Antler Point Restrictions and Slot Limits?

[PurpleFloyd]

I think that the deer are looked at as more of a "winter food supply". You are messing with a lot more meat. Different lakes tend to have different slots or no slots. It's easy to take your boat and fish another lake. It is not so easy to move the hunting land, that has been in the family, to another area that does not have APR. You can measure your fish and let it go. Shoot a "doe" that turns out to have 4" spikes or what you thought was an "8 pointer" that does not have brow tines and your hosed. We have much more opportunties to fish. Deer season is short and opportunities can be limited. Bad weather, hot weather, or standing corn can ruin your weekend to hunt. I hunt in the real world,not on some TV show where the deer always seem to be calmly feeding and unmolested and there is all the time in the world to judge it.

+1

[psepuncher]

you know this land thing has some downfalls. When you neighbor sells or the farms split up to a town home development.

There's no guarantees in life. But I wonder if the ex-neighbors forfeited land can be publicly hunted? I need to check some movement out over there.

[candiru]

There have also been alot of cases where well-meaning people did not measure a fish quite right and got fined. They have the fish in their hand. Now they will have to worry about weather a deer is going to have brow tines or is hiding some small spikes hidden behind their ears in a real-world hunting situation. Some even say that the general deer hunting public should be able to distinguish a buck fawn from a doe fawn.

We are also in an economy where many people are unemployed or under employed. It may not be exactly cost-effective in most cases, but a weekend in the woods away from the rumors at the plant or the job search can be enhanced a little more by some deer meat in the freezer.

[vister]

some people completely get off on the size of the rack of a deer, and others by how much meat that deer is going to put in the freezer. personaly, im going for racks! thats my choice. if i dont shoot a nice buck while hunting, 125" or better, then i dont shoot one period. if you're out for meat, then take home a doe or a yearling. itll be better meat anyways! so many people on here complain on how they are strict meat hunters, and couldnt care about the size of the rack. well, I see an awful lot of threads and topics about the quality of their equipment, whether it be expensive [PoorWordUsage] bows, binocs, rangefinders, cameras, muzzies, rifles, shotguns, etc etc, the latest and greatest gimics none of us can live without. then i see threads and topics of people posting the pics from their trail cams, and its kind of a bragging board to compare everyones weekend find of, "hey, check out this buck, how big do you think he is?" or "what'll he score?" Now, if you ask me, i have got to believe that if you are one of these people, like myself, then like it or not, you ARE looking for more than just some meat to fill the freezer!!!

for the record, if you want venny in the freezer for "winter food supply", go to the market and stock up on beef and pork. it's WAY cheaper than all your expenses getting some venny home! Im all for APR, and since its a law, some of you will just have to get used to it. i dont like stopping at red lights, but the law makes me

[psepuncher]

I think that's why they're moving the rut back. These people vistor are talking about with their camers won't see that beautiful 6 point while

hunting the rut.

[mabr]

I think that the deer are looked at as more of a "winter food supply". You are messing with a lot more meat. Different lakes tend to have different slots or no slots. It's easy to take your boat and fish another lake. It is not so easy to move the hunting land, that has been in the family, to another area that does not have APR. You can measure your fish and let it go. Shoot a "doe" that turns out to have 4" spikes or what you thought was an "8 pointer" that does not have brow tines and your hosed. We have much more opportunties to fish. Deer season is short and opportunities can be limited. Bad weather, hot weather, or standing corn can ruin your weekend to hunt. I hunt in the real world,not on some TV show where the deer always seem to be calmly feeding and unmolested and there is all the time in the world to judge it.

-1 I see plenty of unmolested deer where i hunr in the western part of the state. But then again we dont make drives either.

[harvey lee]

You're right, Harvey. The first shot may have been poorly placed...or not. I did say that I felt it might have been placed a bit too far back and I also figure it was a little high but I also know it was a fatal shot because it took his lungs. Realize too that the gun she used was a .410 and it was 20 minutes into the first day of her first ever experience at deer hunting at the age of 12. I think she did just fine and probably better than most of us could have done.

The only reason I was able to take him was because he was injured enough to ignore our commotion as we switched chairs and I adjusted my scope twice. He stood there the whole time while this was going on and my only explanation for that was that he was hurt bad. Even the best placed shots will not drop a deer in its tracks. I've had does run for 30 yards with no heart. If you've never hunted in northern MN on the iron range you might want to think a little bit about what kind of forest we are hunting in. To actually spot that deer from 75 yards was a feat in itself. You're lucky to be able to see anything beyond about 40 yards on a good day. Not until I cranked my scope up to 7X was I able to see it and even then all I could see was its eyes, part of its front shoulder and belly line, which is what gave me the target area.

There was no blood or hair found where she took her shot. The higher shot placement let him bleed internally and so there was no trail to follow. The .410 slug did not mushroom to create a large exit wound. I could not see antlers and had it been required to count points I would have been forced to let him die because I did not know it was the same deer.

You can talk smart all you want and claim it was a poorly placed shot and you may or may not be accurate but I would love to be there the day you end up having to track a wounded deer so I could walk behind you a laugh my rear off while you sweat.

You state you could not see antlers, so whomever shot was not even sure what it was.

Yes, I had to track a nice deer last fall. I knew what I shot though and it got away. It jumped into a river.

The point I was trying to make is, whomever shot at this deer, did not even know what it was.

I do not understand those type shots at all and I never will. My Father always taught me that you need to know what you are shooting at or you do not shoot.

I try to know what I am shooting at.

I have no idea what you are talking about with the laughinmg as I never laughed about this.

