Comments on: Antler Restrictions on Deer: They Work!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:53:33 +0000

I think that hunters are getting so bad about big bucks. I mean don’t get me wrong, I would like to shoot a big buck, but with all the rules and antler restrictions and the younger kids lose interest in hunting. They want to have fun, but they have to sit still in a blind all day and then they can’t shoot the deer that step out. A big let down for the kids. People say that it’s the kids that will keep hunting going, but with all the stuff going on they just don’t want to go hunting. Hunter 4 life.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:09:07 +0000

I have hunted for the last 42 years in Colorado County. It’s one of the 6 original counties that had antler restrictions in Texas. There is no doubt that the restrictions work. Hunters need to learn to grab their binoculars when they see a deer instead of their gun. Have a little patience; you don’t have to kill a deer every time you hunt. If you feel you do, then you’re out there for the wrong reasons.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:34:06 +0000

I lived in Louisiana 40 years and now I live in Missouri. People say that with good food most spikes and 3, 4, and 5 points will start to grow equal or larger racks at later years. The antlers come from the bones. If food is scarce one year you will see more spikes as the minerals go to bone growth, so in some cases the 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 buck’s big rack is lost because of the cost of bone growth. Hunters will not know unles they let the bucks reach maturity — 4 years old and up.

By: Marlin

Marlin — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:52:40 +0000

I have the misfortune of living and hunting in Pennsylvania. The Game Commission implemented both Antler Restrictions and a Herd Reduction program in 2002. They screwed up!

We now have turkeys and bears out the wazoo, but about 1/4 of the whitetail deer we used to have. The AR’s might work just fine if there were enough of a buck out there to grow antlers, but since the breeding population of bucks has taken such a major hit, the only ones left are the 1 1/2 year olds.

Consider yourselves down there in Texas lucky. It could be a lot worse.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:28:22 +0000

I feel that the point rule is the best kind of rule. I, like a lot of the others, live in Texas (Bowie County) and have the 13 inch rule in place. I am all for herd management, but feel the rule will make a honest hunter illegal very quickly. I wish we would go to a 4 point or 3 point rule. When you have a deer trotting by that is tall but doesn’t give you a look at his spread it is just a guess and it’s not really fair to the hunter. I also wish they would put a rule into place for younger hunters. If my 6 year old sees a 7 point that is 12 inches wide he probably should be able to shoot it.