Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

       In Maine its 3"

    
    
    "Antlered-deer: Deer with at least one antler three (3) inches long."
    
    
    

    Ya thats right, if they are less than 3" you have ta throw them back.
    :-)
    
    Rich 

    I believe that a Mass Deer has to be 3 inches or more to qualify
    it as legal to shot. I also believe Maine, and Vermont go by the
    same guidelines however, to be sure, check the hunting rules, you
    never know since NH has the habit of doing things totally different
    than her sister states.
    

    Re -1
      "I believe that a Mass Deer has to be 3 inches or more to qualify
    it as legal to shoot."
    
    Question, don't they still have spots when there that small?
                
    Jeff

    RE: -1 Jeff, you beat me to the punch... 8^)
    
    Seriously though, do you measure from the head (skull) or the antler
    spur (also called button) found on spikehorns and yearlings.
    
    Guy

    In Colorado the length need to be at least 5 inches Deer or Elk.

    re:4
    
    	That had to be one of the funniest typo's I've ever seen. All
    sorts of things came to mind like "bite size" deer and comments
    about how tough the drag would be and how you could wrap it up with
    the deer tag, etc., etc.. I hope you take this in the good nature
    it's intended. I feel one of the best gifts a person can give is
    to make someone laugh. I was in hysterics over this one.
    
    	RAYJ
    

    
      The best way to judge, while looking at/sighting in the deer you
    want to take is to determine if the antlers are shorter or longer
    than the ears. If shorter, you might want to pass on the shot. No
    telling how strict the F&G or Game Warden is on this one. If the
    spikes are longer than the ears it's a safe bet that it's a legal
    deer...
    
    
    Joe

    .....If you can't see horns at 100 yds don't shoot it....
    
    
                                            jeff
    
    
    
      ...... likes them large.

    	Here's a raw deal if I ever knew of one.
    
    	A friend of my fathers went deer hunting three years ago here
    in Mass. He had never shot a deer in the many years of hunting as
    a young man (hunting was terrible back then) so wanted to try it
    again. On his second day out he has a nice spike horn walk up. He
    could clearly see the horns. Being a law abiding hunter he looked
    the horns over till he was sure the deer was leagl.
    
    	He downed the deer, dressed it out, made the drag to the car,
    and the trip to the chek station. When he arrived the warden took
    the deer and ticked him for shooting an deer with horns under the
    Mass length limit.
    
    	The "horns" were both in excess of 10 inches long!! However they
    were oddly shaped. They both curled around in a loop with the tips
    pointing back to the base. Here's the kick in the a##. The warden
    meassured the horns from the base to the tip, not along the main
    tine but in a streight line.
    
    	The case went to court and my father's friend LOST!!!  $75 
    and loss of all his hunting rights for a year!!! 
    
    	Can't say if this measure method still holds any more but when
    I shoot I make damn sure the horns are sticking up well into the
    air!!
    
    	                          
    Steve 	a :*( for the friend.
    

    just read the abstracts last night... the law says:
    
    3 inches or greater from anterior base to tip in a straight line.
    while this rule makes sense when the spikes are really close to the
    3 inch minimum, anything like what was described in .11 should be
    taken into account.  
    
    Fra

    I can't remember where I read it, but I think they consider the
    anterior base the button.
    
    Does anyone know if that is true or not?
    
    I like the rule of thumb already mentioned...they must be above
    the ears.
    
    Guy

    N.H. Fish & Game says; The antler is measured from the base and
    up the curvature to the tip. This must be 3" long. It is not measured
    in a straight line from the base to the tip. Also, their response
    to this happening in Mass., "Thats why we're up here and their down
    there." Slight slam, I think.
    
    John

    What do they consider the base? Is it the skull of the animal?
    
    
    Guy

    I'll have to check the abstracts tonight to be positive, but i'm pretty
    sure its the skull. 
    
    Fra
    

    I happen to have the abstracts in my desk. The answer is:
    
    "Antlers will be measured on a strait line from the center of the
    anterior base of the antler burr to the antler tip."
    
