Written by Chris Kruger Friday, 19 June 2009 00:00

Growing up as a young hunter was harder than waiting for Christmas morning to open presents. I can remember the excitement of waiting for my father to get home so that we could finally start target practising in the back yard. I can still picture myself trying to hold the gun steady from shaking so hard. I can remember saying to my dad was, "This year I am going to get the big buck". Oh and I still say that ever year.

The New York antler restriction program started in 2005 as a way to increase the number of younger bucks that survive the hunting season and potentialy offer larger racks. However, in recent years, there has been growing interest and debate among hunters about whether this program works. The main concern from hunters seems to be, will there be anough bucks that exceed the antler restriction to provide a successful harvest. I will try to answer that question and shed some light on the success or failure of this program.