How Big is Your Average Mature Deer - B&C?

[SwampCat]

What would you say a typical 3.5 yr old deer on your ground would score? Not your biggest - but your average. The above information is biological data for my general area, which as you can see is pretty poor. Yet we kill a 140 to upper 150 every few years. A 148” and a 153” were living on my 400 acres last year. We killed one and neighbor killed the other. That is rare for two big deer to be around at same time.

 

[BenAllgood]

I wish more states did these DMAP programs. The herd population, age, and health dynamics are great pieces of info to have. I've only seen that detail of data in DMAP or some other type of cooperators.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I think people in my area have very pie in the sky thoughts about what 3.5 years olds should be. They will send 140’s and say I think he’s three. And I say I think I touch the water when I stand up and pee…
I think our average 3.5 is 115-125.

 

[BenAllgood]

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What would you say a typical 3.5 yr old deer on your ground would score? Not your biggest - but your average. The above information is biological data for my general area, which as you can see is pretty poor. Yet we kill a 140 to upper 150 every few years. A 148” and a 153” were living on my 400 acres last year. We killed one and neighbor killed the other. That is rare for two big deer to be around at same time.

Are they lumping in the Red River basin deer in with that?

 

[Ikeman]

That is a little better than what our area ran for years. Our average mature bucks were in the 90’s inches wide.

Two things changed it…

1. about 10 years ago our county went to antler restrictions of 13” inside spread or greater.

2. Ranching got lean enough income wise that many of the small 40-100 acre places couldn’t justify continuing intensive operation. A decade or two of fencelines thickening and smaller fields being left fallow.

Now, a 4.5 or 5.5 year old buck probably averages 110-115.


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[Bowsnbucks]

I think our average 3.5 is 115-125.

For the area I hunt - I'd agree with this. Maybe 110 to 125. Bigger than that would be an exception for a 3.5 yr. old. 130 or bigger .......... call the taxi-man for sure.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

No idea but i'm jealous of states that actually monitor such things. In MN we only have does, fawn does, fawn bucks, and adult bucks. "Adult" buck per the DNR data is one with at least 3" of antler. As far as i know, data on age class and sex ratios is non-existent.

I'm guessing 115-120ish would be a fair avg for a 3.5 year old?

 

[Turkish]

I think people in my area have very pie in the sky thoughts about what 3.5 years olds should be. They will send 140’s and say I think he’s three. And I say I think I touch the water when I stand up and pee…
I think our average 3.5 is 115-125.

Yeah. To add… Average 3.5 yo or average harvested 3.5 yo. Biggg difference.

 

[TWIG]

I'd say here in central PA the average falls around 120" for the 3 year olds.

 

[letemgrow]

I'd say the average mature buck in my area is 130-140.

3.5 year old I think would be 120 for an average.

What makes it look more than that are the people that pass 10-15 bucks in that range to shoot a buck that's 150+...

I do think that if all deer are allowed to max out antler growth in the midwest it would be a 150 average.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I'd guess around 115-125" average for 3 year olds in SE MN. We used to send in all of our harvested deer for cementum annuli aging and it showed that the deer were consistently older than we thought. Several of the bucks we assumed were 2 year olds with 100" racks ended up being 5+ year old bucks that just had smaller than average racks.

 

[letemgrow]

Bucks shot off my farm last year. One was not mature and was big for a 3 year old.

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[homerj]

I do think that if all deer are allowed to max out antler growth in the midwest it would be a 150 average.

What would you call the "midwest"? Seems like an awfully large area with an awfully large number of variables to come up with a 150 average to me.

 

[letemgrow]

What would you call the "midwest"? Seems like an awfully large area with an awfully large number of variables to come up with a 150 average to me.

Essentially the corn belt

 

[SwampCat]

Are they lumping in the Red River basin deer in with that?

The red river basin is included in the gulf coastal plain region on the map. There are definitely a better grade of deer there - but may be such a small subset as to not skew the data much.

 

[Mortenson]

Average 3.5 running around here is probably 120-125 gross. Just got a pic of a buck who is 5.5 and we have 4 years history with. Named him "the ordinary 10" years ago. Looks to score 125" yet again.

 

[BenAllgood]

The red river basin is included in the gulf coastal plain region on the map. There are definitely a better grade of deer there - but may be such a small subset as to not skew the data much.

I was wondering how they handle that. Louisiana breaks it down into regions and then habitat types in those regions. I don't think they track B&C score though. There's definitely "pockets" of bucks where due to food and/or age, they tend to score higher.

 

[letemgrow]

Heck this old tank was 129.5.

Was this his best rack? Maybe, maybe not.

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[Wind Gypsy]

Essentially the corn belt

That is a good description for deer habitat purposes.

 

[homerj]

If using the entirety of the area Wikipedia uses to define the "midwest" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States I'd guess the average mature (5.5 and up year old) buck would score closer to 100" or 110" than to 150". There's a great percentage of bucks that for whatever reason will never possess great sets of antlers.