Quick survey of my own curiosity on "point restriction"

[DHost21]

I disagree with the genetics thing cause the APR only talks one side of the antlers either 3 on a side or 4 on a side therefor that deer above would qualify and could be taken.

[DHost21]

And also not everyone can go out and afford a couple hundred acres at the moment so it would be impossible to manage any land if you have to hunt public land or 30-40 acre places

[Stratosman]

Well since this in the archery forum... FOr archery hunters it would be most benificial for the gun season to be moved back two weeks.. way too many 1-1/2 year old bucks acting stupid and getting killed. Of course this would not go over well with the gun crowd, but it is the absolute truth. As far as APRS, not sure if I am for it or agaist it yet, for sure against a statewide mandate though, I think what they are doing in zone 3 is a good expirement and am glad that they are taking baby steps, btw I hunt zone 3.. But too many bucks might not be a good thing.. ask the guys that used to have access to farms in Buffalo County. Alot of dissapointed folks that used to have permission to hunt private land until the outiffing business took off once they realized the big deer that were coming out of that area....I think that we have it better than we think right now.

[TruthWalleyes]

In my first responses i was referring to an all seasons APR, not just bow hunting so i may have lead astray.

I haven't taken up bow hunting yet, but i have deer hunted my whole life. The last 5 years i have passed on bucks, they're not big enough...Yes, many of those would have been the biggest i've shot, but i'm simply rack hunting, or shooting does instead.

Bottom line, deer hunting is by tradition for meat. Each year, i put deer in my freezer, and don't care if that big buck doesn't come around...I'll pass on the little ones....But like i said on the top of the page, I'm for APR, if you can shoot does. Sounds like Archery is either sex, so i'm all for it.

Rifle however, is not either sex, so i do not support APR.

-And i agree completely with the statement about hipocracy with guys chasing 140's and shooting 115's....I see that too often.

[psepuncher]

Bottom line, deer hunting is by tradition for meat.

Kinda funny, about the tradition of regulations.

It used to be about how much meat you take.

Now it's gearing towards how big are the antlers you take.

[TruthWalleyes]

One of many ways our country is going

[bottom-bouncer]

Not to burst ant bubbles But to tradition. one must first know the meaning of the word and by definition the word tradition. You do something twice and it is a tradition. pass on the little bucks this year and the nextyear.now its a new tradition.

[bigbucks]

Not for APR either. I rarely shoot little bucks & most years eat my buck tag, but that's my choice because I want to keep hunting & want a chance to shoot a big one. If someone wants a deer, has limited time to hunt, & doesn't care if it's big, why shouldn't they be able to shoot a small buck? Definitely don't buy that it has anything to do with herd health, the herd grew like crazy under bucks only management.

To put it into perspective I'm WAY more opposed to a buck lottery then APR.

I agree with the poster(s) who have said education is having it's effect. 10-15 years ago almost no one I know would have dreamed of passing on a 6 pointer. Now almost all the bow hunters I know do & many of the other gun hunters do to, as most of us bow hunters are gun hunters too. It's mostly generational & that generation of shoot anything with horns is getting older as a whole.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Not for APR either. I rarely shoot little bucks & most years eat my buck tag, but that's my choice because I want to keep hunting & want a chance to shoot a big one. If someone wants a deer, has limited time to hunt, & doesn't care if it's big, why shouldn't they be able to shoot a small buck? Definitely don't buy that it has anything to do with herd health, the herd grew like crazy under bucks only management.

To put it into perspective I'm WAY more opposed to a buck lottery then APR.

I agree with the poster(s) who have said education is having it's effect. 10-15 years ago almost no one I know would have dreamed of passing on a 6 pointer. Now almost all the bow hunters I know do & many of the other gun hunters do to, as most of us bow hunters are gun hunters too. It's mostly generational & that generation of shoot anything with horns is getting older as a whole.

I don't have any problem with your opinions. However, the bolded statement has no merit when discussing herd health. Herd health is is not a simple numbers game. Herd health is a distribution and recruitment game, meaning, having proper buck/doe ratios and adult/fawn populations that the land can support and provide competition so the mature and dominant deer do the breeding. Herds can explode - and will explode - with terribly distorted buck/doe populations. It only takes one buck to breed a doe, and one buck can breed many does. The most intense rut, and consequently best/most exciting hunting, comes when there is competition for does - i.e. a close adult deer sex ratio.

My opinion on the matter is to let people shoot what they want to shoot. I don't like over regulation. However, I think a buck tag lottery and no party hunting is the best thing since sliced bread for everyone. It allows people with the proper tag to still shoot what they want, while only granting enough permits to fit the estimated population in an area, and makes the buck tag cherished rather than disposable (i.e. some people will pass on a spike because they don't want to "waste" their one opportunity to tag a buck).

Moving the season back a couple weeks would just be icing on the cake.

[walterman]

Better management by the mndnr and selective harvest will lead to bigger deer and a healthier herd. I dont know if APR'S is the answer but it might be someplace in the right direction. Here in South Dakota, you have to apply for a buck tag, resident or not. I used to hunt in MN a lot and dont even care to anymore. Seems most people that hunted around our property felt if "its brown its down".

