a very short trip and right back in business.  

[Lunatic]

8 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

If we had anywhere from a 1 to 1 to 1 to 3 buck to doe ratio, there would be a much better rut.  See less deer, less chasing phase, but the bucks and larger bucks would be on their feet a helluva lot more.  I used to think "don't shoot the does, they are great to have around as live bait for the bucks."   The problem is - if your 5 square mile area is 1 to 5 or even worse which it is I think - as the peak of the rut gets closer, buck activity dramatically diminishes... They find a doe about ready.  Hide in some thicket where no hunting is allowed for a few days, breed her then move onto the next which means a very short trip and right back in business.  

So just imagine if we killed significantly fewer buck. It would improve the ratio you are taking about. Just two would make a big difference.

i do my part in doe elimination by taking about six deer every year. Usually, including one or no bucks. 
 

I personally don’t think 1:1 ratio would be good. You would end up with many bucks not making the winter if they were chasing for two months straight. 

[JHbowhunter]

21 hours ago, Lunatic said:

I personally don’t think 1:1 ratio would be good. You would end up with many bucks not making the winter if they were chasing for two months straight. 

You lost me there. 1 to 1 would have every doe bred in short order = rut over nothing left to chase .  There would be nothing left to chase.  1 to 1 is not realistic though. 1 to 3 is probably ideal. 

[_X7]

We could come up with every acceptable regulation to benefit both the hunter and the deer, but the state in their all knowing what's best for everybody will have none of it. A shame the politics get in the way in the name of conservation.

[Lunatic]

1 hour ago, JHbowhunter said:

You lost me there. 1 to 1 would have every doe bred in short order = rut over nothing left to chase .  There would be nothing left to chase.  1 to 1 is not realistic though. 1 to 3 is probably ideal. 

Do you think if all does were bred in one day bucks would just stop looking for receptive does? I don’t think so. They would be running and looking for a month straight with nothing to show for. When they find receptive they slow down. That’s why having  slightly higher ratio results in less stress for bucks 

agree 1:1 ain’t happening 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Lunatic