ANTLER RESTRICTIONS
I don't know about you guys, but antler restrictions are a major hunting concern of mine today. New York is looking into adopting restrictions starting next year. I am not yet sure where I stand on the subject, especaily with statewide mandated antler restrictions. So I was just hoping you could post your beliefs and thoughts on antler restrictions. Be sure to give support for your opinion so we can all learn. BY the way, the picture attched is a friend of mine from Perry who shot this buck (his first with a bow) last weekend. Thanks guys. 
3 comments:
People hunt for many reasons: For recreation, for meat, for the challenge and prestige, for relationships, to be outdoors, and yes, for antlers. I hunt for several of those reasons, but I do not hunt for antlers. Antlers, in and of themselves, do not impress me in the least. I can go on e-bay and buy a Boone and Crocket set of antlers. I could pay thousands of dollars to go on a hunt and hunt someone else's property, someone else's tree stands, and in many cases someone else's hand-raised deer. In each of those cases I would end up with a huge set of antlers. I could hang them in my living rooma and brag about the monster antlers I have. But that would show nothing of my hunting ability, and I would be missing out on the very aspects of hunting I love...the reasons I hunt. I get a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishement by shooting larger deer because they are more mature, because they are smarter, because they are more cunning, because they are harder to hunt and kill...not becuase they have bigger antlers. I hunt for the challenge and the reward. I hunt to harvest deer. I hunt because I love hunting. I don't hunt, and never will, for antlers alone.
Well, the female perspective needs to be voiced here, I believe. One of the top arguments women everywhere have about antlers in general is that they do not belong in the living room.
That said, I think antler-size should be the concern of landowners, not the state. If a landowner truly believes in QDM and really wants to harvest big antlers, that is his or her prerogative. However, the value of some (big antlers) should not be allowed to influence the behavior of all (antler restrictions). Mandating such things by law is a threat to our rights as American citizens. Liberals could have a field day with hunting restrictions, etc. I think it is more important for hunters to focus on maintaining our hunting rights than to consider putting extra impediments on them.
Well said Jocelyn!
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