MN Slick
5 year old buck +
Yeah, I've jumped around a number of times. The first two were significant improvements, but the last ones have been lateral.
-
If you are posting pictures, and they aren't posting in the correct orientation, please flush your browser cache and try again.
Edge
Safari/iOS
Chrome
Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?
- Thread starter Howboutthemdawgs
- Start date
Yeah, I've jumped around a number of times. The first two were significant improvements, but the last ones have been lateral.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Same. I think I’m done moving unless a true unicorn were to ever come available. I don’t necessarily want to settle for chasing 150” deer for the top end but it seems that is the “new normal”.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
The way I look at it, if you have 3-5 150" around, there will almost always be some around or some with potential to be 170.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
I agree but hasn’t happened in 8 years of being in this neighborhood so it’s definitely a lottery type odds.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
I know you like your setup but if it doesn't fulfill what you want...
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Yeah but I scratched and clawed to put something together, if I’m blessed to shoot 20 150’s then it was a good life!
Last edited:
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
I feel like if you have multiple 150's around that it will only be a matter of time before you have a booner to chase. I haven't read Strategic Harvest System yet, but I believe the statistical distribution of buck classes is discussed in there. In the last 10 years or so, we have typically had 1-2 150's type deer to chase and have only killed one of them and he ended up being a 4.5 year old. Last year, we had a buck that was in the high 160's (supposedly) that the new neighbors took (I had him in bow range after legal shooting light once). Our two newest farms haven't produced any 150's yet, but we did have a 200 incher the year we bought one of them and I have found a few dead heads in the 150s. One of our bigger landowner neighbors has consistently had bucks in the 180s when everyone else has seen the high end bucks decline. Despite the lack of prospects lately, I am confident we will get back there eventually once we recover from EHD.
BenA
5 year old buck +
Does he do any supplemental feeding?
Brian662
5 year old buck +
No doubt buddy, I completely agree. A wall of 150s is a hell of a wall.
MN Slick
5 year old buck +
Unfortunately, I will lose interest if my ceiling is 150. It's just the way I'm wired. I need to have upside or the perception that there is an upside to stay engaged.
BenA
5 year old buck +
I'm with you, but my number would be closer to lost interest at 120. I'd be elated with 150's until they're expectable every year.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Zero. He just has an absolutely perfect setup where deer do not need to leave his place and cannot be poached from the road. He also plants between 25-30 acres of food plots each year. His really big advantage is that he has great trigger discipline and bucks actually age. He had really bad EHD last year as well, so I will be curious to see what he has around this year. He typically doesn't share photos until after he finds sheds in the spring or if he gets one of his targets.
Interestingly enough, my Dad and older brothers used to hunt this neighbor's properties back in the "glory days of hunting". In the 10-15 years or so it was hunted, nobody took a buck that sniffed 150 on that farm.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
How much land? Any time I hear about someone beating the trend the first thing I look at is scale.
PatinPA
5 year old buck +
I know right? I have my sights set on a 110" 7 pt. or a probably 80" 4 pt.
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
I like to eat venison so antlers are just a bonus if a decent bucks happens to show up. Always have a variety of bucks passing through during season it's just if I am in the right spot at the right time or not. I gave up on cameras close to 10 years ago. I guess I like to be surprised by what runs out in front of me instead of seeing a bunch of bucks on camera but never seeing them during season. The glory days for me was when everyone was still around and the family hunting was something special. Now I just go out hunting by myself.
PatinPA
5 year old buck +
Now I differ on that. I enjoy camera card pulls immensely . Just seeing what I could potentially see when I'm hunting. Plus last year I got pics of a bear, a bobcat, and a fisher, I'd have never known any of them were there just based off physically seeing them.
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
Agree on getting to see things you didn't know were there. That's just cool and sometimes can be a little scary depending on what's out there. Cameras are a good tool but I'm more of a casual hunter I would say the last 10 or so years. I don't have the time and I surely don't have the energy for the "extra" effort anymore. Last few years it's all I can do to get myself out to the woods. Enjoy seeing what's posted on the "live from the stand" thread.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Smaller than you'd think, but it is a unique scenario that is only that way because of the neighbors on the far side and his other borders. His property is around 400 acres, but splits deep timber and very large ag fields. He knows what he is doing. If you're familiar with hunting personalities on YouTube in Northern MO, he runs in their circles and used to film hunts for them.
But how do you know 100% - that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. A monster was killed off the land Dawgs bought. We are talking about spending seven figures in most places to buy enough land to actually manage. I have a 62 acre tract away from the rest of my property that was a little honey hole. Last year, the leasees in the adjoining 800 acres changed hands and believe me - it isnt the same and there is not one thing I could do about it. Cwd can hit near you and they increase the season and bag limit. I bought my place mainly because of the duck hunting and fishing - deer were down the list. We kill one tenth the ducks we used to and we catch one tenth the fish we used to. In my opinion, jumping ship and moving around in hopes of finding greener pastures is most likely a fools errand - unless - of course - you just have funny money
