Bill Loser
5 year old buck +
Oh boy, here we go!
Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?
- Thread starter Howboutthemdawgs
- Start date
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
Yeah I know and agree. I was thinking more along the lines of Skip Sligh and a few at Iowa forum, but figured I'd use a resident name over here.
fishin coyote
5 year old buck +
I blame this whole thing on horn porn LoL
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Not at all. Just stating the obvious. It’s not apples to apples. This entire thread was about the declining quality of buck age class. If you have a high fence you are immune to that if you choose to be
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
That's a good point. Why is it that a 1.5 yo buck is the target rather than a mature doe though?
I don't think anyone thinks a buck that they passed getting shot is a threat to their deer herd. Just that when nearly every buck you pass gets shot it can be frustrating but that's life. A whole bunch could be 30% but when applied at scale can make a difference in certain neighborhoods. I have zero animosity towards the 4 direct neighbors of mine who've shot 2 YO bucks in the last 9 days, good for them. But I can't say it wouldn't be cooler if everyone was shooting 3 YO instead, they just don't exist because they don't make it there.
That's an extreme example. There are lots of different levels. The 120-130" bucks Roy and themdawgs are wishing wouldn't get shot would be the top buck I have on cam most years. Realistically i have 1 or 2 120-135" deer on cam per year and they typically are not spending much time on my place. And that's with plenty of deer and adequate nutrition. It's 100% hunter caused. The "nice bucks" in neighborhood conversations are the 2 YOs with a little potential.
Bill Loser
5 year old buck +
Not necessarily the target, just what presented itself?
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
That buck I shot this year was the first one in 20 years. No lie…granted I intentionally make it difficult and am extremely picky. I’ve had opportunities but couldn’t capitalize for a million reasons but never once did I feel the need to settle. Also I never questioned my manhood finishing a season without a buck. Just put my nose down and tried to get better. I can’t relate to just settling but that’s my personality I reckon.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Makes perfect sense if that is the case. What i see is lots of bucks getting killed and very few does getting killed and it's not because the bucks are always the first to offer a shot.
bueller
Moderator
I get a doe tag every year but most years don't fill it. With our population struggling to grow taking a buck, any age, overall is more beneficial than taking a doe. If I only shot 4.5+ year old bucks I'd be batting about 3 for 30. Let's talk when you are in stand for 150 hours over the course of 2 seasons and have a 2.5 year old 6 pointer be the best buck you see. Yep, I took him and I'm damn proud of it.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Everyone's context is different, that makes sense with yours. I dont think anyone is saying we should be killing does where the population is hurting.
Are you guys still struggling with population over there? I haven't really hunted ours up there in 5 years but we seem to have plenty of deer on the one camera I have out. I see they upped the available doe tags for private land to 2,000 recently. I bought one this year but will probably not fill it. I get frustrated with all the ag tags around us at our other place. 150 in the last 3 years. Not that the herd couldn't use a thinning, it's the whole gun hunting during bow season that irks me.
bueller
Moderator
Our local population seems to have been holding steady for a number of years now. Yet they keep issuing more and more antlerless tags because other areas within the county have many deer. We have lots of yotes and bobcats on camera all year with the occasional bear and wolf sprinkled in.
I haven't had the latter two thankfully. Did get a bobcat for the first time this year and always have yotes around.
bueller
Moderator
I had a group of at least 2 coyotes and a group of at least 3 bobcats just last night.
Sorry to hijack thread.... back to the conversation
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
That seems to be a common issue. Management goals based more by generic boundaries like counties and highways than common habitat. I'm in a unit that is primarily forest/swamp with plenty of bears, some wolves but in my corner there's a fair bit of agriculture and thus more deer. Because of the population in much of the unit, there is only one either-sex tag available for each and most hunters would rather shoot a young buck than a doe.
In Wisconsin they try to do it by habitat, we now have farmland and forest zones, but the lines are still typically a county or highway. So within forest zones especially, there are widely varying populations. Our river bottom place is in the forest zone not far from Bueller but there is a bunch of ag around us. We should probably be in the farmland zone. I think Bueller is surrounded by more woods if I'm not mistaken.
MN Slick
5 year old buck +
I think you are spot on Howboutthemdawgs. My areas of North MO have been on the decline for 4-5 years. We still have older bucks but far fewer high end bucks. One thing I don’t hear talked about is how being “selective” hurts the number of bucks with high end potential. Bucks advancing in age classes is a numbers game, but only 1/3 of the bucks in the herd even have a chance to be above average. Back in the day, most hunters would shoot the first decent buck that came by, and they were done. That buck may have been a giant or a future giant, but many were average or below. Fast forward to now and most seasoned guys pass bucks waiting for a “good” one and what looks better than a 150” three year old. Meanwhile, the 130” eights are called 2 or 3 years old with potential but many are 4 plus years old. VERY FEW guys will pass on a 150” buck no matter the age. You get enough guys in an area being selective and high grading is the result, which I believe I’m seeing to a degree in North MO. Add to that EHD, crosswbows, extended rifle for CWD zones, and large increase in hunting pressure. The writing is on the wall.
I killed a buck on Saturday I affectionately named Turd. He started the year with the worst set of horns I’ve ever seen on an older buck and proceeded to break them at least twice fighting. I barely a handle to drag him with. He was all over our farm during daylight ruling the place. My brother would see him almost every time he sat and shot video of him fighting and chasing off two younger ten pointers. He may be 3 or 4 or 5, who knows, but no way was I going to let him get older, harder to kill, and become even more of an a-hole. Only a blind man would have shot him. He was that ugly. I laugh at myself: I literally went from arrowing a 217” in 2017 to gunning down a 23” in 2023. I bet he eats good though! I’m packaging him tonight.
My brother and I have determined we need to come to grips with the fact that our best years are in the past, just like the unreal muskie fishing days of years gone by. We will still have an occasional giant to hunt, at least I hope we do.
I killed a buck on Saturday I affectionately named Turd. He started the year with the worst set of horns I’ve ever seen on an older buck and proceeded to break them at least twice fighting. I barely a handle to drag him with. He was all over our farm during daylight ruling the place. My brother would see him almost every time he sat and shot video of him fighting and chasing off two younger ten pointers. He may be 3 or 4 or 5, who knows, but no way was I going to let him get older, harder to kill, and become even more of an a-hole. Only a blind man would have shot him. He was that ugly. I laugh at myself: I literally went from arrowing a 217” in 2017 to gunning down a 23” in 2023. I bet he eats good though! I’m packaging him tonight.
My brother and I have determined we need to come to grips with the fact that our best years are in the past, just like the unreal muskie fishing days of years gone by. We will still have an occasional giant to hunt, at least I hope we do.
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