    Rich

    Thanks 
    
    Guy
    

    ref. 209.15
    
    The skull is considered the base, again this is from N.H. F&G.
    
    
    John

    The orig. question was about New Hampshire rules. Are you guys reading
    from the Mass. abstracts????? From what your saying, and what N.H
    F&G says, dosn't match. If you are reading from the Mass. abstracts
    then the originator of this question is going to be so confused
    he'll be afraid to shoot a ten point buck.
    
    
    John

    Oops, What I quoted was from the Mass abstracts. I thought we were
    still in mass, but reading back it looks like the subject switched 
    back to NH. Sorry for any confusion, but if its that close, I don't know
    how your going to get the deer to sit still long enough to measure up 
    the antlers.:-) By the way, has anyone heard of a doe with antlers? A 
    friend clams a fork horn he shot was a doe. 

    Rich

    Yes I have herd of does with horns. I beleive there are about ten
    shot a year in the state of Pennsylavania. Some have nice racks
    also. I guess this has been going on for years because in Pennsyvania
    it is not called "buck season" but "antlered deer season"
    And "non antlered deer season" is what is commonly refered to
    as doe season.
    
    Interesting enough Pa. does not alow the shooting of non antlered
    deer in antlered deer season and it does not allow antlered deer
    shooting in non antlered deer season.
    ( or no does in buck season, and no bucks in doe season. The only
    exceptions being antlered does and non antlered bucks )
    
    Also in your law and rule book there is a plead from the Game
    Comission to report antlered does and purhaps send in some
    organs ( I beleive the something to do with the sex organs )
    for study buy their dept or some college. 
    
    So I hope you see it is not common but also not extreemly
    rare or unheard of. 
    
    Also they shoot several Ibino ( sp ) deer every year in Pa.
    They range from all white to those that look like a painted horse.
    
    Bear
    So you always have to identify the deer before shooting.
    
    

    Was this by any chance near a nuclear reactor or was the deer a
    known transexual. I'am not really sure, I know that female caribou
    can have horns. But if they have more than one, are they called
    hornies????:-)
    
    John

    That deer came from New Brunswick Canada. It had a very large rack for
    a fork horn. 
    
    Rich

    I would not have believed does could have antlers, but I *did* actually
    see one two years ago while hunting in Maine.  One of other hunters
    in the campground shot a legal doe (tagged and all that) that had
    a 4 inch spike.  This deer was on the camp meat pole, so this is
    not second hand or hearsay.
    
    Mark.

    
    3 years ago a friend shot a large doe (160# I think) in Maine that
    had 4 points.  The antlers (horns?) were very large in diameter
    and had kind of a permanent velvet on them.  Very strange indeed.
    He was told they are not shed every year like that of a buck, but
    are more like the definition of a horn not an antler.  He was a
    bit surprised when he flipped his buck over and it had no external
    sex organs...guess they come in all types.
    
    Kevin
    

    RE: .0 & .21
    
    Way down here in Texas, where we have very good wildlife biologists
    and many conservation programs, the legal definition of an antlered
    deer is "A hardened antler protruding through the skin." Nothing
    less nothing more.
    
    Yes there are antlered does. Thats why here its also called "Antlered"
    and "Antlerless" deer. My brother shot a fork horn doe 2 years ago.
    I just spoke to the wildlife department here in San Antonio and
    they said it was estimated about one half of one percent doe develope
    antlers.
    
    So if you don't want to have to take a tape measure with you hunting,
    you need to hunt further south. Wildlife management people also
    told me they would prefer for hunters to shoot a spike such as the
    one described in .11, because if a deer does not fork in its first
    year, it probably will not fork at all resulting in a 10" spike
    and inferior bucks when it breeds.
    
    just my $0.02 worth,
    Harvey
    

    I was told last year in mass the biggest buck shot was taken on
    a doe permit..  I guess thats why they call it an antlerless permit.
    It was during Black powder seasion and the buck had already droped
    the rack!
    
    Bob Puishys