# Thoughts on Virginia needing size restriction on bucks



## Dropnbigbucks (Dec 13, 2007)

I live in Southside Virginia and most hunters shoot any buck that passes by them regardless of size. I think we would all benefit if there was a restriction such as only one small buck per year could be harvested.


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## aceoky (Mar 17, 2006)

"Might" work,...... most places I've seen that tried, too many bucks are killed and left there due to "ground shrinkage" and the fines they'd face.....easier for them to neglect the animal and keep right on buck hunting......

IMO without some remedy for that, it doesn't do what it's intended to do and in fact makes matters much worse all too often...


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## ODPS (Jan 22, 2003)

*one buck per hunter per season*

One buck per hunter per season....

For example: Illinois, Ohio.... _it works....._


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## x-shocker (Jan 25, 2007)

Dropnbigbucks said:


> I live in Southside Virginia and most hunters shoot any buck that passes by them regardless of size. I think we would all benefit if there was a restriction such as only one small buck per year could be harvested.


Antler points restriction had been tried and removed from some states. It did not work as intended.

This season, my brother-in-law shot the biggest buck I've ever seen. It was so huge, four of us hunters could not load it onto the ATV. Had we been hunting in the State Park which has a 4 points minimum on one antler, he would have never been able to shoot that deer. It was a huge 3x3.


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## Moon (Jul 16, 2006)

*Shooting anything that looks like a buck*

goes hand in hand with deer chasing areas. I passed up a nice fat little 6 pointer with my crossbow the last week of muzzle loader season. His rack was about 14 inches across. 2 weeks later I was sitting in the same stand with dogs coming my way. Out pops the 6 pointer with dogs right behind him and one of his front legs had been nearly blown off by buckshot. What a sad sight! Deer management in the area I hunt is a joke.


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## deepzak (Sep 24, 2007)

Moonkryket said:


> goes hand in hand with deer chasing areas. I passed up a nice fat little 6 pointer with my crossbow the last week of muzzle loader season. His rack was about 14 inches across. 2 weeks later I was sitting in the same stand with dogs coming my way. Out pops the 6 pointer with dogs right behind him and one of his front legs had been nearly blown off by buckshot. What a sad sight! Deer management in the area I hunt is a joke.


Moon, I don't believe this happened. I think you must either be deliusional or making it up. Hokieman has clearly stated that this type of thing doesn't happen in front of dogs, and we all know he isn't ever wrong.

Back to reality.......Sorry to hear this type of thing happened. I know bad shots are a reality in hunting, but this is rediculous. I wish you would have been able to end it's suffering.


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## BigBirdVA (Nov 5, 2002)

Brown is down is the mentality for a lot of clubs. Last club had a 14" rule. I was still hunting when the dogs ran 3 small bucks near me and across the swamp. Boom, Boom, Boom, a few seconds later a few more. So much for QDM. We were letting them go so the other side could shoot spikes and 4-6 pointers. 


Also hard to glass a deer running all out with dogs on it's butt. If all you get is a quick side view you can't always tell what it is. I think we have other issues that will help this one if we can get those fixed first.


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## deepzak (Sep 24, 2007)

As much as I think this could benifit Virginia to some degree, I think that there are certain groups of people in this state that shoot deer on the fly. They would not collect those deer that do not meet state mandated guidelines and pay the fine, those deer would go to waste and no one will probably know. Even if someone did witness this atrocity, it would get thrown out of court (if the GW even bothered to come out and investigate) because that group of people would just deny and back eachothers stories. The blame always lies somewhere else.


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## tabarch (Sep 20, 2006)

deepzak said:


> As much as I think this could benifit Virginia to some degree, I think that there are certain groups of people in this state that shoot deer on the fly. They would not collect those deer that do not meet state mandated guidelines and pay the fine, those deer would go to waste and no one will probably know. Even if someone did witness this atrocity, it would get thrown out of court (if the GW even bothered to come out and investigate) because that group of people would just deny and back eachothers stories. The blame always lies somewhere else.


