ORIGINAL: jackflap
I marked advanced only because I have studied/hunted them for a long time, but advanced might be a bit of a stretch otherwise and here is why.
Original GMMAT
They have brains the size of small pears. We catch them going to eat......coming home form a night out.....or while letting their guard down during the mating process. These things I know.
I'll say it again.....this isn't rocket science.....and I'm content not labeling myself.
I am not grilling you but I will respond in a way that will sound harsher than I intend but that is how it goes with the written word.
This may be true if you are just talking about deer in general. But I beg to differ in regard to killing the true mature deer in your area. I know you think you have killed the biggest deer in your area, and since I have never hunted or been in your area, maybe so.
But I highly doubt it. Just the biggest ones you have seen. Why do I say this? Because of my own experience over many years and I suspect it is true for most of us.
Onetopic that I know we will agree on is relativity. I have killed 3 Pope and Young deer but then again I live in an area that produces a higher percent of P/Y deer than most areas. So the fact that I have 3 deer over 125" by itself doesn't mean anything, hence the relativity. None of the three have scored over 135".
But I can also attest that they are the biggest deer I have ever seenon the hoof.But that doesn't mean anythingeither other than I am not yet smart enough or lucky enough to shoot the really big boys that I know live right under my nose. How do I know that bigger deer are there if I haven't see them? Three specific examples.
1. 5-6 years ago I found a dead deer on my property that was hit by a car on a nearby county roadthat scored around 155 that I HAD NEVER SEEN even though I had hunted that farm over 30 days directly prior to finding him dead that season.
2. I found a shed about 3 years ago that would have been in the same category as the deer mentioned above with a huge droptine. I never saw the deer anytime of the year and haven't yet. And again, I hunt A LOT OF DAYS and use trail cameras as well.
3.I had a picture on a flash camera a couple of years ago of a very large and unique deer that would have scored in the 140's that only showed up on camera one time and I have never seen on the hoof.
Now these are only three incidences in over 20 years of intensehunting of the same farm. But they were all within the last 6 years and to me they are more than random coincidence.
Until these three incidences, I was convinced I was shooting the biggest and most mature deer in my area in any given year. WRONG
It may not be rocket science, but then again I am no rocket scientist.