[Twins 57 Fan]

Try this scenario...

I was on stand this year and had a little four pointer come by that had obviously been hit by a car or suffered some other sort of bad injuryto his right side. This deer was hobbling around in what looked like a very painful manner. I am hunting in area 338 so I was not even allowed by law to take this animal out of its misery. I would have gladly given up my tag for the year for this deer but could not because of APR.

For this reason, I am against any APR. I did not have a problem with it until I was in this situation.

[bigbucks]

I hear you what you're saying, but do not understand the underlying theory that a dominant older buck vs the most dominant younger bucks still don't pass along good genes. A buck's genes don't change with age, they are what they are. That would be like saying if I fathered my kids when I was older they'd be better athletes. I get that it's more fun to hunt bucks in a balanced age structure & sex ratio herd, but still don't agree that has anything to do with herd health. It makes the herd more asthetically (sp) pleasing. Fawns don't become runtier because they were fathered by a yearling. I know these are not things you said, but it's how I process that viewpoint.

I think very few hunters would be happy with not being able to hunt every season. I don't see a lottery with that kind of restriction ever happening in MN.

Clearly I'm on your side of this argument in theory, I just don't agree that regulating it is the way for it to happen.

[pikehunter]

I'm curious if a rotating APR would work. For instance, the state is cut into three sections, and once every three years that section is an APR zone.

I also agree that moving the gun season back (or forward) would have the most appropriate impact and just simply makes the most sense.

[NoWiser]

My first choice would be eliminating buck party hunting. I would prefer that to antler point restrictions any day. That said, I would rather have antler point restrictions than nothing.

[Stratosman]

No cross tagging is already in effect for zone 3. And I do absolutely agree with that provision as well.

[TylerS]

They've had a buck lottery in North Dakota for years, and it seems to be working...

[leech~~]

I have a few on the wall and have eaten my share so I can wait for the next big one. But, I would sure hate to see some young kid have to pass on his first deer because it didn't have the points! Some areas of the state are hard enough to even see a deer, let alone pass it up when it does finally come by.

[Bear55]

I was all for APR at one point but I have kind of backed off that a little. I actually think it might be an effective tool to help reduce the population in intensive harvest areas but I am not sure its right for other areas of the state with lower populations.

I would like to see people who have shot plenty of young bucks over the years try and hold off on blasting the first legal deer they see. Save the little ones for the kids/new hunters or let them get a little older. Push yourself a little and see if you can't connect with an older buck.

[pulleye16]

Against...not every hunter has the same ambitions out there. If you want big bucks then only shoot big buck, if you want meat then take what you want...leave it up to the hunter!

[Musky Buck]

Some of you guys in this filling the freezer makes me think it's a cop out, get off the internet, cancel it, and you could fill your freezer just fine, most everyone on here has a foolish way we spend money or we don't try to save money. Here's my take, split the season, less days for brown down and more that would be willing to hunt by APR. But what about up north where a spike is common, in the farmland 6 pointers are common in the first rack year. There's so many of us especially now that very rarely get to even see what a mature buck looks like and that's in part to so many hunting groups that if they see a horn or not that deer is going down and some guys party hunting shoot 2-3-4 or more bucks and these groups lots of them have plenty of cattle to butcher. Give 4 days to brown it's down and give a week or more to us that like to hunt more than we like to shoot. I'm not saying APR will do it, because under my theory the brown down gang will hammer away at the buck fawns and baby bucks the first weekend anyway, we simply with the amount of water in our state, diverse habitat, etc. and lob in nearly 500,000 deer hunters, we are over capacity in hunter numbers per acre so expect nocturnal deer ASAP once again with mild weekend weather. But, good luck to all and you'll still be a man if you don't get "your" buck. Hunt safe, hunt hard and none of us are guaranteed next rifle season so enjoy.

[psepuncher]

500,000 deer hunters have to go somewhere.

I'm sure they don't sit in each others lap.

[nonteepical]

I'm curious if a rotating APR would work. For instance, the state is cut into three sections, and once every three years that section is an APR zone.

we've had this debate several times and it's pretty much an even split 50/50 for/against. so even years you have APR's and odd years you don't.

[92python]

Probably not the most popular opinion but I would like to see point restrictions, no party hunting, and am for moving the firearms season out of the rut. Would support a first buck mulligan for new hunters. That wouldn't be needed once those rules were in place for a while.

Most years I eat my main tag and fill the freezer by hunting extensive harvest areas. I hunt with a bow, rifle, and muzzleloader most years. If I get one shot opportunity at a decent buck per year I feel lucky and I spend quite a bit of time in a tree each year.

[james_walleye]

I have a few on the wall and have eaten my share so I can wait for the next big one. But, I would sure hate to see some young kid have to pass on his first deer because it didn't have the points! Some areas of the state are hard enough to even see a deer, let alone pass it up when it does finally come by.

APR's....as they are set in zone 3 this year.....do not include youth. They can shoot whatever they want.

[Jameson]

It's too bad all new hunters don't get the same break. It wouldn't even be that hard. First few years you buy a license (2-4 years?) APR's don't apply to you.