PGN Article On Antler Restrictions

ORIGINAL: deerfly

Based on that statement it would appear that the PGC is relying on decreasing the number of hunters in order to keep the buck harvest rate stable.

Interview

The Deer Wars Revisited: Dr. Gary Alt, Pennsylvania’s poster child for antler restrictions, discusses how hunting—and his life—were affected by a radical shift in deer management


OL: In 2002, your campaign to get antler-point restrictions adopted in Pennsylvania was successful. How have hunters benefited?

GA: I think hunters are seeing more bucks and they’re killing older deer. But the real benefit wasn’t hunters, it was woodland habitat. Before we did this, 85 percent of all the bucks shot in any given year in Pennsylvania were yearlings. But the deer herd wasn’t being managed. The habitat was just getting hammered (because relatively few does were being killed) and we were looking at a situation where if we didn’t get a handle on harvest we weren’t going to have any deer—or any deer hunting—before long.

OL: Do you think that hunters are happier overall as a result of point restrictions?

GA: Anecdotally, yes. People said pretty overwhelmingly that they were seeing and shooting bigger bucks, and I still hear from hunters who tell me their camps are killing the biggest deer they’ve seen in over 50 years. I never had anyone come up to my face and complain about antler restrictions. You hear plenty, about how I killed too many does, or made people pass on bucks that they would have been happy to shoot. But overall, I think it was positive.

OL: Does all this emphasis on “quality deer” somehow diminish the spirit of hunting?

GA: Look, until you get a handle on deer populations, you aren’t really managing anything, you’re just caving in to hunters who like to see lots of deer. We all do, but it’s irresponsible to manage deer at maximum densities because they will crash their habitat, and not just for deer but for every other woodland species as well. Quality deer management isn’t so much about quality deer as it is about quality habitat. That’s a hard message to tell someone who is used to seeing dozens of deer every time out.


OL: I’ve always subscribed to the notion that any deer should be considered a trophy. How do you tell a 12-year-old that the forkhorn that steps out in front of him on opening day isn’t good enough?

GA: The one consistent thing I heard in the 225 public meetings we held around Pennsylvania was that young hunters didn’t want different rules for them. The most common comment from older men was that if we implemented antler restrictions, then their sons or grandsons would quit hunting. But when these kids got up to talk, they told us, “If it’s right for adults, it’s right for us.”


OL: Still, how do you tell a first-time hunter that his little forkhorn buck isn’t big enough?

GA: I’d tell that hunter that he would be doing more for his future of hunting if he shot a doe instead.

OL: Can point restrictions and quality deer management work everywhere? If so, why hasn’t every state adopted them?

GA: It probably can’t work everywhere, but the few states that tried it didn’t try it over the entire state. They tried it in small study areas. Our experience in Pennsylvania showed that if it’s going to work, it needs to work everywhere.

OL: When Outdoor Life last interviewed you, in 2003, you were on a multi-city tour of Pennsylvania, trying to convince angry groups of hunters to vote for antler-point restrictions. Your life was threatened, you began wearing a bulletproof vest to meetings and were accompanied by bodyguards. Was it worth it?

GA: My marriage fell apart, I resigned the Pennsylvania Game Commission under pressure and I was possibly the most hated man in Pennsylvania. But you know what? It was worth it. I feel about that issue the way that our veterans feel about serving in the war. I served a tour fighting for what I believe in. I haven’t met anybody who had that much opportunity to make a difference on that scale. This was a fight for the future of hunting, a way to bridge the gap between ecology and hunting. If we lose that ecology—the habitat—then we will lose hunting, and we were very close to losing the habitat in Pennsylvania.

"GA: My marriage fell apart, I resigned the Pennsylvania Game Commission under pressure and I was possibly the most hated man in Pennsylvania."

ORIGINAL: Esox_Hunter

 but without a doubt in my area the amount of 2.5YO bucks has increased pretty dramatically.

ORIGINAL: deerfly

 That's a 55% decrease in just nine years and I think that is one reason a lot of rifle hunters don't like ARs.

ORIGINAL: S-10
I would guess 3 days is a good average.