An idea for the 13" rule...

[Hockley]

First off I'm a fan of the 13" rule being a hunter in one of the original counties. We have seen our deer population and quality explode in recent years. Yes, there are down sides to it, but overall it's a good thing. My biggest problem is that the best of the young bucks are the ones that are getting killed once they get over 13", but hey nothing is perfect. My other problem is I am still on the fence about shooting spikes and I feel that TPWD is trying to get people to shoot them. If a man needs the meat I'd rather he shoot a spike than a 15" 10pt that is three years old, but again nothing is perfect. I just hate people like one of my neighbors that shoot every spike they see thinking they are doing good. I am totally against this and will not shoot a spike on my place for that reason.

We have an open range place not close to any high fences that I know of. We saw a young 3pt this year that has a tag in his ear. This got me thinking. It would be really cool if TPWD would capture and tag spikes, take their age, and then if someone kills them have them be able to check them in somewhere or call a biologist out. This would be a lot like the banding of ducks and geese. That way we could get some hard evidence of what the spikes overall growth potential is and what percentage of spikes are killed each year.

I think it would be awesome if this could happen. I am letting all of my neighbors know about the one I saw with a tag in it's ear so hopefully they will not shoot him.

[Smart]

To tag spikes they would have to be "netting and capturing" just before or during your hunting season more than likely........they would be soft horned until august and then while we bowhunters are trying to settle our place down for Sept, they would have to be in there trapping and raising all kinds of heck..

[Hockley]

To tag spikes they would have to be "netting and capturing" just before or during your hunting season more than likely........

Why not September?

[Smart]

Why not September?

When we as hunters want our place settled down?.....

[Hockley]

They can come to my place anytime they want.

[swoledouglas]

I am like you and have heard convincing arguements on both sides of the spike debate. We are not shooting spikes on our lease because of Dr. Kroll's seminar that the we went to that made an impresion. I am not saying that he is right and others are wrong. He just made sense to me on that issue and that is the guideline we are choosing to follow.

I think that would be a great way to end the arguement (tagging spikes). I would love to see that happen. I am also a fan of the 13" rule. I have seen a record amount of bucks on our small lease and we are seeing bigger deer since the 13" rule has come into effect. It is not an exact science but I belive it is better than the alternative of just shooting anything with horns.

[quarterback]

Not a bad idea, there Hockley. But what would be wrong with tagging them after the season is over?

[gmitchell12]

disagree to tagging...deer management is growing more popular every year as more information becomes available to the average hunter. Let the lease handle it's own herd.

How much more are you willing to pay for a license to have more govt. employees?

[Hockley]

Not a bad idea, there Hockley. But what would be wrong with tagging them after the season is over?

Becuase then you could not gather data as to what percentage of spikes are killed as a yearling.

[Hockley]

How much more are you willing to pay for a license to have more govt. employees?

I'd be happy to pay extra (even double). I think people are crazy for griping about the cost of a license when that money directly benefits our wildlife. Plus most people spend more money in gas going to their lease one time than their license cost...

[Smart]

They can come to my place anytime they want.

I guess I am in the minority but I wouldn't want, after feeding and watching deer on my place all year, a helicopter or a drive unit running deer into nets causing the mature deer I am after possible injury just before season....all in the name of tagging a few spikes to see if they are 1 or 2 years old...

If you tag them after the season maybe... but then they lose their "spikes" in March and could become deer that are not shootable in AR, or even worse, they die of natural causes before they eventually become wide enough to shoot.. I'm thinking the large sum of money it would take to find and tag a few spikes and then the chance of harvesting said spike would not give them much of a true sampling...but I am no biologist.....

That being said, I do wish they would take spikes off the shoot list because I believe, like many here, they are mostly young deer.

[kevlarjohnson]

The study HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE - It is the justification for the spike rule... young spike under 3" - 50% will always be a spike - it's a predisposition to genetics.

Deer over 18 months old with one unbranched antler - 98% will always be "UNBRANCHED"

The studys have been done... I'll try to find TPWD's actual results and post them soon.

They wouldn't have passed the ruling without a study of some sort.

[swoledouglas]

disagree to tagging...deer management is growing more popular every year as more information becomes available to the average hunter. Let the lease handle it's own herd.

How much more are you willing to pay for a license to have more govt. employees?

I would be willing to pay more just to see. I do however agree that the average hunter is being pushed out of the game due to rising costs and less available land. I don't think it is because of game management.

[swoledouglas]

Not a bad idea, there Hockley. But what would be wrong with tagging them after the season is over?

I like that idea. Of course we are speaking hypotheticaly as I can't imagine this ever comming to fruition.

[Hockley]

Points well taken Smart. I can see that line of thinking and totally understand (and partially agree). I wish there was a less invasive way to capture deer.