Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?
- Thread starter Howboutthemdawgs
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T-Max
5 year old buck +
I really want to shed hunt there.......
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
When I first bought my current farm in Iowa, I nearly shit my pants when I checked the trail cameras. The number of stud bucks was hard to even grasp.
Fast forward to 2024 and the quality is definitely down. I would not say hunting is the main problem, it has been EHD.
Sure, the neighbors get some nice bucks, but last year we lost 25-30 deer in our section from EHD … very sad to see. Thats more deer—in one year— than we have shot in the past 6 years.
My area is still good, hopefully the deer herd adjusts to this disease. It’s frustrating!
***First couple card pulls back in 18. I didn’t have cell cams at the time.
Fast forward to 2024 and the quality is definitely down. I would not say hunting is the main problem, it has been EHD.
Sure, the neighbors get some nice bucks, but last year we lost 25-30 deer in our section from EHD … very sad to see. Thats more deer—in one year— than we have shot in the past 6 years.
My area is still good, hopefully the deer herd adjusts to this disease. It’s frustrating!
***First couple card pulls back in 18. I didn’t have cell cams at the time.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
I’m going to pull cards this weekend. I set 8 cams about 2 weeks ago across 700 acres on three farms spread out by a couple miles, so three different populations. If I have more than 2 mature bucks i will be giddy. Not even talking antler size just older than 3.5. I wish I had some perspective becuase I would have loved to know what those cards would have held in say 2000-2010. Could have been amazing or could have been status quo, but I doubt it would have been worse.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I’ll tell you. I love to harvest old deer with big racks.
But I love being in the woods even more. Having a 4 month hunting season, with 3 bucks and unlimited does, makes for a great 4 months in the winter.
Maybe hunting one big buck and being done would be fun. But I would truly take hunting 40 times each winter over the other options.
To each their own.
On the big bucks, @Baker on here has shown that you can take southern deer, feed them, not pressure them, and let them age, and they will be just as big as any other deer.
But I love being in the woods even more. Having a 4 month hunting season, with 3 bucks and unlimited does, makes for a great 4 months in the winter.
Maybe hunting one big buck and being done would be fun. But I would truly take hunting 40 times each winter over the other options.
To each their own.
On the big bucks, @Baker on here has shown that you can take southern deer, feed them, not pressure them, and let them age, and they will be just as big as any other deer.
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
Baker is playing chess while the rest of us are playing checkers. The man is a pro and goes the extra mile to make it happen. I throw out some seed and hope for a minor miracle. STILL HOPING
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
He is a wizard. Makes me happy and sick every time I watch his videos.
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
Living the dream. He passes dear that are bigger than any I'll ever see.
Just drove by Mt Horeb today for work. I don’t get off the main highway much but I hardly see any roadkills along there. Not sure how their population is these days. We know people that hunt nearby in dodgeville. They say 50% of the deer they shoot test positive for CWD.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
Are those dodgeville hunters still seeing quality bucks? I've heard mixed reviews on whether there are still older age deer near "ground zero".
Telemark
5 year old buck +
Cheese and rice!!!! Y'all have some huge racks on those bucks. I think I have one mature buck on my property. I am certain I have two 1.5 to 2.5 year old youngsters kicking around on my dry land plot. I won't shoot them, but I can't deny the other hunters.
I think I need to get my food program in order next spring.
I think I need to get my food program in order next spring.
Yes they shoot nice ones. But half are infected.
In my area, I am of the opposite mindset. Aside from the Dallas metroplex ALREADY being almost 8 MILLION people, the hunting is getting better and better. When I started hunting in the mid 90’s, you would have been the talk of the town with a 115” 8-point. Now, there’s guys in the county I grew up in shooting 170’s. I used to hunt a full weekend to be glad to see 1 or two deer over a wheat field WITH bait added… now, I see at least that many each sit on public land. I would have never dreamed of seeing 10 deer in a weekend as a kid, and I shot a buck last year where I saw more than 20 in one day.
I like the way Texas did our antler restrictions, and I think it directly caused the drastic increase in average antler size. In antler restricted counties, a legal buck must have either 1:) at least 1 unbranched side, or 2:) be 13” inside spread or greater (on average, that is outside the ears). Almost all of those antler restrictions counties are 1 buck only. Most guys won’t burn their tag on a spike side buck.
