3 point or better units

[SkookumHntr]

 

[jackelope]

too many hunters in this state don't care about genetics and trophy hunting for a 4 point minimum to pass. enough people have enough trouble killing a 3 point.

[Caseyd]

too many hunters in this state don't care about genetics and trophy hunting for a 4 point minimum to pass. enough people have enough trouble killing a 3 point.

 

Plenty of farmers who dont want deer in their fields/crops

[Broken Arrow]

Off the top of my head....I think the inside/outside ears rules, to easy to screw up...( he had his ear pinned back so i thought they were smaller)....4 point for muleys I can live with, whitetails just seem to be taking over everything here in the southeast corner....so I say keep that a 3, but give kids a chance to shoot any whitetail deer. Blacktails...that's another story...i have a nice whitey and a nice muley....but that damn nice blacktail buck seems to allude me every year i try. ( most of it is my fault, I musty admit....take a guy used to hunting open cheat grass and wheat....and then teach him to look 15 yards in the ferns, rather then 200 yards in the open)...I'm still learning after numerous year. So I'm on the fence with blacktails, leave that antler restriction to the guys who know.

[squeeze2drop]

I know, this is one of those top 5 controversial topics.     It gets even more clouded when you watch deer change from year to year.  One year they are a blossoming 4, and the next they are a two.   

Buckmarks statement about some of these twos getting popped and left is also a good point as I used to comment on huge two points, how they survive the gauntlet as most would see that huge rack then stop to count........

Take this buck for example.   DO YOU REALLY THINK he'd survive or be turned down by 85% of the average hunting population. HELL I am a trophy hunter and I'd shoot him.  Now tell me is he bad genetics or good?
.

Id pass on him, and heres why, as ive gotten older ive realized how important it is to manage the bucks in the area you hunt(we hunt in a very private area nobody hunts) so i have a good idea of whats out there due to the scouting we do, anyway, id pass just for the fact that i dont want that on my wall, hes huge, and im not saying nobody should shoot him, im just sayin for me personally, i wouldnt do it, now, say hes a buck you have watched for a couple years and he isnt getting any bigger, well then, maybe its time to take him out, because hes only gonna revert after time, and getting his genetics out of the area MIGHT be a good idea, i like the 3-pt or better rule, i know for our area, its helped a lot.

[7mm short mag]

too many hunters in this state don't care about genetics and trophy hunting for a 4 point minimum to pass. enough people have enough trouble killing a 3 point.

i think after a couple of years of 4 point or better there will be alot more 4 points to hunt. people will like hunting more when they see alot better quality of deer

[PolarBear]

There are a lot of "meat" hunters who just want to shoot the first legal deer and don't want to put out the effort it takes to get a mature buck.  for them, this might seem as a way to single them out and make it impossible to take a legal deer.  An antler restriction will produce older, wiser and harder to hunt bucks with will greatly lower the odds of the average road hunter.

[andrew_12gauge]

this thread just made me think and i think i came up with a good plan, general season 4 point minimum, and then for the meat hunters give out a fairly generous amount of any buck tags by draw only with those tags running concurrent with the general 4 point min season, not only would it help to get some of those mature 2 points and younger bucks with inferior genetics out of the gene pool, but the 4 pt min general season would also improve trophy quality, and with more special permits it would take some of the applicants out of the pool for all those highly coveted late tags

[alecvg]

I'm all for a 3 point minimum for blacktail and whitetail (4 point if you count eyeguards on whities) and a 4 point min on mulies.  Have a special season or permit for spikes since studies have shown (at least in whitetails) that bucks that start out as small spikes usually are genetically inferior.  Have a special permit for mature mulie 2 points.

I would be fine with three point or better for whitetails, but I would say two point and better for blacktails, and any buck for youth.  From what I have seen, alot of blacktails grow to be big two points, could this be bad genetics?  Maybe, but I personally think that is how blacktails are, the vary.  Unlike mule deer or whitetails, who generally will grow to be a three or four point, or bigger, blacktails don't always tend to do that.

As for a mature two point tag, I too have thought of that as an idea, but I think it would be hard to specify what would be legal to shoot, how would you specify if it is "mature"?  Its a good idea, but I think there too, people would probaly often shoot a little, young two point.

[PolarBear]

The problem that I have with any buck youth hunts is the same that I have with doe youth hunts, a lot of the Dads fill that tag and not the kids.  I personally know (but won't hunt with) folks who push their kids through hunters safety at a very young age just to get special youth permits and fill them themselves while Jr. is sleeping in the backseat of the rig.  (Like the guy who tried to fill his daughter's doe tag in my front yard)  It would be a great opportunity for kids but an equally great opportunity for bend the rules type of Dads, IMO.

[huntnphool]

 I have sent letters every year for quite some time now asking for certain units be managed as 4 point restriction, its always met with much resistance.

 We have talked about the two point situation for a few years now as well. I think the 3 point rule is a good idea and have always hunted it even before the remainder of the units went that way. There used to be a handful of units that has the restriction and adjoining units did not. We would hunt the restricted units only and seldom saw more than a couple hunters each day, however when we would drive through the neighboring "any buck" units they would be packed.

 I have said this before, I think WDFW are missing the boat on this 2 point problem though. What a way to win back a few haters, and at the same time take care of the problem. Youth and disabled hunts for 2 points only. It shows they care about the kids and disabled and also about limiting the number of inferior gene bucks.

 I got one of those super forkies this year and let me tell you he was a horse of a deer. Unlucky *censored* grew a 1 1/2 kicker this year that was his doom, I'm sure he had been passed over several years because he was only a 2. Any 2 point with black, 5 1/4" bases is a mature buck in this state, he also had the largest head of any dear I have ever killed.

[hunter guy]

I'm all for the four point and better rule, but I think the number of antlered game harvested would drop.  Thus ending up with too many deer...definately a problem I wouldn't mind but the game department just might .

[huntnphool]

Thats why they should just implement it in a few units, and at the same time open up a few other timbered units to any buck.

[walleye1]

limit the hunters not the deer but that ant happening

[PolarBear]

Open it to any buck in all of the 400 units 621, 633. 627, 652-654 and 117-139 the rest have 3 or 4 point restrictions.  Look at the map and you will see why I picked those units.