Hello all...Im new to the site..just signed up about 10 minutes ago..the average weight/antler size of a buck depends alot on diet and genetics...and of course survivalable age....ie;if ya shoot them at 1 1/2 they aint gonna get to 3 yrs old...common sense but ya cant imagine how many hunters havent or wont show some restraint...ive hunted deer in illinois since the late 70's..and i imagine we have alot of 200lbers+ taken every season but thats not our average at all...and the 200 mark is batted around alot...had a hunter at the cass co checkin station for gun trying to convince me his doe weighed 170#..LMAO....it was a really nice doe but was about 130 to 135 at best!....ive taken/killed alot of deer and been in on alot of deer harvests thru calling etc...i dont drive deer...and i weighed alot of those deer....you would be surprised by how many people over estimate their deer by FAR!...last year i took a "cull' 5 pt that weighed almost 170#...big deer...and i also took an 8 pt that was about 150# with a very nice rack.(scores about 130b&c).both of these deer were about 3 years old..from the samefarm/area...genetics,injuries etc will also dictate antler growth ,size and body size, healthiness of the deer and this also affects does.....i took 2 bucks (the above mentioned) with gun last year shotgun and muzzleloader.. and i took 5 deer with my bow...4 does and 1 mistake button buck.. and the 5 pt was by far the biggest...i would hazard a guess and say out of all the bucks harvested in illinois in a given year only 5% at best even really approach the 200#mark after field dressing..our hunting group harvested at least 12 bucks last year(I would have to go thru my records)(and we are a "loose" group...we hunt alot of different land and few of us hunt together but we have our deer camp together plus we all live basically in the same general area).. and there was only one bigger then my 5 pt 170#er.....we had several nice mature bucks that weighed in at 150 to 160..and i would say that is about average for this area..maybe even a little above average..well i got jerky in the dehydrator so i better go..nice meeting everyone