One Buck Rule

[Hall17]

Pennsylvania is 3 on one side and 4 on one side depending where you live. Depending on the Wildlife Management Unit you live in

Having to guess on a spread width is ridiculous. I can't imagine trying to figure that out while one is running in chasing a doe.

 

[drpike22]

I hunt Monmouth County Park System land and they have a rule that you must shoot a doe first before a buck. (this differs somewhat from NJ state rules) The County Park hunts are designed to thin out the herd and avoid overpopulation. I am not a wildlife biologist, but this approach appears to be less effective. I would think that since a single buck can impregnate multiple doe , and since the number of doe always seem to outnumber the bucks, that fewer buck deer would be better. If you don't have a sperm donor (the buck) you don't have pregnant doe. If I am off track let me know.

 

[raisins]

Pennsylvania is 3 on one side and 4 on one side depending where you live. Depending on the Wildlife Management Unit you live in

Having to guess on a spread width is ridiculous. I can't imagine trying to figure that out while one is running in chasing a doe.

and about to pass your only shooting lane...if i ever start hunting those areas.....i'm only shooting a buck if it very obviously passes the threshold

 

[raisins]

I hunt Monmouth County Park System land and they have a rule that you must shoot a doe first before a buck. (this differs somewhat from NJ state rules) The County Park hunts are designed to thin out the herd and avoid overpopulation. I am not a wildlife biologist, but this approach appears to be less effective. I would think that since a single buck can impregnate multiple doe , and since the number of doe always seem to outnumber the bucks, that fewer buck deer would be better. If you don't have a sperm donor (the buck) you don't have pregnant doe. If I am off track let me know.

you're right that one buck impregnates many does.....if you have fewer bucks, then you have fewer bucks to grow older to become shooters (can't shoot old ones if you shoot all the little ones)....there is also the fear that with too many does your preferred browse is hit hard and there are fewer food resources to grow a nice buck (i think this is only the case in winter and in certain areas in practice)....also, when there are few bucks and many does, then the bucks are not as active during the rut and don't respond to calling as readily (why fight or search for Felicia when Tammy is at the bar giving you the eye?).....also, more non-dominant bucks will get to breed because there's less competition for the does in estrous

there's 2 ways to equalize the sex ratios more.....shoot fewer bucks or shoot more does.....DNR around here always opts for the shoot more does option because that keeps the average hunter happy and doesn't cut into their funding by lowering tag sales....i'd prefer to equalize the sex ratios by letting more younger bucks live

 

[kyler1945]

and about to pass your only shooting lane...if i ever start hunting those areas.....i'm only shooting a buck if it very obviously passes the threshold

This is the point of the rule.

 

[raisins]

This is the point of the rule.

no it's not

the point of a minimum is not to trigger reasonable people to be extremely cautious and bypass 14" spread and instead think 'i'm only gonna shoot something i think might be pope and young here'

in a perfect world, this would occur....but you can't assume anything like that about the general public

otherwise, the point of a 70 mph speed limit would be to make people drive 55

 

[kyler1945]

no it's not

the point of a minimum is not to trigger reasonable people to be extremely cautious and bypass 14" spread and instead think 'i'm only gonna shoot something i think might be pope and young here'

in a perfect world, this would occur....but you can't assume anything like that about the general public

otherwise, the point of a 70 mph speed limit would be to make people drive 55

Edit: it’s the SPIRIT of the rule.

 

[kyler1945]

The last two bucks I’ve taken home were off a 15/18 property. I knew instantly that both deer were legal.

This is why I think the combo is a much better fit, IF the point is to target a certain age class of deer with good genetics for harvest.

The reason is that outlier young deer have 15+” obvious spreads. Very very very rare young deer have 18+” main beams. I would imagine almost none have both. A deer that meets both criteria is almost always a no doubter. And mature deer will have one or the other always.

