Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
06-26-2008, 09:50 AM
#21
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Sturgis, SD
Posts: 1,983
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
The raw numbers are impressive but if you condsider population of the States they really aren't surprising.
Neb = 1,768,331
Mich = 10,095,643
Penn = 12,440,621
Both Mich and Penn have single cities with a larger population than the entire state of Neb.
Another factoid, Neb covers 77,358 sq miles, larger than both Mich and Penn.
Neb has 45 million acres of crop and pasture land, 93% of the total land area.
Neb = 1,768,331
Mich = 10,095,643
Penn = 12,440,621
Both Mich and Penn have single cities with a larger population than the entire state of Neb.
Another factoid, Neb covers 77,358 sq miles, larger than both Mich and Penn.
Neb has 45 million acres of crop and pasture land, 93% of the total land area.
06-26-2008, 09:55 AM
#22
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Almost Heaven. Boone Co. WV
Posts: 1,002
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
West VA - # of hunters/sq. mi. = 5.81
West VA - # of P&Y bucks/hunter = 1 in 8,333 (wow)
West VA - # of P&Y bucks/hunter = 1 in 8,333 (wow)
I wonder if there was any consideration on the number of P&Y bucks killed that were not reported?
Anyone want to come to WV to hunt?
06-26-2008, 09:57 AM
#23
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,716
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
There's light at the end of the tunnel for us PA guys. At leastthe PGC has finallyimplemented an antler restriction, which does leave a few more 2.5's in the woods. People around here are starting to wait for racks, but they are still in the verysmall minority. We still live in a "Brown & Down" world, here in the extreme SW corner of the Keystone State. A 115" buck is actually an attainable goal nowadays, but just 15 years ago, a 100" buck was headline news.
West Virginia, in my opinion, hasthe toughest conditions I've ever hunted. Bar none. WV hosts liberal harvest limits, TONS of poaching, ARMIES of hunters, semi-auto rifles, lawless culture... It's everything you can do to fill your buck tags down there. With anything.
Unless you've got access tosome closely guarded real estate, plan on hunting your ass off.
In total, I've probably been hunting WV for about 10 years - and have taken around 20 whitetail bucks down there. Sadly, only ONE of those deer would top 100". It was this guy:
He taped out close to 120. I'm still very proud of that deer. Public Lander, Preston County.
Easily the biggest buck I've ever seen on the hoof in Mountaineer territory.
** I should qualify my assessment of WV hunting by stating that I was mostly relegated to public land, which is less-than-ideal. Also, distance and time was a factor, so I didn't get to put in as much stand time as I'd have ideally liked.
But I can say without hesitation that if you're a big buck hunter, West Virginia will push you to your limit.
West Virginia, in my opinion, hasthe toughest conditions I've ever hunted. Bar none. WV hosts liberal harvest limits, TONS of poaching, ARMIES of hunters, semi-auto rifles, lawless culture... It's everything you can do to fill your buck tags down there. With anything.
Unless you've got access tosome closely guarded real estate, plan on hunting your ass off.
In total, I've probably been hunting WV for about 10 years - and have taken around 20 whitetail bucks down there. Sadly, only ONE of those deer would top 100". It was this guy:
He taped out close to 120. I'm still very proud of that deer. Public Lander, Preston County.
Easily the biggest buck I've ever seen on the hoof in Mountaineer territory.
** I should qualify my assessment of WV hunting by stating that I was mostly relegated to public land, which is less-than-ideal. Also, distance and time was a factor, so I didn't get to put in as much stand time as I'd have ideally liked.
But I can say without hesitation that if you're a big buck hunter, West Virginia will push you to your limit.
06-26-2008, 10:08 AM
#25
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Almost Heaven. Boone Co. WV
Posts: 1,002
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
ORIGINAL: quiksilver
At least PA has implemented an antler restriction, which does leave a few more 2.5's in the woods. People around here are starting to wait for racks, but they are still in the verysmall minority. We still live in a "Brown & Down" world, here in the extreme SW corner of the Keystone State. A 115" buck is actually an attainable goal nowadays, but just 15 years ago, a 100" buck was headline news.
West Virginia, in my opinion, hasthe toughest conditions I've ever hunted. Liberal harvest limits, TONS of poaching, ARMIES of hunters, semi-auto rifles, lawless culture... It's everything you can do to fill your buck tags down there. With anything.
In total, I've probably been hunting WV for about 10 years - and have taken around 20 whitetail bucks down there. Sadly, only ONE of those deer would top 100". It was this guy:
He taped out close to 120. I'm still very proud of that deer. Public Lander, Preston County.
Easily the biggest buck I've ever seen on the hoof in Mountaineer territory.
