ORIGINAL: BigJ71
ORIGINAL: GregH
Well, if I had just went by what I saw for the first 18 years of hunting,.
Greg.....You REALLY never saw a 125in (P&Y) deer in the first 18 years of hunting??
I'm still hung up on Greg's statement because my observations over the last 20 some odd years have been QUITE different.....
Greg,
In those 18 years you didn't see a 135in or bigger deer, where were you hunting? Were you hunting the same land you are now in Illinois?
I'm just trying to get a grasp on how anyone in Illinois hasn't at least seen a P&Y (125in or bigger) deer in 18 years of hunting.
John, you have to remember that when I first started hunting in 1967, I had never seen or heard of compound bows or treestands!
It wasn't until 1984 that I shot a 96" 8 pointer with my rifle and I thought that it was a monster! I thought woods were woods and that deer were deer. I didn't realize that over 80% of the bucks taken during that time were only 1 1/2 year olds. Then a buddy told me about the P&Y and B&C clubs. I started to wonder why I had never seen one. So I started studying about deer, scouting and making a real effort to try to find one of these beasts. I started trophy hunting in 1991 and started hunting Ill in 1994. And now I'm where I'm at because of the desire to hunt big bucks.