2 Buck Rule Discussion

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
I don't know what anybody is upset that they don't have 4 buck tags...

What do you need them for?

... many of you can't even hit a deer with a car much less see one during hunting season [emoji23]

[emoji1658][emoji1658][emoji1658][emoji1658][emoji1658]

That's me....I haven't killed a buck since like 2013 or 14, been so long I can't remember[emoji21]

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk
 

30/06

Twelve Pointer
for the ones that kill what they want to, they're gonna kill what they want to. Whether that's 1, 2, 3, or 15.

Oh, and I thought that's why you had kids, to use their tags.

No kids are for extending your turkey season a week and doubling your tags!

Iā€™m all for 2 buck limit but been hunting central for years, been like that forever. Iā€™ve hunt states with one buck limit and have to say the quality of hunting is 10x what it is here. Seeing lots of 3 year old bucks, to me a anyway, is fun. Bucks fight and chase. Lots better rut. Iā€™m fine though not killing a buck at all.
 

ABBD

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Corners we are in..... everyone in their corners. Personally, I could care less about how you hunt and wonā€™t judge you on your preferred journey in how you choose to experience the outdoors. Why are we fussing about people that enjoy perusing mature deer versus someone who provides meat for their table? Simply..unacceptable. As hunters and as ā€œsupposedlyā€ mentors for our youth? I do not ask that you understand the way I choose to hunt or ask that you accept it to meet your criteria. Each of us... have our individual goals or an outdoor connection that is unique to our own beliefs.

Tired of folks condemning one way or the other.. as if their perspective is the only one that is pure as the wind driven snow. Embrace your path and donā€™t feel guilty nor self righteous in doing so. Surely....donā€™t seek approval of people on a public forum to dictate how you should experience the outdoors and what it should mean for you. Many different perspectives and approaches will be shared... but perhaps the most challenging task for a body will be to respect each of them.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Nah...just get a second set of tags sent to you. Tell em you lost your first set and need replacements. Then punch the tag if you need cover to drag one out. Carry it around. If you get stopped when you don't have a deer, just show em the one you didn't punch the tag on. What could possibly go wrong? ;)
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
I think the 2 buck rule is going be a false hope for a lot of people. Some areas you could have a no buck rule and they still want have big deer. Itā€™s some big clubs been managing deer since the 90s. They kill some big deer. But also killed big deer before they started managing. Probably see a lot more 15 and 16 inch deer. But here donā€™t see anymore big deer than did back in the 70s and 80s when there was no management
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I donā€™t think itā€™s made any difference in the area I hunt, our avg harvest is fairly close to prior years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Corners we are in..... everyone in their corners. Personally, I could care less about how you hunt and wonā€™t judge you on your preferred journey in how you choose to experience the outdoors. Why are we fussing about people that enjoy perusing mature deer versus someone who provides meat for their table? Simply..unacceptable. As hunters and as ā€œsupposedlyā€ mentors for our youth? I do not ask that you understand the way I choose to hunt or ask that you accept it to meet your criteria. Each of us... have our individual goals or an outdoor connection that is unique to our own beliefs.

Tired of folks condemning one way or the other.. as if their perspective is the only one that is pure as the wind driven snow. Embrace your path and donā€™t feel guilty nor self righteous in doing so. Surely....donā€™t seek approval of people on a public forum to dictate how you should experience the outdoors and what it should mean for you. Many different perspectives and approaches will be shared... but perhaps the most challenging task for a body will be to respect each of them.

Hmmmmm..... I could have sworn that this thread was started to do exactly what we are doing....discussing the 2 buck rule..... go back to your corner.... we all knew where this was going.....itā€™s not changing how any of us hunt. Just an expression of opinions......
 

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
Iā€™m a ā€œbrown itā€™s downā€ kinda guy, I mostly shoot does or whatever walks in front of me because Iā€™m just looking to get the meat so it hasnā€™t really affected me any. Theyā€™re looking to do a similar thing in WV now, lower the buck limits because they think that will mean we have bigger deer. Interested to see how all of these things play out in the long run.
 

buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
The biggest thing that I see missing in this 2 buck vs 4 buck things is a discussion on habitat ( food , by that I mean soil quality) and genetics , hunting pressure .....

donā€™t those factors come into play much more than harvest regulations.

Iā€™m notexpert , but Iā€™ve stayed at a couple of Holiday Inn express.
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Wasn't last year the first season of 2 bucks in the east? I don't really think anyone thought trophy bucks would fall out of the sky in a year.....LOL...ā€¦.have this discussion each year and see how it is in three to four years......maybe interesting....maybe not
 

buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
Wasn't last year the first season of 2 bucks in the east? I don't really think anyone thought trophy bucks would fall out of the sky in a year.....LOL...ā€¦.have this discussion each year and see how it is in three to four years......maybe interesting....maybe not
Itā€™s that ā€œinstant gratificationā€ thing showing itā€™s ugly head again.

a move like that takes several years to show results pointing one way or another. Iā€™m sure youā€™ll agree.
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Wasn't last year the first season of 2 bucks in the east? I don't really think anyone thought trophy bucks would fall out of the sky in a year.....LOL...ā€¦.have this discussion each year and see how it is in three to four years......maybe interesting....maybe not

Think it was 2018.. Because I tagged out that year with two of the biggest Iā€™d seen at the farm.

And you are correct, itā€™ll be interesting to see what the difference, if any, will be in a couple years.

