One Buck Limit

[2busy]

Can't compare the way it was with the way it is.....deer and hunter populations aren't the same and neither are the reasons that most folks hunt.

I was just saying that it could be worse.

 

[PBramble]

Really don’t see the big deal to lower it to one antlered. You can currently take up to six deer including 2 antlered in Oklahoma. If you can’t fill the freezer with only one buck and a few does it’s a problem.

Our ranch north of Cheyenne definitely has a lot more does to bucks. I nearly always take does. Better eating and haven’t found a recipe for antlers yet.

That in itself is the problem. You get way longer to hunt less pressured deer than most. Some do hunt the entire two weeks but most, like myself are limited to weekends. That works out to about 4 days of hunting if life doesn't get in the way. Include holiday antlerless and it's 8. Roughly 4 weeks less than you get on your private property. And not all public land is open to rifle hunting, so that limits options even further. Your situation isn't everyones so you can't really apply it equally.

 

[Lakenut]

So what would y’all propose to grow bigger bucks?
How many hunters go out with 0 scouting and get buck fever and shoot the first set of horns that shows up? Would a 1 buck limit make those hunters pass on immature animals?
All of our neighbors have an agreement on the size of bucks to be taken- 8 point minimum that goes out past the ears. Has been that way for a while and all of us are seeing more and bigger bucks.

 

[retrieverman]

So what would y’all propose to grow bigger bucks?
How many hunters go out with 0 scouting and get buck fever and shoot the first set of horns that shows up? Would a 1 buck limit make those hunters pass on immature animals?
All of our neighbors have an agreement on the size of bucks to be taken- 8 point minimum that goes out past the ears. Has been that way for a while and all of us are seeing more and bigger bucks.

Well, first off, your neighbors have proved the point that passing young bucks works and at the same time even made the case for antler restrictions. I’m not necessarily for antler restriction, but having hunted most of my life in a east TX county that has them, I know they work. Last year in OK, I killed a 6 year old buck the weighed 280 lbs and had a 185” rack and would’ve barely been legal under the antler restrictions in my east TX county.

To your point about people getting buck fever and shooting the first buck they see, a one buck limit wouldn’t stop anyone from doing it, but it would at least legally stop them from doing it more than once a year.

 

[PBramble]

So what would y’all propose to grow bigger bucks?
How many hunters go out with 0 scouting and get buck fever and shoot the first set of horns that shows up? Would a 1 buck limit make those hunters pass on immature animals?
All of our neighbors have an agreement on the size of bucks to be taken- 8 point minimum that goes out past the ears. Has been that way for a while and all of us are seeing more and bigger bucks.

Why do you need bigger bucks? If you're out trophy huntning, just put up a high fence or pay the fee and be done with it.

 

[retrieverman]

Why do you need bigger bucks? If you're out trophy huntning, just put up a high fence or pay the fee and be done with it.

Why not grow bigger bucks?!? Shooting animals in a pen isn’t hunting in my opinion.

 

[PBramble]

Encourages less legal hunting methods would be my number one reason. I don't hear anything about shooting 6 year old does in hunting circles.

 

[magna19]

The one buck proposal is from ranches that guide deer hunting and want more bigger bucks for clients. They show up to the meetings and sometimes get regulations changed in their favor. Nothing more Nothing less

 

[retrieverman]

Encourages less legal hunting methods would be my number one reason. I don't hear anything about shooting 6 year old does in hunting circles.

That’s a new one for me. I’m going to need an explanation of what “less legal hunting methods” would be.

 

[retrieverman]

The one buck proposal is from ranches that guide deer hunting and want more bigger bucks for clients. They show up to the meetings and sometimes get regulations changed in their favor. Nothing more Nothing less

I don’t appreciate generalities. I own a relatively small place and don’t guide hunts, so I’d say there‘s definitely more to it.