9manfan wrote:What are your thoughts on the 4pt a side restriction ? Do you think it has helped raise bigger deer ? It makes no difference to me I guess, I always feel bad for the old timer who just wants a little deer meat....
The 4pt law is (from a biological standpoint) poor deer management. It's still putting pressure, infact encouraging pressure, on your very best genetics before maturity. The best bucks in the herd are going to be 4pts on one side at 1.5 yrs old so we still shoot those but the spikes get a pass. It was a compromise between trophy advocates and the DNR. Has it helped grow bigger deer? Yes... it's better than nothing but it's still not great.
The very best scenario for growing a better more well balanced herd would be to move the gun season post rut, or if we're absolutely committed to gun hunting during early Nov, make antlered deer tags a draw (like ND does) and limit the pressure. That however would spark outrage with uneducated advocacy groups like the MWA.... I mean MDHA, the MWA of the deer woods.
No other state with a resource that has the potential that MN does would put unlimited pressure on their prized game animal during the rut with the most effective weapon. It's unheard of... but we do
