BIG EON

Good Buck Indeed but werid genetics

JimboHunter1

a HA! That explains everything. I know what you mean about hunting on a battle ground. Mine's kind of like that too, although it doesn't sound quite as bad since it's all private land around us. Slowly I'm trying to change the mentality of killing the little ones. My fear is that it is going to be a long, long process though.

atlasman

It's OK........I'm cool with it. I have grown up hunting public lands my whole life. It is what it is.............and I don't mind. I did a bunch of hunting on a private local farm last year and to tell you the truth there were times when I sat in my stand and thought to myself "This is TOO easy" I didn't even go there with my gun.

Even if wanted to change people's minds about shooting young bucks (which I don't) it would be an unbelievably lost cause. As long as it is legal and safe I don't care what anyone else does.

WNY Bowhunter

Those are some nice bucks for sure. Where abouts in NY? I'veseen a ton of bucks around so far andalot of nicetoo here in Steuben County. I hunt on several pieces of private property that are pressured harder than any state land in the area. I'veyet toexperience any hunts that were too easy.

extreme1

Nice pics atlasman.
The second pic looks as though the buck on the right will have a non-typical rack on one side and a typical on the other,very cool.
And the 3rd pic is pretty impressive as well,great spread and tine length already,good luck with any of them in the fall.

JimboHunter1

Amen to that.

atlasman

I am surprised to hear you say that because my brother went with a friend to Steuben county last year near the end of gun season and they had deer running all over them. They killed 3 of them by 11 am and called it a day. I also know a close friend of the family that couldn't hunt his way out of a wet paper bag and he has 2 bruisers and 4 doe in 3 years of hunting in Bath, NY.

I know every piece of land is different and I believe you 100%.........it's just that everyone I talk to that goes to Steuben raves about the deer running around over there. I know I won't pass up a chance if I get one to hang a stand out there.

WNY Bowhunter

atlasman,

What townwas your brother hunting in? Iactuallylive about 11 miles north of Bath, but have never really hunted around there. I truely believe that we have some of the finest deer hunting in the state here in Steuben County. We've got alot of deer out here andhuntersget some really good bucks in the area every season.However, we probably have some of the highest concentrations of hunters in the state too and the deer see unbelievable amounts of hunting pressure. For the most part, last fall was the poorest deer season that we've ever had in these parts...it seemed like everyone was crying saying there were no deer around. I saw some bruisers in the area before season so I know that theywere around but they just seemed to disappear. Maybe a bad year around here is like a great year in other parts of the state...I don't know? As I mentioned, I do mainly hunt private land but mostof the landowners don't care who hunt thereand pretty much anyone who wants to hunt it can. My family owns several hundred acres in that I hunt too, but I have a really large family and everyone hunts so the area never really gets a rest the entire season. On the other hand, one of my uncle hunts exclusively on hisfather-in-laws 1,000 acreQDM managed farmseveral miles from Bath and he's gotten a130"+buck for the last several seasons. Only 3 or 4 family members hunt the propery so the deer don't get pressured nearly as much as they do on neighoring properties. He has nice bucks feeding in the fields across from his house even during open season(after he's already tagged out). He killed a beautiful 135 class 11-pt. with a droptine last season and watched a monster 145 class 22" 8-pt.feeding in the field only 200 yds. from his houseeveryeveningduring the last weekof season.Like you mentioned...theamount of hunting pressurethe deer seeon a given piece of propery definately determines how "hard" the hunting is. Anyways, hopefully one of those bruisers in your photos will venture out in front of you this fall. I can't wait until October 15 to get here. Good luck this fall.

Here's a couple of nice Steuben County deer taken in 2002 ontwo different farms that I hunt about 2 miles from my house.

This one I believe was the highest scoring buck in the state that year.

This one was the #3 or #4gun typical in the state.

Bill Yox

WNYBowhunter, you know, I hear the same thing as you. While I dont live that far south, I get work from there. Some guys told me it was the worst they ever saw ( I guess they werent hunting during the seventies!) as far as bucks sighted, yet others enjoyed a great season. I also agree with you on the trophies taken in your region in the last 5 or 6 years especially. To me it seems as soon as the numbers come down SLIGHTLY the quality comes up. I just hope the state doesnt do anything too drastic.

I had a high 180's come in from near Warsaw, as one of the better bucks Im aware of from western NY, anyway. Nice buck and a good guy who took it, too.

WNY Bowhunter

Bill:

They've got a photo on the Northeast Big Buck Club website of a 190 class 15-pt. nontypical that was taken last season in Wyoming County. Could that be the one you're referring too? It sure is a great looking deer. Severalof my uncles are starting to say that we had better deer hunting around here in the 70's and 80's than we do now.I think that the deer just have more thick, overgrown cover and posted landto hide in than they did 20-25 yrs. ago making it easier for them to avoid hunters.