Controversial 'antler restriction' bill would limit NY deer hunting options

[Madmallard]

A new proposed law championed by an Upstate New York state senator would radically change deer hunting regulations for bucks in many parts of the state.

The bill, S4739A, was introduced by Republican Sen. Thomas O'Mara, whose 5th Senate district covers five counties across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions. O'Mara is chairman of the Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee and his bill would impact the bowhunting, firearms and muzzleloading seasons.

The legislation proposes a ban on the taking of "immature bucks," limiting hunters to "antlered deer with a least one antler with at least three points in wildlife management units 3F, 3M, 3N, 3R, 4B, 4C, 4F, 4H, 4J, 4K, 4L, 4U, 4Z, 5R, 5T, 7M, 7P, 6A, 6G, 6H, 6C, 6K and,

"taking of antlered deer with at least one antler with at least four points in wildlife management units 7R, 7S, 8N, 8P, 8R, 8T, 8W, 8X, 8Y, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9M, 9N, 9P, 9R, 9T, 9W, 9X, 9Y, 7A, 7F, 7J, 6P, 6S, 6R and 4A. (See a map of all the state's Wildlife Management Areas on the DEC website).

Each point must be "at least one inch long measured from the main antler beam," the bill states.

An exemption noted in the bill would be hunters "under the age of 17," who may take "any deer with (an) antler or antlers measuring three inches or more in length.":

Controversial 'antler restriction' bill would limit NY deer hunting options

 

[misunderestimated]

Is there a problem in these areas that needs this type of regulation? or is it just the guy is trying to eliminate hunting ?

 

[MilesTeg]

I really can't tell you how much this pisses me off!

 

[camper4lyfe]

I don't understand why this needs to be addressed, especially with a law. If necessary, this should be a DEC issue, period.

 

[capitalcrew]

It doesn't have any purpose except to people who whine about there not being any big bucks while they sit in their treestands 4 days in the season. I see big bucks every year, this stuff is pointless. It results in guys leaving meat in the woods because it wasn't what they thought it was and they don't want to get in trouble. Horrible and stupid. This really gets me pissed honestly.

 

[MilesTeg]

And to add to capital's point. These people who want this sort of thing are often not hunting on their own land and will get upset when the neighboring land owner shoots his limit to feed his family. I'm a meat hunter I go out there to fill the freezer. If a slammer walks bye me damn right I'm going to try to take him. Hell if it was a real trophy I would probably be drunk for a week celebrating. But my goal when I step foot in the woods to hunt is to take meat to eat not kill the biggest buck to flaunt around. I would also like to point out why and fuck does the government need to tell me what to do on my own land all the time, it's getting old fast!

 

[capitalcrew]

I hunt for meat as well. I usually try to shoot a fat doe and one buck better than a 4, and that's enough meat for me for the year. I like shooting bigger bucks. I hunt all day when I go out, we drive deer and hunt pretty damn hard. It's work, it ain't called shooting deer. It's hunting. If you want to shoot a 10 go out west.

I've let plenty of spikes walk. I've let some decent 6s walk. When it comes down to the end of the season though, I'm putting meat in the freezer.

 

[Robin]

This will cause a certain percentage of hunters to say screw it I've had enough and quit. They know this, less hunters, less gun's, less political influence. And if you didn't think the Fudd's didn't give a shit before, well when they quit hunting, things like gun confiscation won't even blip their radar.
Robin

 

[capitalcrew]

and to be 100% honest, that isn't going to change anyways. No matter what they do I'll always have a barn, a rope, and a knife.

 

[GOYABEAN]

Mandatory Antler Restriction

 

[pjzwtl]

Sounds like what has been in place in 3A, 3C, 3H, 3J, 3K, 4G, 4O, 4P, 4R, 4S and 4W for several years now but I think the DEC made that rule not the politicians. Personally I wont shoot a small buck I get my meat from does or a shooter but for many meat is meat.

