ORIGINAL: GMMAT
Don....If you didn't live where you do you'd be shooting "little forkies", too, I guess. When you shoot the largest racked buck in YOUR woods....come back here and talk to me about the "little forkies" I shoot.
Your correlation to the large deer and what the CO told you to shoot is a BIT convoluted. Do you think the number of P&Y/B&C entries has anything to do with soil content (as far as nutrients)? Percentage of grain crops? Percentage of land used for nothing else??? You think your whole state's large deer pop. has everything to do with your entire state being under QDM type programs???
I take what you said as an insult. If you didn't mean it that way.....then explain what I can do to keep from having to shoot all the "little forkies" like the ones I did, this year.
And then tell me what you really know about the herd of deer in NC.
Thanks.
Ist off, no insult, just stating a fact.If the deer aren't allowed to mature they will never be nice racked deer regardless of location, soil, food, or nutrients. You keep shooting the biggest deer in the woods and it is a forkie than this is evidentally a trend that a hunter wants to continue.
The main thing that helps IA with big deer is that our DNR has the insight to not allow guns in the woods during the rut. This has to be a HUGE factor as MN is aboveus and MO is below us with the same types of soil and geography but they don't get the big racked bucks like we do. They do have gun seasons in place during the rut, this is aBIG MISTAKE for a state that wants trophy deer. WE also don't allow centerfire rifles to be used during regular gun season and MN and MO do.Although I don't gun hunt deer, most of the gun hunters that I know in the state won't shoot a buck unless it ishas a decent rack or amature one,there are exceptions to this of course. I am only speaking of the gun hunters thatI know of in my area.Even when IA had a buck only gun tagpolicy 10 years ago, my buddies and I wouldn't shoot a buck unless hehad a decent rack or wasmature. Does have always been able to be taken with a bow so meat has never been an issue with passing on small bucks. Many years ago I shot small bucks but that policy changed when I matured as a whitetail hunter and my priorities changed. To each his own. Nothing wrong with small bucks if that is what you are happy with. You have stated that you are the only hunter allowed in this area. You therefore are in control. Let the bucks live, thin some mature does out ,and create your own trophy area, to hell with the rest of the state of NC. Manage your suburban area into big buck land. Since I would assumefood plots are not an option where you hunt, put some feed bunks out with minerals and supplemental feed in these areas away from where you directly hunt so as not to be hunting over or near bait. The cards are in your hands, make it a big buck paradise.