Had to be an "Oak" this afternoon

[Mechslasher]

got permission to hunt an area across some railroad tracks i've been eyeing for the past two years.  the fellow just ask that i call before i go hunting on his place.  i've spoken with him several times in the past couple weeks and this afternoon he asked that i not shoot anything under 15".  this was the first time he had mentioned that but i told him that it wouldn't be a problem because i don't have much luck with bucks.  you can guess the results of this afternoons hunt.  about 6 i looked up and saw some feet coming through one of my blind spots.  it was coming down a trail that i scouted yesterday and it must have smelled me (even after 24 hours) because it slammed on breaks and started looking around.  it turned around and trotted straight into one of my shooting lanes.  it stopped about 12 yards out slightly quartering away.  you guessed it, the buck only had a 13" rack.  i bent the string on him, twice, but didn't let the arrow fly!  i watched him wonder off and kicked myself several times for not letting the arrow fly.  this was a tough hunt to say the least.

[GregB]

Tough luck, but you did the right thing...probably would have loss your hunting spot if you'd taken the deer.

[cowboy]

That is tough. I hate antler restriction's - aught to be able to shoot whatever steps out if ya have a tag or want some meat.

[Hillbilly]

Yeah, bummer. I'm not into deer farming myself-I like to hunt, not genetically manipulate wild animals.

[Pappy]

Ya I hate them to.I let the guys that hunt on my farm shoot what ever the want.I use to have
some friends that I let gun hunt[No guns anymore no wheel bows either] and they got a little carried away,killing any small buck that came along and wouldn't shoot the does ,so rather than put a size restriction on them I just told them to shoot what ever buck they wanted all I ask was that they show me the mount,[full shoulder] I didn't care if they killed a spike or 4/6 as long as they mounted it,that took care of the problem.  In fact they only hunted that year and didn't come back the next.
   Pappy

[Justin Snyder]

Sometimes it is rough letting one walk.  Especially when you haven't had good luck with bucks.  I do like antler restrictions to a point.  They serve a purpose in a keeping a healthy deer herd.  Justin

[DanaM]

The Michigan DNR has imposed antler restrictions here in the UP of Michigan at the request of
the Whitetail organizations May be all well and good in some of the counties but where I live just seeing
a deer can be a challenge. I've seen one deer so far since Oct 1st a spike and therefore illegal.

[kyleM]

The Michigan DNR has imposed antler restrictions here in the UP of Michigan at the request of
the Whitetail organizations May be all well and good in some of the counties but where I live just seeing
a deer can be a challenge. I've seen one deer so far since Oct 1st a spike and therefore illegal.

I think they should bring back the old doe tag ways..

[John K]

A bigger one will come you'r way !

[Hillbilly]

I think people are brainwashed from watching too many buckmasters shows. Anybody that looks at a deer and sees nothing but a set of horns, I don't want anything to do with. If I ever get to the point that my heart rate doesn't kick up from seeing a doe or small buc, I'll quit hunting.

[Pat B]

I don't mind antler restrictions like Justin for the sake of the healthy heard. We have too many does almost everywhere so more pressure should be put on them to get the buck/doe ratio back to a more even ratio. That way you get more does bred during their first or possibly second heat and you don't have spotted fawns going into December of later. Big antlers are a byproduct of this. I'm not an antler hunter either. At this point in my bow hunting career I be ready to shoot almost any deer. I do let small bucks walk usually.
   I guess this will get to be a heated topic!   Get the popcorn ready!    pat

[kyleM]

The thing is, the area that my dad hunts (DanaM) all you can buy are buck tags, i havnt deer hunted up there in 2 years now, because im stuck in the south in the coast guard, so i dont know what the rules are this year.. But i know the past few years you cant take a doe in certein counties because they dont have any tags out for them!

[Mechslasher]

i've seen deer just about every time i've hunted in and around this place.  i saw three does later that afternoon but they were out of range feeding in the middle of a kudzu field.  i guess it was a moral victory since i was able to draw on him twice.  i'm now looking at the outcome as there are two or more birds in the bush instead of one in the hand.

[DanaM]

I'm with hillbilly as for the antler thing its why I won't join the local Whitetails organazination, their trophy hunters to a man. I hunt for the enjoyment and
the meat but it still makes me mad that the only deer I've seen was illegal because it was a spike. I can shoot two does
on my combination license with archery equipment.

[John K]

Dana, How many points do they need before you can shoot them