 

[Blacksmith]

I can’t vote for any of those choices. In my opinion, this question should be applied zone by zone. There are areas of this country with 60-200 deer per square mile and there are regions with less than 6 deer per square mile. Deer management is far too complicated to make generalizations about strategy on a national scale. I think the choice really depends on deer density, buck to doe ratio, age class numbers and the number of hunters.

You are exactly correct. I killed 10 this year on one farm and still see 20 to 30 in an evening. Those are mostly antlerless b.c. everyone wants to shoot a big one.

 

[DelaWhere_Arrow]

Does Delaware still have that 15" spread trophy buck rule?

I assume so. But I haven’t hunted there since 2019. And that was only in areas with a “Quality Deer Management” designation, or similar. But your “buck tag”, I believe had to be used on a minimum spread (I may be wrong) while you could shoot any buck or doe using a “hunter’s choice” tag. @kbetts you would know better.

 

[Jammintree]

A couple of the northeast states I hunt allow for multiple bucks and we have very low deer density compared to most of the country. They also give out limited numbers of antlerless deer permits. The biologists are prescribing this approach and it seems to be working. As a layman id observe that the deer population in the rural areas is healthy and within carrying capacity, the buck to doe ratio is healthy and I see and photograph a healthy age structure of bucks. Where the northeast struggles is managing deer in urban and suburban zones. In those places deer numbers are extremely high, with seemingly little that can be done to change it.

 

[LAKY]

Limiting the number of bucks taken by hunters will increase the number of bucks in the population next year. That puts more bucks into the next age category which promotes a more natural age structure. When you start going down the road of antler restrictions, you run the risk of high-grading. You could potentially be taking out your outliers at young ages that have the potential to become your very best specimens in terms of antler size. For the general public, I think the one buck rule is the best way to increase buck age structures along with limiting rifle hunting during the rut. Both of those promotes less hunting related buck mortality.

 

[casts_by_fly]

Here in the middle ground between suburban and farmland NJ we have a fair few deer of all shapes and sexes. We also have 57 different Deer management zones, 8 different regulations sets for deer, and at least 4 different seasons where I can kill a deer with my bow. The earliest season/zone started Sept 10th (with earn a buck rules) and the latest goes until Feb 18th. I can kill at least 4 bucks a year if I buy all of the permits and hunt all of the seasons. In my DMZ I can shoot unlimited antlerless deer. I grew up hunting in PA back when you still had to decide whether or not you really wanted to shoot a doe with your bow because your tag on the licenses was buck or doe in archery season so if you shot a doe you couldn't shoot a buck. I have not hunted PA with antler restrictions so can't much compare, but here in NJ there are antler restrictions depending on the zone. I live a mile from the border between restrictions and no restrictions (the side I hunt).

What NJ does with archery seasons and shooting bucks is interesting and a little annoying. Our first season is fall bow. When you buy an archery hunting license you get this set of tags. The season runs until the end of October. Then there is a permit based season from the start of November until the end of December (more or less). You have to buy permit tags on top of your license, doe and buck permits are separate and you have to buy a doe permit to buy a buck permit. Then on Jan 1st the winter bow season starts and runs 4-6 weeks depending on the zone. Each of those three seasons allows for a buck to be shot, but only during that season. So I can't go hunt the prime rut and shoot 3 wall hangers over the course of 3 days. Also, by the time winter season has rolled around, a lot of bucks have dropped antlers so there are more limited chances at shooting bucks then. There is also the 6-day gun season in december that yields another buck tag if you buy a gun hunting license (which is different to a bow hunting license and allows for hunting other animals with guns). That tag is good for that 6-day season only, but a bow is a legal weapon in that season.

All of that adds up to a complicated, but hard to realize, way of allowing 4 bucks to be shot in a season here. I'm not opposed to it. We have a ton of deer. It doesn't change the way I hunt or what deer I'm happy to take. Would we have bigger bucks if you shot fewer of them and had AR in place everywhere? Maybe?!? I'm also not driven by finding the biggest buck around and hunting for only him. Sure I want to shoot a big one and earlier in the season I'll hold off shooting bucks that I'm happy to otherwise shoot in the hopes of seeing one of the bigger ones around. But at the end of the day I'm fine with any buck with a basket rack whether that's a 15" spread 4 pt or a 12" spread 8 pt.

