2 Buck Rule Discussion

Moose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
You should listen to the 'only meat' hunters grumbling that they have less any deer tags. They act like it's the hardest thing in the world to shoot does.
Meathunters only want to shoot bucks because that is where the surplus is in production. Only need a few bucks But the more does you got the greater the production. Who gives a rats azz what kind of bones are on a critters head? ;)
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
Hell we got a 3 buck limit, and limited doe days where I hunt in VA. Buck pops his head out and it’s whac-a-mole time...ain’t no shame in my game...they all eat the same if you know how to cook;)

Stacking ‘em up like cordwood is more fun than watching em(y)
 
Last edited:

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I think you are wrong. Most of us sit on that tag for that reason. If the buck of a lifetime walks out, to be sure he would be worthy of taxi work. Taxi work is hard to find without that tag number.

Also I know of several on here, myself included that have watched a big buck stroll by since we’d already used our tags. My instance I still had a buck tag (4 tag time) but my club had a 3buck per membership by-law and even though it would have been legal I let a nice 140+ walk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Hevi 13. Anson

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I enjoy watching bucks grow and we spend alot of time and money trying to produce a trophy NC deer. With this said if I wasn't lucky enough to have leases with decent genetics this would be impossible.
 

Dan Apple

Old Mossy Horns
I didnt read all the replies so forgive me if some of these points have been beaten to death....

Personally, the 2 buck limit IMO took deer hunting from me as a way of life for 4 months... and changed it to a casual activity that I engage in for about a month most years

before the change, I hunted from opening day of bow season til Jan 1 every chance I had.... with 4 tags it was worth the chance at a "bigun" in bow season by happenstance and still have plenty left for the rut....

For a few years after that I started filling my doe tags with the bow and "saved" my buck tags for the rut when the bucks I wanted to shoot were killable since I could only shoot 2..... and then we started noticing a decline in deer numbers where I was hunting so I quit shooting does.... and consequently bow hunting --because the bucks I want to shoot are usually not killable until the rut, and does are off the table. (see what I did there?)

I can say though that with the central season having 2 buck tags for quite a while now, that I notice the same people that always killed good deer are still the ones that do, and the ones that never did still dont. Some of that is attributable to the land they hunt, and most of it is attributable to how they hunt it.

Last year I think I had 9 "sits".... I'm not complaining, but I do miss having those extra tags to give me more days....
 

perfectroadglide

Ten Pointer
I usually have one good buck on the farm that I hunt. This year I have two so those are the only bucks I'll shoot. I have an over abundence of does. If it gets late in the season I try to take the does.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
The two buck rule should help in reducing the deer herd down the road since it will increase the hunting pressure on does. Since our local deer herd is not what it once was we tend to shoot spikes and yearling does and let the older bucks and does walk. For example one day I had a small 8 point, a big doe, and a spike walk out into the field. I shot the spike.
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
trying to get me riled??

pet peeve of mine,,,wasting game meat,,,whether deer, SQUIRREL, or anything else,,,,

yes, some things ain't fit to eat,,,but non-invasive species that are edible should not get wasted

I am with you on this. I got out of a club and one of the major contributing factors was the way the cleaned their deer. They only took the back straps and maybe the hams. Rest was left for coyotes. Even if they do not want it there are people in that community that would love that meat.
 

Ol Copper

Twelve Pointer
Cant wait to go out and burn all 6 of my tags on doe deer.

With the covid affecting toilet paper, meat and coins I need to stock up in case Trump gets elected again.

Anybody got any loose tp or change laying around you dont need ? 😁
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I agree. And the population was just fine, thriving actually, before the 2 buck limit and
the herd was also healthy.

So why the change? Older deer<—>trophy deer.

Age structure, as it relates to herd health, is irrelevant as long as there are sufficient numbers of sexually mature animals. And deer ain’t gotta be 5.5 to git-r-done(y)
Even the biologist said our herd was in good condition.
 
Last edited:

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I have seen no change. I hope it has not changed, as I am actually getting no pics of bucks on one property I usually have plenty and have taken some of my best bucks off of.
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
It will take a few years to have any noticeable age structure change. Shoot what you want. Simply not filling those other 2 buck tags will help.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
I have always been selective and shot what I wanted. I just never over harvested. I am and was an opponent of the two buck rule. There was no reason for it in the east. We had the best age structure and still do. Not my data the NCWRC's data.

Ive found having OMG BIG BUXSSSSS on my HITLISSSSST....is more dependent on the people doing the hunting than the rules they are forced to follow by the TDM crowd. Kinda like people who are good with money somehow always seem to have a job and enough money, while those who aren't good with it are in line down at the EBT office, or getting repo'd or foreclosed.
 

JBGrizzley

Eight Pointer
Got a spot that last year saw some bigger bucks and this year have quite a few bigger than average for the area bucks on camera. So in my opinion its hard to tell if the 2 buck rule is working or they are finally recovering from the EHD wave we had bust thru here 5 years or so back. That stuff really tore us up.

But in all honesty the rule (and tags in general) are only as good as the sportsmen. Some people wont waste a tag on a small deer. Some people wont even tag em all together
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Peggs deer was a 198 inch 3 year old. The pics from him as a 2 year old showed a 140 inch deer if that, deer jumped over 50 inches in 1 year. I also had deer on camera 200 inch, deer genetics trump nutrition and age, a freak deer is a freak deer. Just get the right deer to 3 and you can have something.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
I enjoy cooking game more than I do killing it. Overall I find deer hunting extremely boring. I'm happiest when I have 3 or 4 deer in the freezer by Thanksgiving. A friend gave me two last year and that was really nice. That freed up more time for me to target shoot and hunt doves and ducks (the fun stuff!). I still think the two buck rule is silly. It's really a one buck rule because no deer hunter is going to burn both buck tags early in the season.. Who wants to sit in the woods half-way through the season with a pocket full of doe tags? If nothing else, it will entice hunters to not tag or simply leave a small buck laying in the woods if they think they have to tag it to get it out. The last few years after the season our dogs have found several heads/skulls while on our daily walks. All have been yearling bucks (2-3 pointers). A bit strange in my opinion.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
as a fellow who grew up with ONE deer tag for the season,,,,,I don't sweat it,,,as a kid, if you shot a buck with the bow you were done for the year,,,only had a 9 day firearm season,,,etc

moved to NC and was like WOW - 6 deer!,,,,well they are needed,,,dang Bergman's Law,,,,slight fellows down here,,,

was it "needed" - doubt it - but in these things I defer to the biologists,,,
do I care - nope - I don't really eat more than 2 or three deer a year anyhow what with birds, small game, hogs, fish, etc,,,,

but then I'm a "if its a deer I want I take it" type fellow,,,yes if there are two deer there, the bigger dies,,,watch a lot of deer, but once they get to a certain age (body weight basically to me) they are grill trophies,,,

I don't enjoy sitting a dang deer stand enough to wait all season for "Mr Big",,,,I don't have "hitlists",,,I don't name deer,,,,I shoot what makes me happy,,,

now if I lived closer to somewhere that I could once again still hunt deer like my youth,,,then I'd enjoy it more,,,but I tried that here around Bragg when I first moved here,,,,dang tree monkeys didn't like it,,,
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
I do enjoy a good stalk after a rain when the leaves are wet and you can ease through the woods. But you never know when a "tree monkey" is staring down at you .:LOL:
 
Top