Oct 7, 2017 4 min read

One is never too old to learn. I am a perfect example of the truth in that statement. I have spent an abundance of time in the woods watching deer in their natural environment, yet little do I really know. Those were the years when Eileen and I would tramp to a local farm and often just sit and watch.

It was in the fall and the air was crisp, all the leaves were showing their spectacular array of crimson, orange, brown and yellow. Occasionally, we would be startled by the T-wonk of a flock of passing geese flying over in a beautiful bright blue fall sky. As I watched their flight, I remember thinking of that old joke: Why is one leg of that V formation longer than the other? Because it holds more geese. Back then, we assumed most flights were headed south for the winter. The reality is they stay here all winter and create a nuisance.

Sitting along the edge of the woods, we could see the pair of fox squirrels as they made their way back and forth from den tree to corn field. The corn field made an eerie sight when the sun dropped over the top of the woods. It had been picked, leaving a stubble with a few ghostly stalks still standing. The evening birds dart back and forth grabbing a last meal before roosting and the sky was giving up a meal to a dozen swooping nighthawks. Today, I ask myself when I last witnessed this evening sky show? It has been some time since I last saw a nighthawk, and longer still since I heard the plaintiff call of the Whippoorwill. Of course, we also frequently heard the hoo-hoo of a stationary owl watching every move we made.

The sun was getting low on the western horizon when Eileen suggested we head for home. It is fall and time to hunt.

Many sportspersons do not understand the true reason for antler restrictions in Pennsylvania. Or, at least what I believe is the only logical reason for the move to place those bucks with few points on the restricted list. To put things in perspective, the reader must understand the mentality of the average Pennsylvania hunter. The question is never did you get your doe or even did you get your deer, but did you get your buck? There is a stigma about bagging that big buck. Sorry girls, but guys seem to think it is manly.

Bagging a doe is treated as less. At least that seems to be the mentality of many hunters. The potential of better antlers is but a side bar to the real issue. Since the thinking was that the average sportsperson would better accept the antler improvement suggestion better than the truth, then antler restrictions were imposed.

Little did the commission seem to care about the senior hunter who had supported the game commission for 40 to 50 years. This segment of the hunting population hardly has the vision that they had before yet they are forced to count points. I personally know of a few who quit hunting for that reason alone.

Before you judge the elderly hunter and say, well, if he can’t see he then shouldn’t hunt, stop and think about what you are saying. A lot of the guys shoot regularly and are able to see fine. It is only counting those moving antlers against a backdrop of trees and brush that becomes difficult for most elderly hunters. Of course, the game commission does not worry about these hunters anymore as they have purchased a lifetime license by this time, in most cases. Those who have not can purchase them at a reduced rate, not much money to be made here.

It is my opinion that the reason for antler restrictions is based on this buck mentality held by most hunters. Before restrictions, we were harvesting more than 85 percent of our old-enough-to-breed bucks. Thus, we left a few good, strong and smart bucks to breed. The number of bucks now is made of those smaller bucks no longer permitted to be harvested. We are allowing these smaller bucks to be the ones to breed because we assume they will grow into big bucks and be harvested. So we are stepping in and creating our own natural selection.

Understand that if we take too many bucks we could leave our herd short of breeding stock or, if struck with the perfect hunting conditions, the buck herd could be overharvested. I am sure if there was some other logical way to save bucks it would be implemented, regardless of how much money the game commission makes.

George Block writes an outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.