I would recommend everyone if you havenā€™t all ready, read the WRC wildlife Management plan. Has some interesting info. Think itā€™s been touched on before, but out of the 3 issues effecting the deer population: habitat loss, predation & harvest, only harvest can be controlled/managed. Basically shooting for a balanced herd across the state.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Wasn't last year the first season of 2 bucks in the east? I don't really think anyone thought trophy bucks would fall out of the sky in a year.....LOL...ā€¦.have this discussion each year and see how it is in three to four years......maybe interesting....maybe not

And when it doesn't, the usual suspects will be back whinging and clamoring for APRs. We never should have let that stupid TDM camel get its nose under the tent.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
Wasn't last year the first season of 2 bucks in the east? I don't really think anyone thought trophy bucks would fall out of the sky in a year.....LOL...ā€¦.have this discussion each year and see how it is in three to four years......maybe interesting....maybe not


You have to take in consideration a lot of people that go out and hunt deer are not hunters. They watch the shows on tv or internet then go out buy the highest priced equipment they can find and think a big deer is supposed walk out in front of them. I heard a statement made last year that the 2 buck rule was already working they could see a difference in the size of deer. But unless they were feeding deer steroids doubt any bigger deer they saw last year had anything do with the 2 buck limit. Iā€™m sure once season starts you will hear it this year about how much the 2 buck rule has helped. Especially by the ones pushing the rule. my opinion wait 4 or 5 years then make that determination. My guess a lot want see a huge difference
 

ABBD

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Hmmmmm..... I could have sworn that this thread was started to do exactly what we are doing....discussing the 2 buck rule..... go back to your corner.... we all knew where this was going.....itā€™s not changing how any of us hunt. Just an expression of opinions......

No corner here.... thought it was a discussion on the 2 buck rule.... you mentioned APRā€™s. Iā€™ll never support that as a regulation. You get X amount of tags. Use them how YOU wish.
 

Roanoke

Eight Pointer
Most accomplished hunters get to a point when they loose the dive to just kill. There are some sick people people out there that are blood thirsty and you will never change them. I have a Canadian client that went to Australia and killed 250 deer in one week. He has issues.

Management is much more fun than killing. Two buck rule is good for Eastern NC. Our coyote population is out of control and there continues to be an increase in hunting pressure. The woods will be full of hunters if they continue the 600 per week additional unemployment. Many people do not work during deer season anyway. What we really need is stricter laws for out of state hunters as well as poachers.. I would like to see a law where you can only kill one deer per day like turkey hunting.
 
Last edited:

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
No corner here.... thought it was a discussion on the 2 buck rule.... you mentioned APRā€™s. Iā€™ll never support that as a regulation. You get X amount of tags. Use them how YOU wish.
We have had a simple APR for 30 of our 40 some years......every member knows it and agrees with it....also we have been on a 2 buck rule for equally as long.....only thing I am interested to see is how the bucks change around our club with the 2 buck rule......no big expectations......just watching

by around I mean surrounding properties that we donā€™t control
 

dobber

Old Mossy Horns
.I love big 6ptrs!
not to highjack the thread but i have scored a couple of 3x3's that went 135" mass all over the place and near perfect simatry

Be thankful you dont live in a place that only allows 1 deer, i buy my tag and get to shoot 1 deer (unless party hunting) so i wait for a shooter mature buck or the last day i take a lone doe.
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
I only hunt Central, and we've had the 2 buck limit for years. I pretty much shoot no more than two deer per year, as that's all we care to eat. Most years and for long stretches, I didn't shoot a buck. For a long time, I had seen only young bucks -- and they would disappear in pretty short order. We also had a horrible poaching problem for years -- which was finally stopped. THANK YOU, to our local Game Warden!! Even after the poaching ring was busted, every once in a while I would hear the shot 10-20 minutes after legal shooting ... didn't know for sure what it was, didn't accuse anybody of anything. I had somebody fairly nearby ... would hear shots both during the day AND during non-legal deer hours. Coyote? Raccoon? Didn't know ... but I kept our GW in the loop. It had gotten so bad and I so discouraged that my wife had to LITERALLY push me out of the bed in the morning to go deer hunting more than a few times.

Well ... a few years ago, the shooting stopped. I mean, cold turkey. And guess what? I started seeing 2.5 year old bucks and more 1.5 year old bucks. The next year ... more of both and the occasional 3.5 year old. Now I'm seeing chasing (never did before) and having a ball out in the woods. I've killed two pretty nice (for me, at least) bucks in the last 3-4 years. I've STILL never killed more than 1 buck in any season.

Bottom line ... FOR ME and WHERE I HUNT. I don't know WHAT, if any, the 4 -->2 buck limit did ... and probably never would have with the poaching going on. All I know is that the poaching was RUINING it around here. I would think, if you've got a high hunter density where you hunt and hunters that aren't picky about the deer they kill, it can be pretty difficult to kill an older buck as well.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded post. But this was MY reality.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
I looked at it as a way of possibly deterring the ones that shoot a buck just for being a buck. So many folks can look at a field full of does and decide that the one cow horn or 4 point is the one that gets the bullet. Itā€™s all legal. I canā€™t say anything against that.....it just seems odd to me.
I
Yep. Sitting in a box stand over a pile of corn is shootin', not huntin'. :fishing:


lololol. lemme pop my popcorn real quick.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
The biggest thing that I see missing in this 2 buck vs 4 buck things is a discussion on habitat ( food , by that I mean soil quality) and genetics , hunting pressure .....

donā€™t those factors come into play much more than harvest regulations.

Iā€™m notexpert , but Iā€™ve stayed at a couple of Holiday Inn express.
Yes and no. Even in Iowa a 1.5 year old deer isn't particularly impressive.

If you can only shoot two you're a lot less likely to shoot a spike or a fork with that second tag until the very end of the season, lest the booner walk out.
 

Moose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Seen fella get ticket for that in turkey season was officer at gate when walking out checking license guy before me had deer spot punched no number got him a ticket for it
That's why I spend the 2 dollars to get My big game report card replaced after the deer season goes out... ;)
 
Top