1) The potential for bitter cold helps to thin out small deer.

2) Here in Iowa, our gun season is after the rut when big bucks are not so sex crazed. Big buck are more likely to survive.

3) Good nutrition in farm country.

4) More selective hunters.

5) Lucky genetics.

I have noticed that more states are producing higher numbers of big deer. I think this is due to more people passing on smaller bucks; a QDM mindset. It also helps that the doe stigma is almost gone. When I was a kid most tags here in Iowa were bucks only and even if you had one of the coveted any sex tags, most hunters would shoot any buck before shooting a doe. Now a large number of hunters will shoot does before they shoot anything but a big buck.

I see pictures of monsters coming out of almost all of the cold weather states now. There are more big deer coming out of the South than in the past too.

Bob