 

[camper4lyfe]

Sounds like what has been in place in 3A, 3C, 3H, 3J, 3K, 4G, 4O, 4P, 4R, 4S and 4W for several years now but I think the DEC made that rule not the politicians. Personally I wont shoot a small buck I get my meat from does or a shooter but for many meat is meat.

Exactly. This should be a DEC issue, not some law.

 

[MilesTeg]

I still can't understand the logic of the whole thing, other than trophy hunting. There is no benefit to the heard if anything it's detrimental. I also see it as detrimental to trophy hunting. Lets say you have a 2 1/2 year old buck that is only a 4 pointer do you want him watering down your genetics? How will you legally eliminate the sub-par genetics to get you trophy kill? The whole concept is stupid and should never be brought up again. Soon the government will tell me how much toilet paper to use.

 

[pjzwtl]

I still can't understand the logic of the whole thing, other than trophy hunting. There is no benefit to the heard if anything it's detrimental. I also see it as detrimental to trophy hunting. Lets say you have a 2 1/2 year old buck that is only a 4 pointer do you want him watering down your genetics? How will you legally eliminate the sub-par genetics to get you trophy kill? The whole concept is stupid and should never be brought up again. Soon the government will tell me how much toilet paper to use.

Actually the whole concept is proven to work and it has in the areas it was implemented in. Shooting that old 4 pointer doesn't remove its genes from the pool after all it had a momma and poppa so its genes are already in the pool x100. I just don't think the state should be forcing anyone to be a head hunter. I shoot does for meat but in my area if you cant fill a doe tag your not really trying and not all areas of the state have that population level and many don't allow you to take a doe.

 

[capitalcrew]

The whole concept is stupid. If every buck that walks by is an 8 then it isn't a trophy anyways.

 

[capitalcrew]

There is no shortage of decent deer. I see tons of 6s every year. I shot a buck this year that I swore up and down was a 6 or better and when I got to him to look at him he was missing brow tines, and had one beam with nothing on it. Ended up being a 3 pointer and wouldn't have been legal with this rule. Instead of leaving him in the hedgerow like most guys would in that situation with this rule, I stuck my tag on him and that was that. That short of thing happens.

I saw two 8+ deer this year, one moving too fast for me to get on target and the other snuck by me while I was trying to count points in heavy cover because I was gun shy over the deer I shot earlier in the year. I ended up shooting a decent 6 during black powder instead of those two bigger deer, which is fine, but my point is it ain't like there aren't deer around. Get out of your tree stand and HUNT. You'll find them.

 

[Jmac00]

I have property in 6A, we are already restricted to bucks only. There are NO DOE PERMITS, at all. NO landowner permits...nothing. I hunt about 1500 acres that is private property. There are only about 6 of us in the woods at any given time. Bucks are very few and far between.

what do we do now? do I have to carry a tape measure in the woods? at 150 to 200 yards (a all too familiar range for us) can anyone measure a antler correctly at those ranges. If i shoot one at that range and it doesn't 'measure up', do I process it myself or simply leave it for the coyotes to avoid a penalty.

This is an incredibly terrible law

 

[MilesTeg]

Actually the whole concept is proven to work and it has in the areas it was implemented in. Shooting that old 4 pointer doesn't remove its genes from the pool after all it had a momma and poppa so its genes are already in the pool x100. I just don't think the state should be forcing anyone to be a head hunter. I shoot does for meat but in my area if you cant fill a doe tag your not really trying and not all areas of the state have that population level and many don't allow you to take a doe.

I didn't say it would eliminate the genetics, but it would help to stop the spread of them. I know my research on the subject is old 2007ish when I moved home from the service. I looked into this subject pretty in depth, and at that time the only real information came out of the Midwest area. So I don't know IDK that has been "proven" to work in NY style area. I'm pretty skeptical that it would work in this area for a few different reasons. First I remember the Midwest people were starting suspect that the increase in trophies weren't due to the antler but rather bringing the doe population down. I believe the closer you got to 50/50 the better, there were a few theories of why this phenomena was happening. Secondly most of the management areas in that the data says antler restrictions work are from large land areas where they truly can manage a heard of deer. New York is so parceled up it's had to manage a herd in order to favor any sort of trophy hunting even with antler restrictions.