At least PA has implemented an antler restriction, which does leave a few more 2.5's in the woods. People around here are starting to wait for racks, but they are still in the verysmall minority. We still live in a "Brown & Down" world, here in the extreme SW corner of the Keystone State. A 115" buck is actually an attainable goal nowadays, but just 15 years ago, a 100" buck was headline news.
West Virginia, in my opinion, hasthe toughest conditions I've ever hunted. Liberal harvest limits, TONS of poaching, ARMIES of hunters, semi-auto rifles, lawless culture... It's everything you can do to fill your buck tags down there. With anything.
In total, I've probably been hunting WV for about 10 years - and have taken around 20 whitetail bucks down there. Sadly, only ONE of those deer would top 100". It was this guy:
He taped out close to 120. I'm still very proud of that deer. Public Lander, Preston County.
Easily the biggest buck I've ever seen on the hoof in Mountaineer territory.
I hunt in Wirt co. and here are some of our best....... I have never measured any of them but I would guess we have a few that are 100-110".
06-26-2008, 10:45 AM
#26
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cenral Illinois
Posts: 3,180
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
MI density is definitely something to be seen. During gun espcially. But, the U.P. passed (finally) an antler restriction, so I'm hoping that our buck quality improves, which it should.
06-26-2008, 11:35 AM
#27
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dover, PA USA
Posts: 5,497
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
Rybo is also correct.......The area of the state basically above I80 to the north central and north west is MUCH lass populated than the rest of the state (even the North East to a degree)
I'd love to see how the hunter's are dispersed by area in PA, I am pretty sure we have something like 270,000 licensed bowhunters and I'd bet a dollar that 2/3 of them are found below I-80 which basically splits the state in half north and south.
Of course now the deer densities are much lower in the northern counties as well (Big Woods) so maybe it balances out. They did one of those FLIR infrared airplane studies over much of PA a couple years ago and where our hunting cabin is located had the lowest deer density in the state at just about 6 deer per wooded sq. Mile. Think about that...........how much ground is a sq. mile? 660 acres or something?
Here in the southern part of the state the deer are here, but it's 100% a pressure game. IF you can scout smart and either beat the pressure or use it to your advantage you have a chance. (Of course an exclusive property wouldn't hurt)
But I hunt mainly a private farm that gets hunted heavily by the landowner's family and it directly borders state game lands.
For all intents and purposes I'm hunting public land bucks. Where my big buck from last season was laying dead was literally4 feet from the state game lands border marker.
This is reason numero uno that I absolutely bank on the first week of the season........after that there isn't a moon bright enough to hunt these bucks.
I'd love to see how the hunter's are dispersed by area in PA, I am pretty sure we have something like 270,000 licensed bowhunters and I'd bet a dollar that 2/3 of them are found below I-80 which basically splits the state in half north and south.
Of course now the deer densities are much lower in the northern counties as well (Big Woods) so maybe it balances out. They did one of those FLIR infrared airplane studies over much of PA a couple years ago and where our hunting cabin is located had the lowest deer density in the state at just about 6 deer per wooded sq. Mile. Think about that...........how much ground is a sq. mile? 660 acres or something?
Here in the southern part of the state the deer are here, but it's 100% a pressure game. IF you can scout smart and either beat the pressure or use it to your advantage you have a chance. (Of course an exclusive property wouldn't hurt)
But I hunt mainly a private farm that gets hunted heavily by the landowner's family and it directly borders state game lands.
For all intents and purposes I'm hunting public land bucks. Where my big buck from last season was laying dead was literally4 feet from the state game lands border marker.
This is reason numero uno that I absolutely bank on the first week of the season........after that there isn't a moon bright enough to hunt these bucks.
06-26-2008, 01:20 PM
#28
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Mont County, Pa
Posts: 7,368
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
In the 1600sq mileBow Zone, there's just about one non residenthunter per 246sq miles of farm land. Resident hunting isalmost non existent. I'm just saying![8D]I wish that B&C/P&Y stat chart included Canadian provinces.
06-26-2008, 01:30 PM
#29
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: The OH-IO
Posts: 7,103
RE: Props go out to the guys in PA and MI getting it done.