In our area, that 13” spread gets the bucks to about 3 years old before they’re fair game. You end up with dang near every buck living to 3, so you have a nice population of legal 3-4 year olds to choose from.
From what I can see, with the continued rise in population, our area will improve for years to come.
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I like the way Texas did our antler restrictions, and I think it directly caused the drastic increase in average antler size. In antler restricted counties, a legal buck must have either 1:) at least 1 unbranched side, or 2:) be 13” inside spread or greater (on average, that is outside the ears). Almost all of those antler restrictions counties are 1 buck only. Most guys won’t burn their tag on a spike side buck.
In our area, that 13” spread gets the bucks to about 3 years old before they’re fair game. You end up with dang near every buck living to 3, so you have a nice population of legal 3-4 year olds to choose from.
From what I can see, with the continued rise in population, our area will improve for years to come.
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Brian662
5 year old buck +
What do they do with the meat then? Discard it?
I think realistically, in most areas, a 150” deer is a great deer. when we think of Ky, KS, IA, and a few other states - we think the average deer is a 150 with a 17/180 a real possibility. Those are false notions for the most part. Yes, there may be exceptions, but they are rare. I know guys who have hunted KS for years and they they hope for a 150 but rarely get one.
Unfortunately, at your expense, it is somewhat comforting to know that your KY hunting now is not that much better than my hunting - south AR piney woods deer with the average mature buck scoring 112”. I have 14 adjacent property owners and at least nine of them hunt or allow hunting on their land. All of those bait profusely. We are allowed two bucks. We have six weeks rifle season, a week and a half ml season, and five months archery/crossbow. Our state allows the use of dogs. We hunt right through rut. I own two pieces of property and lease another and their are multiple mature bucks on all of them.
It seems as if hunters in the areas less noted for quality bucks are the ones, in general, who think their hunting is improving, while those in the long noted trophy buck states indicate deer quality is probably declining. I would say a lot of that is due to NR hunting pressure. Not many NR are coming to AR, east TX and LA to deer hunt.
20 years ago, everyone I know would have mounted the deer below. I have a buddy who killed a deer very similar to this deer last year. His son scolded him, because the 16 yr old son had passed the deer several times. I have 13 and 14 yr old grand daughters who would probably pass this deer because they have both killed bigger deer and they know there are bigger deer available. I did not see a deer this large, in the woods during deer season until I was 45 years old.
Truth be told, this would probably be a good deer to take. In my experience, these short tined deer are very unlikely to all of a sudden grow times twice as long as the year before.
I guess the point being of all this, outside of a few exceptional areas, a 150” deer is an uncommon animal.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
I love to hear your success. It’s uplifting and encouraging. 150 is absolutely a great deer regardless of region. I’m not even under a false illusion that i will have multiple 150’s. I just want older age class bucks. Our landscape doesn’t lend its to deer surviving without restraint. Our herd is 99% reliant on restraint. Almost every deer in our herd will be presented with a shot opportunity in the season. I have to believe your neck of the woods has enough cover to help some survive
BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
From seeing pockets of giant bucks in areas that "aren't capable", one thing stands out - sanctuaries where all bucks generally die of old age and reach ages far beyond what we usually refer to as mature.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Right. Deer university was talking about 7-ish being peak antler growth. The amount of deer that reach 7 in my world is equal to the amount of unicorns I have of my property.
I do think cover is our one redeeming quality. Folks on his forum all the time are talking about creating cover on their property. Cover is literally everywhere here. The goal here is food to get them out of cover - or a good pack of hounds. Folks are always talking about the great buck saving regulations Iowa has. They didnt do that by design - they did that to save their deer from being annihilated. A greater percentage of the deer herd is killed every year in Iowa than in AR. We have twice the season they do, we have a two buck limit by any method, we allow dogs, we allow baiting, we hunt during the rut - and we harvest about 20% of the herd every year compared to a harvest of 25% of the herd in Iowa. If we had Iowa’s season structure in AR, you couldnt drive a mile down the road without hitting a deer. If Iowa had our season structure - there wouldnt be a deer left. Nutrition and genetics make their bucks bigger - but I doubt they have more mature deer. The cover is what makes the difference - 100%
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