O my, where to start
The absence of farms doesn't necessarily mean an absence of good nutrition.
Very true, but it does generally mean that there isn't a constant food source providing good nutrition for the deer. Sure, there are some oaks that produce a good mast crop, but they don't drop acorns all year long so the deer browse pretty much the rest of the year. This browse doesn't regenerate at the rate the deer eat it so I would say its pretty safe to say that there is a lack of good nutrition in general.
I know what you are sayin BM.... Any "location" can and will produce large racked bucks even if the soil is acidic and of poor quality. You don't have to have Iowa dirt to grow big bucks.
Thats exactly what I am talking about Scott. Any location can and will produce large racked whitetail deer. Yes, nutrition and genetics are definetly part of the equation but overall genetics and nutrition mean squat when the deer aren't living to the age of maturity. This isn't something that can be fixed over night either, it takes years of consistant and constant management to turn a out of balance deer herd into a "trophy" herd. You can pass all the 1-1/2 year old bucks you want for several years and still not see a major differance in antler size. That is simply because it takes time for the management to work through to where the bucks are growing trophy antlers. This can be achieved EVERYWHERE, heck, there are places in Florida producing 150"-160" whitetail bucks, to think it can't be done everywhere is crazy.
Don't be mad at me because I learned in a short time what it took you years to learn. I guess some of us are a little more efficient.
Okay, I found this particularly amussing. I'm sorry GMMAT, but to cast Buckeye's knowledge of hunting mature whitetails off as something that everybody can achieve easily is simply crazy. It doesn't matter what part of the country you are from, consistantly harvesting mature bucks takes skill and a special knowledge of the herd that can't be read off the internet or found in any magazine or book. There are some guys on here that consistantly bag mature bucks, KCISON, GregH, MOTOWN, Rybo, ect.. these guys didn't aquire the knowledge it takes to harvest these deer from a magazine, it took years of hard work and pure dedication.
PA was never considered to have good genetics because so few deer ever got to reach an age where they could show thier true genetics. Imagine those 140-150" bucks with some ag crops...they'd go 160-170" I'd say they had incredible genetics.
Very true Rybo, but if these bucks had the genetics that some areas provide (which can and is currently being worked on) that some other areas like Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Canada, ect.. those same 160"-170" bucks could be 190"-200" bucks.