State P&Y entries / ratios in 1998 P&Y entries / ratios in 2004
Iowa---------------145------1 in 253-----------------------238-------1 in 197
Kansas------------69------1 in 257-------------------------141-------1 in 149
Illinois-------------236-----1 in 367------------------------ 403-------1 in 297
Nebraska----------49------1 in 372--------------------------43-------1 in 335
Wisconsin---------469------1 in 524-------------------------507-------1 in 492
North Dakota------14------1 in 835--------------------------44-------1 in 353
Minnesota---------65------1 in 1015-------------------------102-------1 in 686
Oklahoma*--------18-----1 in 1,166--------------------------26--------1 in 3,374
Ohio-----crossbow licenses not separate from bow licenses--------------------
Maryland----------40-----1 in 1175---------------------------30-------1 in 1,900
Connecticut-------11-----1 in 1,272--------------------------15--------1 in 804
Delaware----------5------1 in 1,280---------------------------3--------1 in 2,000
Texas-------------58------1 in 1,293--------------------------84-------1 in 890
Montana----------15------1 in 1733---------------------------22-------1 in 1,195
Missouri-----------56------1 in 1739---------------------------136-------1 in 694
Indiana-----------52------1 in 2056----------------------------130-------1 in 763
Wyoming----------5-------1 in 2114----------------------------5--------1 in 3,370
New Jersey-------21------1 in 2,265----------------------------23-------1 in 1,608
New York---------66------1 in 2,575----------------------------78--------1 in 2,760
Kentucky---------40------1 in 2750-----------------------------54-------1 in 1,666
Rhode Island------1------1 in 2,900------------------------------2-------1 in 1,503
Mississippi--------19-----1 in 3052-------------------------------21-------1 in 1,769
Maine-------------4-----1 in 3250--------------------------------2-------1 in 7,450
New Hampshire----6-----1 in 3,930-------------------------------14-------1 in 1,357
Louisiana---------8-----1 in 4212---------------------------------6-------1 in 4,535
West Virginia------6----1 in 4333---------------------------------14-------1 in 1,704
Virginia------------12----1 in 4,876-------------------------------17-------1 in 3,611
Michigan-----------68----1 in 5,147-------------------------------60------1 in 5,166
Arkansas------------5----1 in 6,000-------------------------------29------1 in 1,034
Georgia------------13----1 in 6,615-------------------------------20-------1 in 5,584
Pennsylvania-------41----1 in 8,004-------------------------------86-------1 in 3,308
North Carolina------6-----1 in 9,000--------------------------------8-------1 in 6,750
Alabama-----------7-----1 in 9,428--------------------------------8-------1 in 9,312
Tennessee---------6-----1 in 10,166------------------------------10------1 in 9,000
Florida-------------0----------------------------------------------2-------1 in 12,628
Iowa---------------145------1 in 253-----------------------238-------1 in 197
Kansas------------69------1 in 257-------------------------141-------1 in 149
Illinois-------------236-----1 in 367------------------------ 403-------1 in 297
Nebraska----------49------1 in 372--------------------------43-------1 in 335
Wisconsin---------469------1 in 524-------------------------507-------1 in 492
North Dakota------14------1 in 835--------------------------44-------1 in 353
Minnesota---------65------1 in 1015-------------------------102-------1 in 686
Oklahoma*--------18-----1 in 1,166--------------------------26--------1 in 3,374
Ohio-----crossbow licenses not separate from bow licenses--------------------
Maryland----------40-----1 in 1175---------------------------30-------1 in 1,900
Connecticut-------11-----1 in 1,272--------------------------15--------1 in 804
Delaware----------5------1 in 1,280---------------------------3--------1 in 2,000
Texas-------------58------1 in 1,293--------------------------84-------1 in 890
Montana----------15------1 in 1733---------------------------22-------1 in 1,195
Missouri-----------56------1 in 1739---------------------------136-------1 in 694
Indiana-----------52------1 in 2056----------------------------130-------1 in 763
Wyoming----------5-------1 in 2114----------------------------5--------1 in 3,370
New Jersey-------21------1 in 2,265----------------------------23-------1 in 1,608
New York---------66------1 in 2,575----------------------------78--------1 in 2,760
Kentucky---------40------1 in 2750-----------------------------54-------1 in 1,666
Rhode Island------1------1 in 2,900------------------------------2-------1 in 1,503
Mississippi--------19-----1 in 3052-------------------------------21-------1 in 1,769
Maine-------------4-----1 in 3250--------------------------------2-------1 in 7,450
New Hampshire----6-----1 in 3,930-------------------------------14-------1 in 1,357
Louisiana---------8-----1 in 4212---------------------------------6-------1 in 4,535
West Virginia------6----1 in 4333---------------------------------14-------1 in 1,704
Virginia------------12----1 in 4,876-------------------------------17-------1 in 3,611
Michigan-----------68----1 in 5,147-------------------------------60------1 in 5,166
Arkansas------------5----1 in 6,000-------------------------------29------1 in 1,034
Georgia------------13----1 in 6,615-------------------------------20-------1 in 5,584
Pennsylvania-------41----1 in 8,004-------------------------------86-------1 in 3,308
North Carolina------6-----1 in 9,000--------------------------------8-------1 in 6,750
Alabama-----------7-----1 in 9,428--------------------------------8-------1 in 9,312
Tennessee---------6-----1 in 10,166------------------------------10------1 in 9,000
Florida-------------0----------------------------------------------2-------1 in 12,628
