ORIGINAL: Matt / PA
But look at it this way Matt...how many years have you hunted IL? How many mature bucks have you taken? Which state was your biggest buck from? (I don't know these answers, not loaded questions)
Ive hunted Illinois for a total of 6 weeks spread over 4 seasons........I've taken ZERO "mature" bucks. LOL but I've also SEEN literally dozens with no good shot opportunities. Hell I saw a 150-160" 10 pt the first AM of the first day I ever hunted in Illinois on a DIY hunt. LOL To that point in PA I had never seen even one in 20 full seasons.
Ok so I killed my biggest buck in PA, the
ONLY P&Y deer I have ever seen on the hoof in PA in my life and I killed him........statictical anomoly that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. [8D]
What you also have to realize is that for 4 seasons in IL plus Nebraska I have passed up handfuls of deer that would have been my best to date by far hoping for a gagger........deer I would have emptied my quiver at and lept from my stand to kill with my bare hands in PA if need be.
The odds tell me I need to be hunting out there.
I honestly feel like I should/would be putting down a solid P&Y buck where we hunt in Illinois probably every other or every 3rd year.........in PA I have only SEEN the one I killed last year.
We have roughly 1,000,000 licensed hunters here, probably 3/4 of them still have a "buck" tag come rifle season which is a 2 week 3pts to a side, plus we're gonna kill every button buck that walks by, free-for-all.......vs 2 short shotgun seasons in a state where you'll get made fun of for shooting a 1.5yr old?
There's no comparison that can be made between PA and a state like Illinois or Iowa beyond we both have whitetail deer.
Points all valid and taken. I think that ties back into hunter's attitudes more than anything (what I struggle with here locally). Is IL managed THAT much better with that much more potential, or is it the attitude of hunters?
If PA hunters had the mindset of IL hunters...would the hunting be similar after 3-4 years?
Like I said, Antler wise? No doubt they can grow bigger where there are unlimited food resources, good cover, and good genetics....but the number of mature bucks has nothing to do with that, it's all in the hunting season's structure, and the overall attitude of hunting.
The more I think about it, the more Im starting to believe the attitude of the hunting masses is the number one factor into how good the deer hunting is, big bucks speaking...Big picture here, not a single farm, a state or at the very least a county's area.