[Blazer]

There will be quite a few thousand acres set aside this year in West Virginia for antler restriction. 14" minimum outside spread and doe harvesting will be cut back in a lot of counties. I live close enough to hunt one of the Wildlife Management Areas and these rules go for bow, rifle and smoke pole.

Glad to see it happen.....

 

[Dredly]

There will be quite a few thousand acres set aside this year in West Virginia for antler restriction. 14" minimum outside spread and doe harvesting will be cut back in a lot of counties. I live close enough to hunt one of the Wildlife Management Areas and these rules go for bow, rifle and smoke pole.

Glad to see it happen.....

how are they expecting people to measure the outside spread on a deer before they shoot it? Your going to have a LOT of abandoned deer. Also how will people know if they are in a dpecial area or not.

For this to even be considered they need to make it all or nothing.

And doesn't West Virginia have unlimited tags? How are they going to cut down on it?

 

[LEP]

Wv

I would for one love to see restrictions state wide.. It will be too hard to enforce this on WMAs and all.. Like was said end up with folks leaving deer lying around because it wasnt as big as they thought..If its statewide at least they more than likely would use the deer.. I think its catching on slowly in WV to start letting them grow . In some areas that is I know some still blast everything. All anyone has to do is look south.. I had the priveledge to hunt one of the bow only countys last season. Wow is all I can say. I seen more deer and 2 of the largest bucks I have ever seen.. And Sunday hunting is sweet.. At the risk of gettting baned from the state I wish it was archery only state wide.. LOL with at least 4 points on one side to be legal

 

[macweas]

Cut back

If they would just cut back on the # of bucks you can take ,people would be more willing to let the little fellows walk.West Virgina Dnr needs to look at OHIO"s set up.

 

[bowslinger]

virginia did the same thing in shenandoah county this year might sound like a dumb thing to ask but can how many does can one hunter shoot now

 

[hunterj]

wvba for life

they have cut back on the buck kill this year you can only kill three now and does have been cut to three also in some areas but we do need to cut it to only 1 or 2 buck so some off the little fellows can grow as for the antler restiction there is some public areas that have had it for a couple years and it has worked great the have taken some big bucks and ia for one would like to see wv bow only but will never happen good luck in a couple weeks be safe

 

[macweas]

Its all about the money

Its all about the money.Like HUNTERJ said they did reduce the number of bucks and does you can kill.They have to make up for it some where and they did .Its in the permits and extra stamps.Price really went up.

 

[GVDocHoliday]

Typically...ear tip to ear tip is about 14". So that's the benchmark I would use. Even though they'd be better using a minimum point restriction instead of spread.

 

[BK Artworks]

Where can I find this info at?

 

[macweas]

Info

Where can I find this info at?

BK, you should be able to find it at wvdnr.gov hope this helps.Keith

 

[Blazer]

Where can I find this info at?

go to your local Wal-marts and pick up a free copy of the hunting regs. They always come out in July or go to
www.wvdnr.gov

 

[Blazer]

Typically...ear tip to ear tip is about 14". So that's the benchmark I would use. Even though they'd be better using a minimum point restriction instead of spread.

exactly, that is what the quideline will be to help hunters with the spread measurement.

 

[Blazer]

how are they expecting people to measure the outside spread on a deer before they shoot it? Your going to have a LOT of abandoned deer. Also how will people know if they are in a dpecial area or not.

For this to even be considered they need to make it all or nothing.

And doesn't West Virginia have unlimited tags? How are they going to cut down on it?

ear to ear is considered 14 inches on a whitetail deer.
There are a few counties that are considered unlimited counties for taking does, but there are not as many as there used to be. The last 4 or 5 years the state has gotten very liberal with doe kills and the herd is in the range they want it at.

 

[docteur]

Antler spread is probably the best way to achieve what AR proponents are trying to achieve, however, I have had very few deer come down the trail, stop and pose looking straight at me so that I can judge where the antlers are relative to their ears. In fact, if I have set up correctly, that should never happen.

The good news is that on public lands that are traditionally over-pressured, this would certainly boost the buck population because in most cases, hunters would have to let legal bucks pass because of the inability to verify that the spread was outside the ears.

Doc

 

[TravisinWV]

Antler spread is probably the best way to achieve what AR proponents are trying to achieve, however, I have had very few deer come down the trail, stop and pose looking straight at me so that I can judge where the antlers are relative to their ears. In fact, if I have set up correctly, that should never happen.

The good news is that on public lands that are traditionally over-pressured, this would certainly boost the buck population because in most cases, hunters would have to let legal bucks pass because of the inability to verify that the spread was outside the ears.

Doc

Doc said it. that's how they'll be passed on so they can grow. If you can't identify the spread then it walks. There should be zero abandoned bucks! ZERO! If you shoot a buck that isn't legal you did something wrong and stupid! i'd love to see, like you other guys, the DNR drop it to 2 bucks instead of 3 also. I'm glad to see this start to happen statewide in the WMA's, now we need it statewide on private as well.

 

[HUNTERWV]

We have been doing are own AR on our farm in Dodd. Co. for the past 5 years now. The results have been very encouraging.

 

[old Graybeard]

I would think that having spread figured in would be a hard one to accomplish other then not being able to judge a deer and therefore having to pass on it. We have some areas here in Michigan that have AR'S based on the number of tines (4 on a side) to be legal and in the areas that it is being inforced there have been positive results.

 

[swoosh]

I would think that having spread figured in would be a hard one to accomplish other then not being able to judge a deer and therefore having to pass on it. We have some areas here in Michigan that have AR'S based on the number of tines (4 on a side) to be legal and in the areas that it is being inforced there have been positive results.

AR do one more thing I like, it makes the hunter really look at the deer. To many times in the past the "It's brown it's down" theory is involked. I think it makes the woods a little safer during gun season. If you have to look at what is on the head first, you are less likely to shoot a non-deer target. Even when you are doe hunting, you still have to look at the head!!.

 

[rdneckhntr]

Where did you find this info at? I looked on the DNR's website and can't find it.

Is it only for public land or all across WV???

 

[Pappy]

WV Regs

Go to www.wvdnr.gov and check out Hunting then Licensing and Regs. Its all there.