Originally Posted by
blackoak
Are you saying that the # of IL B&C bucks taken during firearms season, that the rut was completely over and done with and had no effect on these numbers? Indiana may not take the quantity of B&C buck as IL, do to the fact that we don't have the number of hunters as IL, for now and I myself like this. I live in Pike County, Indiana. There's not an outfitter among us .
I am saying exactly what my words stated if you review my prior posts. Mature bucks are most vulnerable during the "5 prime peak rut days" and increase/decrease incrementally before and after those 5 days. Experienced hunters know what those days are. They vary a bit by region. However, all of November is the active. Kansas and Iowa allow no firearms in November. Illinois has only 3 days, which typically occur after the peak 5 days.
Indiana has 16 gun days in November which routiely include the 5 peak days depending on the year.
Fewer number of P&Y bucks harvested in Indiana has virtually nothing to do with numbers of hunters, when you evaluate it on a county-by county basis. The farm country counties of IN & IL have similar human densities and hunter efforts. If you followed your population theory then Indiana should produce better buck quality on public land than Illinois because there are less hunters. That is clearly not the case. Heck, little IN public land has any quotas on gun hunters except some the first 2 or 3 days. So by your theory there should be more big bucks harvested because there are more hunters hunting them.
The exact opposite is true though. More hunters mean fewer bucks live long enough to become mature to be harvested by anybody, andywhere, anytime.