 

[Mitchellfarmer1982]

I voted indifferent bc here in Arkansas we are allowed 2 bucks. I see the push from reading this for bigger deer with antler restrictions. I will say I believe antler restrictions do very little. My basis for this is that my 2 biggest deer to date were killed on federal lands where there are no antlers restrictions at all. Also several hard-core hunters I know their biggest came from federal lands. The biggest I see yearly are usually from these lands. However 1 has a 2 day gun season the other a 9 day gun season. These are also permit gun hunts. Deer are allowed to get bigger with age by lack of hunting pressure. Just my 2 cents.

 

[bigmike23]

I'm strongly for it in PA. However, I think it would be neat to have a lottery program to draw a second tag. The number of tags sold would be an amount that wouldn't strongly affect the deer population. Good way for the state to get extra revenue as well.

 

[bfriendly]

In GA they had a 2 bucks, one with at least 4 points on one side rule. Just changed to one buck must have 4 points OR 15 “ outside spread, I think. We got some big 6s that’ll be fair game now. Our season and limits are very generous. We get a dozen doe too!
In KY, it’s a 1 buck(any size) & 3 doe rule. You can purchase additional doe tags.

I'm glad I live in GA but I think deer restrictions should be more localized

 

[drpike22]

Here in the middle ground between suburban and farmland NJ we have a fair few deer of all shapes and sexes. We also have 57 different Deer management zones, 8 different regulations sets for deer, and at least 4 different seasons where I can kill a deer with my bow. The earliest season/zone started Sept 10th (with earn a buck rules) and the latest goes until Feb 18th. I can kill at least 4 bucks a year if I buy all of the permits and hunt all of the seasons. In my DMZ I can shoot unlimited antlerless deer. I grew up hunting in PA back when you still had to decide whether or not you really wanted to shoot a doe with your bow because your tag on the licenses was buck or doe in archery season so if you shot a doe you couldn't shoot a buck. I have not hunted PA with antler restrictions so can't much compare, but here in NJ there are antler restrictions depending on the zone. I live a mile from the border between restrictions and no restrictions (the side I hunt).

What NJ does with archery seasons and shooting bucks is interesting and a little annoying. Our first season is fall bow. When you buy an archery hunting license you get this set of tags. The season runs until the end of October. Then there is a permit based season from the start of November until the end of December (more or less). You have to buy permit tags on top of your license, doe and buck permits are separate and you have to buy a doe permit to buy a buck permit. Then on Jan 1st the winter bow season starts and runs 4-6 weeks depending on the zone. Each of those three seasons allows for a buck to be shot, but only during that season. So I can't go hunt the prime rut and shoot 3 wall hangers over the course of 3 days. Also, by the time winter season has rolled around, a lot of bucks have dropped antlers so there are more limited chances at shooting bucks then. There is also the 6-day gun season in december that yields another buck tag if you buy a gun hunting license (which is different to a bow hunting license and allows for hunting other animals with guns). That tag is good for that 6-day season only, but a bow is a legal weapon in that season.

All of that adds up to a complicated, but hard to realize, way of allowing 4 bucks to be shot in a season here. I'm not opposed to it. We have a ton of deer. It doesn't change the way I hunt or what deer I'm happy to take. Would we have bigger bucks if you shot fewer of them and had AR in place everywhere? Maybe?!? I'm also not driven by finding the biggest buck around and hunting for only him. Sure I want to shoot a big one and earlier in the season I'll hold off shooting bucks that I'm happy to otherwise shoot in the hopes of seeing one of the bigger ones around. But at the end of the day I'm fine with any buck with a basket rack whether that's a 15" spread 4 pt or a 12" spread 8 pt.

I also live in NJ and if they could regulate taking a shower, they would find a way to complicate that too.