If you would like to laugh while I track a deer, feel free.

I would love to see the photo of this state record deer as I am sure others would also.

[PurpleFloyd]

some people completely get off on the size of the rack of a deer, and others by how much meat that deer is going to put in the freezer. personaly, im going for racks! thats my choice. if i dont shoot a nice buck while hunting, 125" or better, then i dont shoot one period. if you're out for meat, then take home a doe or a yearling. itll be better meat anyways! so many people on here complain on how they are strict meat hunters, and couldnt care about the size of the rack. well, I see an awful lot of threads and topics about the quality of their equipment, whether it be expensive [PoorWordUsage] bows, binocs, rangefinders, cameras, muzzies, rifles, shotguns, etc etc, the latest and greatest gimics none of us can live without. then i see threads and topics of people posting the pics from their trail cams, and its kind of a bragging board to compare everyones weekend find of, "hey, check out this buck, how big do you think he is?" or "what'll he score?" Now, if you ask me, i have got to believe that if you are one of these people, like myself, then like it or not, you ARE looking for more than just some meat to fill the freezer!!!

for the record, if you want venny in the freezer for "winter food supply", go to the market and stock up on beef and pork. it's WAY cheaper than all your expenses getting some venny home! Im all for APR, and since its a law, some of you will just have to get used to it. i dont like stopping at red lights, but the law makes me

A few things.

About shooting does- That is fine except you are forgetting that in many parts of the state including mine they limit the number of does that can get shot through a lottery because without that restriction the number of deer would crash.I believe in my are they give out only a little over 200 antlerless permits. Now, they would either have to continue to ration the antlerless deer which would mean a large number of hunters not being able to take a deer or they would remove the lottery and watch the numbers of deer drop as the does are reduced in numbers. Which way are you voting for?

And as for the comment about going to the store and buying meat- That is quite a statement. Just to let you know there is an alternative for the big rack club too- you can buy antlers on HSO-Classifieds or many other sites if you want a bigger one hanging on the wall. They even make reproductions custom tailored to your exact specs.

[psepuncher]

purp,

Just wondering how much it cost to Trophy Hunt.

I heard buying a mount is cheaper than hunting for one.

Only thing is they're not really hunting.

[candiru]

Ahhh...........the good old days......having an antlerless permit in your pocket...or even 2 in a good year.........being able to shoot a doe...I miss it. I think it has been one year out of the last 5 for me

[Hoyt4]

A small buck does not taste any different then a doe to me.If I could shoot more doe's I would but we have not had too many of them around.I'll put a small buck big buck or doe in the freezer.I have season's I will not shoot any just by choice but we should have that choice.If I know I will not be hunting much and like to have the venison in the freezer I'm going to put a deer down.Does not cost me but that tag.I butcher all my own deer.

[BobT]

Last year our hunting party couldn't see much of anything except bucks. I think we spotted two does all season. On the other hand, my brother-in-law and his group couldn't find a buck. They counted nearly a dozen does opening weekend alone. Apparently they can be very spotty.

[BobT]

Quote:

The point I was trying to make is, whomever shot at this deer, did not even know what it was.

I do not understand those type shots at all and I never will. My Father always taught me that you need to know what you are shooting at or you do not shoot.

1. I knew it was an adult deer. Whether it was a buck or doe was not a concern at the time so yes, I knew what I was shooting at. I agree with you and don't take shots unless I know what I'm killing. I think you're being a little presumptuous to think otherwise.

2. I had a very good reason to suspect that it was a wounded deer because just five minutes earlier my daughter shot at one and a healthy deer would not likely act the way he did

3. We had two doe permits plus two minors in our party of five that could take either sex so we were in a good position not to worry about the sex

4. If it was a small buck, see items 3 and 4

5. We hunt first for meat and once we fulfill that purpose we get more selective. NOTE: Fulfilling the meat agenda does not require filling our tags. It's a certain amount of meat we're after and we're not greedy enough to just fill tags until we run out.

Regarding the state record. I have emailed my brother-in-law to send me photos and stats on his buck. For my sake I hope he wasn't exaggerating about it being a new record.

Regarding the "laughing." I apologize. I think you must have tripped my defense button or something and maybe I was a little tired yesterday evening. Sorry 'bout that.

[mrklean]

another year another debate over mn and the deer herd i cant wait till after the hunting season and everyone is saying how they didnt see any deer and the dnr needs to do something about it

[Bear55]

Perhaps someday Bear, just my attempt at civility.

I laid out my argument as best I could, really seems like apples/oranges to me.We're gonna just have to agree to disagree. It's alot like your side trying to say that targetting the most viable, healthy specimens of a population will somehow strengthen the herds' health. Just doesn't seem logical any way you put it.

Agreed PEAT, for sure an apples to oranges comparison, some things about QDM/Slots are similar and some are very different.

Think of targeting more mature bucks this way. To start they are smarter then a 1.5 year old bucks so more of them will have the ability to slip between the cracks and live to see the next season. There will also be some mature bucks that are able to pass on their genes before they get shot, I'm not sure on the % but there are some does that are bread before rifle season opens. And finally if we do shoot a lot of mature bucks one year there should be plenty of young bucks ready to step up into their place year after year as long as there is a large enough population of young deer that do get passed up.

Like someone said in another thread, it sounds crazy but the more young bucks we shoot the more we will have, and the more mature bucks we shoot the more we will have.

[96trigger]

Quote:

I have emailed my brother-in-law to send me photos and stats on his buck. For my sake I hope he wasn't exaggerating about it being a new record.

No way a brother in law would embelish a little

[BobT]

Don't know.