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Kentucky going to a 8 pt min buck rule

First I have heard of any such thing .

If so it makes more sense than the 15" outside spread rule.

That is a terrible idea! It's called selective breeding...for deer with fewer points.

Interesting way to push folks to your site.

There are a lot of folks in the department that cant count to 8 so it would be hard to enforce.

Both an 8 point rule and 15" spread rules help improve trophy potential through allowing more bucks reach the age of maturity. If someone passes a buck because they can't tell it has 8 points or is 15" wide, that they would've otherwise shot, then that buck's chance of reaching maturity doubles or triples.

Personally, I prefer the 15" rule because it is a better indicator of age than the 8 point rule. Better yet, body aging on the hoof and don't shoot any bucks younger than 3 or 4 years old. That's what I try to do, but it has taken years of observing live deer and aging dead deer to develop that judgement ability.

Any antler restriction rule is better than none though.

The one buck rule did all that is needed to move KY to the top of its potential.

I've worked (retired now) for 4 different FW agencies; KY, IN, KS, and MO. Know about 45 of the others very well. KY agency folks are among the best there are in the country. Many of them are still avid hunters, they care about their work, and they try hard to keep the politicians' hands out of the till and thumb off the scale.

First time I've come to this forum in at least 10 years .... should have stayed away another 10.

All that would do is increase the number of unreported kills and that results in flawed data. It is also detrimental over along period of time in an unenforceable environment such as a state-wide law.

In my opinion antler width is no indication of age. On one of my farms I observed a buck for 5+ years. Have his sheds and everything, never surpassed 13" wide. The last sheds of his I found grossed 188". Are you saying he is not mature because he is narrow? That's far from the truth. The mass on this deer was unreal. With a 15" rule I could not have legally harvested this animal. Is that really what we want in KY? I don't think so.

Antler size/genetics have nothing to do with age. I have several thousand acres leased in multiple counties in Western KY. I have 2 year old 8 pointers at 100+ inches, but I also have 2 year old fork horns.

Moral of my story is 15" minimum is a bad idea. A point restriction, on the other hand, is something I would support.

That would be a huge mistake!! I pray they do not do that. My area is over run with huge numbers of poor genetic bucks that need to be removed from the herd. Several 5 year old 4,6,&7 points running around. They would be putting a bounty on the good gentic 8 point yearlings and protecting large no brow tine and freak 6 points. They would destroy are big buck and leave us with nothing but cull bucks everywhere.

I agree. I also think they should put modern firearm season after the rut. More of the smaller cull bucks would be taken because of the 1 buck per season rule.

I believe firearm season should be moved up, shortened, and allow a second buck. This would allow more bucks to be harvested. Too many bucks in our zone, zone 1. They allow unlimited does, but I see more substandard bucks than I do does. People will argue but fact is they are same age, same farm, same food source... the only difference in the large 10pnts and and the 4-7 point bucks is genetics. No one is willing to shoot the 6points over a 10point. So what we see is the poor genetics continue to get passed on and good g metics get harvested. If rifle season had a separate buck tag, people would be willing to harvest lesser bucks.

Buck I agree with you 100%. I hunt spencer county and passed up 8 small bucks not to use my tag. I finally killed a small 8 because he was wounded and walking on the legs. Hunted Taylorsville WMA and saw nothing but small 1 1/2 yr old bucks and no does.

8pt rule would cause genetically superior younger deer to be harvested while protecting those that aren't. One buck rule Ford all that we need.

I agree, One buck rule makes you think twice before you use your tag. Lots of small bucks get a pass.

One buck rule is all we need. 8 point rule kills young bucks with most genetic potential.

Damn it! Even on a hunting forum there’s click bait!!!

Shame on you.

I saw a 4 point on one side rule put on the area that I hunt in Georgia and it has proven to be a game changer even with a two buck limit!

I could only imagine what would happen if they had the point restriction and a one buck rule…

I enthusiastically support KY's 1-buck rule, but do not support point or spread rules. I'm going to check to see if there is any validity to this. If so, it is hair-brained and I can only imagine from where it came from. Sometimes folks just can't be happy with success, they gotta keep tweaking and I'm not talking about the Dept.'s biologists.

Cut all the straight timber down and what do you have left?

I just did a bit of research on this idea. I don't know if it is a valid threat yet, but if KY strays from its 1-buck rule, hello mediocrity. Even a 2-buck rule destroys the older age class. Kill the first one (anything legal) then "trophy hunt". Lots of first ones killed and fewer and fewer 3.5 old + in the herd. If outfitters are pushing for this they should be run as far out of the state as possible. I will let my voice be heard on this one and I've stayed out of the fray since 2007.

I just did a bit of research on this idea. I don't know if it is a valid threat yet, but if KY strays from its 1-buck rule, hello mediocrity. Even a 2-buck rule destroys the older age class. Kill the first one (anything legal) then "trophy hunt". Lots of first ones killed and fewer and fewer 3.5 old + in the herd. If outfitters are pushing for this they should be run as far out of the state as possible. I will let my voice be heard on this one and I've stayed out of the fray since 2007.

This rumor is not fact. I confirmed this earlier today.

The only issue in KY regarding population management is the fact that Zone 1 counties are considered over populated and liberal seasons to date have not been able to reduce numbers. Anything that liberalizes buck take would only ruin the herd age structure and do nothing for reduction in total deer numbers.

Its the age-old problem, too many hunters can't kill any deer and those who can, kill all they want and will kill no more.

Personally, I like deer numbers in my Zone 1 county, but then I don't have any tulips, gardens, or row crop fields to fuss over.

Check out this article regarding point restriction in Mule Deer states. I grew up in Southwestern Colorado and still live there. I now enjoy coming to Kentucky to hunt whitetails. My wife and I have mostly given ups on hunting Mule Deer in Colorado as the deer numbers are horrible. Colorado needs to follow Utahs plan and double down on predators, but but I digress....... The article in this link brings to light some of the falacies of the point restrictions. I think it all initially sounds good, but in reality those orchestrating the point restrictions are not accounting for human behavior factors. If this link doesn't work, you can just do a quick search about "do point restrictions work?"

https://bigdeerblog.com/2018/05/mule-deer-why-antler-point-restrictions-dont-work/#:~:text=Not%20necessarily%2C%20say%20experts%20with,myriad%20of%20challenges%20and%20problems.

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