I have to agree with you that certain people will shoot anything, but suprisingly as it may seem MOST people will abide by the law, you need to find a group of people that are interestd in Quality Deer Managment [ I spelled it out so that others will know what QDM stands for]. In our county [Shenandoah] we had a grass roots effort that started 12 years ago to promote QDM in the county and the results are spectacular to say the least. We have not gotten exactly what we want yet, but we are getting closer every year and the proof is at the check stations every fall, the body size of the deer that are checked in has increased dramaticlly and the rack size and mass has increased also. The Shenandoah county QDM Association is responsible for the first QDM restriction in Va game laws even though it does not go far enough it is a start and any improvment in the QUALITY of VA'S herd is a +. You have to start at the bottom to get to the top of any worth while endevor. So my sugestion to you is get in touch with the Quality Deer Management Association and get a local chapter started, you will not be disappointed. There will ALWAYS be outlaws who have NO regard for the law and for what is right, but those who do care will eventually override those who do not, if you want things to improve for the better you have to start small and work your way up. Those who don't think it will improve will suddenly notice that certain areas are producing quality deer that they have not been seen before and will want to know why and at that point the philosiphy of QDM will succeed.


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## deepzak (Sep 24, 2007)

tabarch, glad to hear that QDM is working for you up there. I really would like something worthwhile like that around here. I hunt the local Navy base's and they tried something like "QDM", but the way they set it up, only the best bucks were killed, leaving the inferior ones to do all the breeding. They left no way to cull the herd of inferior deer, so once they were there we couldn't get rid of them unless we were willing to loose hunting rights for a year. I would like to find some local farmer who is willing to let a group of us run a Quality Deer Management program on their farm (if we can keep the dog chasers out) to see if in a few years we benefit from it.


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## tabarch (Sep 20, 2006)

deepzak said:


> tabarch, glad to hear that QDM is working for you up there. I really would like something worthwhile like that around here. I hunt the local Navy base's and they tried something like "QDM", but the way they set it up, only the best bucks were killed, leaving the inferior ones to do all the breeding. They left no way to cull the herd of inferior deer, so once they were there we couldn't get rid of them unless we were willing to loose hunting rights for a year. I would like to find some local farmer who is willing to let a group of us run a Quality Deer Management program on their farm (if we can keep the dog chasers out) to see if in a few years we benefit from it.


You would be surprised to find out what some of the 1 1/2 year old spikes and three pointers turn into, don't make the mistake of thinking that all spikes and three pointers are going to be inferior deer, most of them just need better habitat to grow into quality bucks. Habitat is alot of what QDM is about not just buck to doe ratios and QDM is not TROPHY managment it is quality managment to get the best deer herd possible from what you have to work with. About four years ago I had a three pointer here at my house he would come into my soybean field to feed every evening, I new it was him because he had been injured as a fawn and his right shoulder was bald. Last year he was harvested on a nieghbors property at 3 1/2 years old a ten point with a 19 inch spread. One of the QDM motos is You Have To Let Them Go So They Can Grow. And yes you need to have some way of allowing for the taking of inferior deer you can do this setting your resrtictions as needing to have two of three size determinations say 4 points on one side and/or 15 inch spread and/or 15 inch main beams, that way if you have buck that is only four pointer but is 3 or 4 years old you can still take him beacause he will meet 2 of the 3 criterias.


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## Moon (Jul 16, 2006)

*QDM was tried in a local deer chasing club*

2 years ago. At a recent meeting they voted to end it because the club was losing members saying they weren't having enough fun shooting deer by being so selective. Why am I not surprised? Chasing deer, surrounding a 3 acre tract with 10 shooters, standing on the edge of the highway with a 5 round 12 ga. automatic shotgun and shooting anything that looks like a deer obviously goes hand in hand. What a sad situation:embara: And this is called "hunting":dontknow:


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