 

[Robin]

They tried something similar with times you could and couldn't, here in 8H and it was a dismal failure, I along with at least five other hunters that I personally know of didn't hunt during the restriction times.
Robin

 

[NirvanaFan]

It's a good thing I process my deer on private land and never travel with them

Some people don't really think this through. If everyone targets the older bucks, their population will go way down. If someone shoots a small 4 or 5 point, they have to let that other large buck go. With this law, people would pass the small deer and shoot the large one. The next year, that 4 or 5 point may turn into a 6 or 7, and be shot. You can't "produce" old bucks by shooting them all. A reasonable amount of people have to fill their buck tags on smaller bucks to allow the larger bucks to grow even larger.

This article is great. The Facts on Antler Restrictions and Deer Hunting - Deer & Deer Hunting | Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips It touches on something that isn't thought of. The main appeal of antler restrictions is to "grow" deer with larger antlers. The public is split on the idea of trophy hunting. The public is NOT split on the idea of hunting for meat. The majority of people support it. This forces meat hunters to act like trophy hunters.

 

[Yeti]

I see no sense in shooting yearling bucks.All this law is doing IMO is trying to get a buck up to a 2 year old class deer,and give them more of a chance to reach three which will have wall mounting potential.Cant beat that way of thinking!

 

[MilesTeg]

I see no sense in shooting yearling bucks.All this law is doing IMO is trying to get a buck up to a 2 year old class deer,and give them more of a chance to reach three which will have wall mounting potential.Cant beat that way of thinking!

So your ok with the government dictating morality?

 

[Criticalt]

There is no shortage of big bucks here in 9J.
Ive posted pictures of 10 bucks with 8 points, and 2 with 12 points, 3 with 10 and a 14+ pointer.
This is just what has wandered onto my yard behind the house. The last few years there have been very few hunters around here. Car/deer collisions are at an all time high and my vet says lyme disease cases have doubled recently.
Two weeks ago, during the warm weather, I picked 2 ticks off my lap dog, 1 off my cat and 1 off my back......yes, I had a tick in the dead of winter. I spend alot of time outside but this is an all time high in 2 days.
I personally am a meat hunter but its not mandatory I get deer, its just an annual treat. I usually get 2 does and a big buck if I see one.

 

[Yeti]

So your ok with the government dictating morality?

Not sure if you could lump that with fact that they just want to give a buck one more year to get bigger before it becomes hamburg.

 

[capitalcrew]

For what purpose?

 

[Yeti]

For what purpose?

Bigger racks!

 

[ProgSpear]

Sounds like a proggie rino trying to gin up some buzz before the next election to me. Utterly useless law intended to do nothing but get his name in the papers.

 

[pjzwtl]

Sounds like a proggie rino trying to gin up some buzz before the next election to me. Utterly useless law intended to do nothing but get his name in the papers.

No doubt there is a QDM group that has his ear. Others posted this is about some attack on the sport by the anti's but no doubt this is coming from with in. No different then bow hunters trying to stop crossbow etc etc.

 

[capitalcrew]

Bigger racks!

Who gives a shit about bigger racks. Have you read any of the posts in here? There's big bucks all over you just have to work to find them. If you can take a nice leisurely stroll to your stand and then you sit in it all day I've got bad news for you, you're not finding any big bucks and you won't, even if they try to legislate them under your stand for you. Once you're walking through shit you literally think is impossible to walk through you're heading in the right direction.

 

[Yeti]

Who gives a shit about bigger racks. Have you read any of the posts in here? There's big bucks all over you just have to work to find them. If you can take a nice leisurely stroll to your stand and then you sit in it all day I've got bad news for you, you're not finding any big bucks and you won't, even if they try to legislate them under your stand for you. Once you're walking through shit you literally think is impossible to walk through you're heading in the right direction.

Oh I know where the big bucks are and believe me if I took a stroll on that property I would be fined for trespassing.And the big bucks are there because yearlings are not getting shot.