Scott from Erie County,

Very well said! Couldnt aggree any more. Thanks.

i am an avid hunter and have been for 25 years. although i archery hunt in erie county where i live, i go to sullivan county to hunt the opening week of the gun season.
the antler restriction was instituted in wmu 3h where i hunt in 2006.

some may ask why would you hunt there when there are much bigger deer where you live? it is a tradition/vacation that ive done since i was old enough to hunt,
its deer camp with family and close friends, something that is looked forward to all year long. within our camp there are those for ar and those against it, i personally
am against it for several reasons and will tell you why.

first and foremost, i am not a trophy hunter nor just a meat hunter. i am just a hunter who loves hunting and doesnt like to be told that you have to shoot a big buck to experience
and enjoy the thrill of hunting. i have shot a handfull of big bucks and many 1.5 year old bucks that i have been equally thrilled and satisfied to take. my point is that not eveybody
is a trophy hunter, some hunters just enjoy hunting and should not be told they cannot be happy taking a smaller buck.

my next reason is that i dont believe this is a good practice for the overall health of the deer herd. when you force everybody to only hunt and take the bigger/more mature bucks i
think you are actually taking the better genetics out of the herd, if you werent forced to take the big buck there are many hunters that would be happy with a spike or fork horn and
there would actually be more bigger bucks left for breeding.

with ar every big buck that is seen is potentially taken leaving only, or mostly, 1.5 year old bucks with potentially bad genetics to do the breeding. an example of this is about 5 years
ago i shot a 3.5 year old spike that was never going to be anything more and which with ar would be a breeder in the herd for many years because he would never be big enough to be
taken. and my third reason i do not agree with the ar is the region that it is being instituted in. wmu 3h is mountainous terrain with very little if any agricultural land which leads to poor
nutrition and terefor smaller body weight and antler size. therefor potential for growing big bucks is slim at best. tell me the last time you heard of a trophy buck come out of sullivan
county.

and my last point is to those who might say well why not take a doe then?. for the past 2 years you needed a preference point to even apply for a low chance at a doe permit
and for a couple of years prior to that there were no doe permits available in wmu 3h. over the past three years that the ar restrictions have been in effect i have shot 1 buck, a 5 point
1.5 year old and have not seen these bigger/mature bucks that ar are supposed to be producing. this year was my 15 year old nephews first year of hunting and you should have seen
his excitement when he took a 4 point on the second day of the season, ar do not apply to hunters under 17 years of age, you couldnt tell him it wasnt a trophy. now tell him when he
turns 17 hell be severly limited and may not take another buck for years, he may lose interest in hunting and with our numbers dwindling every year we cannot afford to lose anybody
with the desire to carry on the tradition of hunting.

its always a bonus to get a big buck but not a prerequsite to enjoying the tradition of getting together with family and friends and experiencing the outdoors and the thrill of the hunt.

i think the 3 point thing is cool.even if its a spike only.thats great to say shoot a doe instead of a buck.but if you have to hunt heavily pressured deer.a spike can be harder to kill than a 3 and a half year old ten pointer.but if the land is managed then definitely shoot the doe.guys that have vast tracts of private land have this option.i have shot alot of mature bucks and young bucks.i know what its like hunting stateland and great private land.you could hunt an entire season if youre limited to state land.and honestly what do you do when a fork horn pops up after two weeks of seeing nothing.so i think these ar rules are set for the proper areas.believe me im all for it.but im also for it being used in the right areas.if you did this in say the adirondacks where its tough to see a deer let alone get one it would be nuts.a spike in the mountains is just as rewarding as shooting a big farmland buck.to much thought is given to how big the animal is than the hunt itself.when it comes easy it aint worth havin.

i am all for ar i would love to shoot monster bucks or at least see more of them i hunted about 17 days during bow season and 3 for gun and have only seen one 8 point of about 13 bucks.. the problem is most guys only hunt 5 or 6 days all year so i understand that any buck is cool to shoot maybe they could just make it no spikes at least 3 points that would have to help a little for guys like me and not hurt weekenders too much