pjhunts

Just got my new issue of North American Whitetail. Would you believe there are articles about monster bucks from New York, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Maryland. Not to mention the pics of some stud bucks sent in from subscribers that were in New Yorkand Virginia. Kind of funny though, last I heard there weren't any mature big bucks in any of these places.

LebeauHunter

A lot of people write off parts of the South, and while we certainly have fewer big deer,
the old river bottoms and farm areas can produce some big deer.

Check out some nice bucks from a contest in Louisiana (and surrounding
200 miles):

http://www.simmonssportinggoods.com/bigbuck.asp

Here's the biggest non-typical (199"):



Here's winner in archery (185):




Here's rifle (208):

bballhead44

those are some awesome deer...people forget about good ol wisconsin too

tsoc

The difference is needle in a haystack versus huntable in reasonable numbers.If you think otherwise,if you give me your county in Illinois I will give you the number of B&C entries versus mine in the Hudson Valley of New York.That should be a pretty good indication as to where it is more likely that a B&C or P&Y class deer will be killed.

Wheatley

Seriously, Like we need a follow up to a umpteen page post!

pjhunts

Wow those are awesome racks. A needle in the haystack...maybe. I'm just saying that one should hold out some hope that a stud exists like that in his area. Then hunt the area in the manner that he would if he was hunting one of these big guys. I think some people would be surprised to see some good deer. Instead of shooting the first 1 1/2 yr old that comes by because there "is no possibility that a big buck is in the area" By the way I live in Effingham County, I think you will be shocked at the small # of B&C entries.

mauser06

i live in PA. weve always had some big bucks runnin around. why?? theres ALOT of land thats simply unhuntable. 99% of the time its due to land permission..or the lack there of. i know around here theres alot of patches that hold deer but arent huntable. i live in an area thats currently developing...going from farmland to housing developments. alllll the little valleys and creek bottoms that dont get developed are deer haven...getting in there...well...thats another story.

pjhunts

Very good point. But one must remember that some bucks can travel very far looking for a hot doe. And just maybehe might trot byme around 12:30 in the afternoon. There are a lot of areas around here that don't allow any hunters too. I just go out with a positive attitiude and trust in my hunting knowledge and sometimes it pays off. It only takes one encounter to get one on the ground, it's the dozens of unproductive sits that makes it that much sweeter.

Germ

Look it is a real simple equation.

Does not matter if you are in the north, south, east or west deer need more than anything to get big is age. The UP can and has produced so nice bucks. By no means is it farm country. Yes deer get bigger in Midwest, but it is all relative to where you live.

We can not compare size from state to state IMO, but age we can Funny the states people were talking about in Atlas thread all do one thing very well

tsoc

I am not in disagreement,I am a tag eater some years,probably one in every three.I will tell you that I hunt my butt off to kill 2 1/2 year old bucks and 31/2 year olds and older are extremely rare.We are beginning the third year of antler restrictions in a couple of management units around us,so it is becoming more likely that an older age class of bucks will be in greater numbers.Truthfully though the way the antler restrictions are structured they are only protecting the 11/2 year olds and not even all of them.