I hate the restrictions for public land. If someone wants to restrict themselves then so be it but it shouldn't be forced on all. How many full head mounts do you really need on the wall? I believe there has been too much of a push and hype about big bucks. Where I hunt it's often difficult to see any deer, much less a large one because most are nocturnal. The whitetail population has exploded and all here are aware of the personal and financial costs associated with car/deer collisions. So, reducing the herd is a valid reason to eliminate restrictions. Besides, the younger ones are more tender to eat.

Like them. I like to harvest mature deer, and I think that antler restrictions in Oklahoma would give hunters more opportunities at trophy animals. While I am not specifically a trophy hunter, I like to watch young bucks grow into maturity, and cringe when I see young bucks and does harvested. That being said, if antler restrictions were used here in OK, I would like to see the exception made for hunters under a certain age, say 16, and let them harvest any legal animal regardless of age or antler size.

like them makes people think when they are looking at shooting a small deer and a better age structure for a healthier herd. Although some places i guess it drives hunters to eliminate genetically superior animals leaving behind some "bad" genes ( bad from a trophy hunting perspective. Those animals maybe just as healthy as those supporting giant racks in some cases)

While I think that it would help protect the younger deer that many people take without thought, my only hangup with the restrictions are for kids who have a chance to take their first buck and he just doesn't make the cut. I know my first buck would not have made the cutoff in many cases, but I do favor them for my own use now. I know where I hunt they have a 4pt per one side minimum for one of your bucks, unless you are hunting in the QDMA zone then both of your bucks have to have a min of 4pts per side. I know that I have seen many people take bigger deer than I have ever seen growing up in the SE because of these basic principles. Like I said before I favor them, but I have a hard time wanting them for youth looking to harbest their first buck.

I'm not really a rack hunter so I would prefer not to have antler restrictions. But I think the restrictions are OK because they allow ordinary hunters who can't afford a high fence "trophy rack store" hunt to have a better chance to take a deer with a big rack. (How's that for a wishy-washy--talkin out of both sides of my mouth--answer?--I could be a politician! LOL).

We have a three on the main beam rule in our club. We are also limited to three bucks per person. this makes you think before you pull the trigger. We are having great results in our club with these limitations. Members can shoot all the does they want to for meat. We shoot 15-20 bucks a here and usually 12-15 wind up on someones wall. We believe all deer should be allowed to get some age before we start "culling" bad genetics.

Not shooting bucks until you can see brow tines on a six point probably leads to less injured animals. Even some 8 points take good light and the right angle to confirm that it is a legal buck. It is definitely helping the "brown down" community kill older bucks whether they like it, or not. I think it paid off big in 2010.

I'd be in favor of something along that line to allow the bucks to mature a bit.

i love the idea. i personally wont shoot small bucks, but i know other people who will shoot anything that walks in front of them. i'd rather see them live a few years and get some decent size and mass to their antlers.

gman, i agree if i hunted strictly for antlers id never have any venison in the freezer. bucks are very hard to come by in my neck of the woods. if its brown its down, not to proud to shoot a spike or forky, but each year 1 doe gets wrapped and put in the freezer. nothing like venison chillie to get through these long minnesota winters

fliphuntr14 i agree i like a healthy herd and where i hunt in virginia we got a nice herd i know for the state of virginia was down 24 percent from the previous year but in the tidewater area which is where i hunt was only down 3 percent that isnt a whole lot and the smaller bucks if i dont shoot em the guy down from is so i might as well take him home with me

We just started managed hunting on our ranch, so we'll actually take mostly doe and culls out.

I have personal restrictions in my own hunting of what I will harvest.

I have restrictions on my land of what I allow to be harvest (private land)

I personally would rather shoot a doe then a young buck.

If a person wants to shoot a spike every year, well I guess that person does what they want, I just do not agree with it.

Width restrictions work well with folks that don't have itchy trigger fingers. Basket rack 8's and up are the ones that you really want to see get 4.5 and older.

I like the way Sarge's hunting group handles regulations and rules. My wife and I quit hunting with my brother and helping him every year with maintaining and planting his deer lease. He has become obsessed with shooting only large antlered deer. We abided by his rule of 8 point or better two years in a row as she passed up what would have been her first two deer (spike and 4-pt). So, this last year I took her hunting on public land and she was able to make her first kill. She thought it was a doe when she shot but on ground check we saw it was a young antlerless buck. At the Christmas family dinner my brother sneered at the telling of the story. But to my wife, taking that little deer will always be a special memory because of all the effort she made to learn to hunt and shoot. To her it will always be a trophy and she's proud to show the photos.

I personally don't like antler restrictions. In the state I hunt, a legal deer in antler restriction counties has to have four visible points on one side that is atleast one inch long. I have to pass up several opportunities each year at what are probably legal deer because they are moving through too quickly for me to make an accurate judgement. Some of the deer are difficult to judge even if they are only a few feet away. And, no, I am not blind. The problem is that the deer will not allow me to run up to them with a tape measure so I can count and measure all of their points. Seriously, I have talked to many hunters who shoot first, then check second. If the buck does not meet the antler restriction qualifications, no big deal. They leave it laying and hunt for another buck. Now that is a real shame. That is not what the conservation department wants. And that is not what I want as well.

Pighunter,
Life is too short to get stressed out by some antler restriction because we see all of these big bucks on TV that are behind high fences and they want to make us believe they are free ranging and then people think that every piece of property can have bucks like that. Our property is small and our deer travel over two other properties other than ours. I know that I don't have as many buck seasons as I have had and I like to make my own decisions as to what I kill not what someone thinks I should kill. I don't kill the small bucks but they don't have to be a certain size. I haven't killed anything other than a 7 point for 5 years, but if I choose to I can at our camp and everyone wil be happy for me.