yea id have been wrong on this one too, round here yearlings are basically fawn that lost there spots, so kinda like button bucks and small small does. i guess different strokes for different folks, call them what you want.

as far as the OHIO VS NORTH CAROLINA arguement, hows about this. both of you shoot MATURE DEER as Dan keeps saying. I dont see what the antler fuss is all about, a four year old deer is a four year old deer no matter WHERE it lives.

Rob:

I appreciate not you taking my side.....but sharing what it's like here....and what I'm trying my best to reverse.....which is years of doing nothing (by my neighbors). I put as much into this as anyone....and it rubs me wrong when people try to tell me about the herd I hunt. I put out minerals. I planted a food plot. I supplemental feed. I stay in touch with my GW and my Wildlife Biologist.I hunt smart and hard.

My ONLY point was.....that I do the same things the guys in the big buck states do. The difference.......location.

I don't have a thing in the world against Scott.....and I admire his dedication to hunting. He's obviously turned some other guys onto this passion. Kudos.

Stressful week.....I regret the way it turned.

Take care.

Dan:

It's not that noble. I was ignorant until recently. I just felt like something wasn't right with the numbers I was seeing. So....I contacted the NCWRC and talked to the bio. Took a QDMA seminar on food plots. Came up with a game plan....and here I am. I told Rob QAM will be a side effect of the QDM (Which is the way it should be.....a bi-product). I think I can (maybe I'm being optimistic) shoot a 130" deer here in the next 3 or 4 years.

I hope I'm as disciplined and patient as I'm going to need to be. Thanks for the encouragement.
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To be TOTALLY honest, I don't much care. Part of me would say Ohio, but only because I could possibly hunt with Scott. Don't forget my friend, I don't much give a darn as to the size of the buck. NC has an aweful lot of deer to choose from apparently, so I would stand a good chance it seems.

I'm not arguing, I'm merely stating he sure didn't appear to be to me. I understand that the deer on the east coast aren't as big, but body size or no, a mature animal would have some of the same characteristics, yes? What I mean is not having a baby face, muscles filled out, sway back, that type of thing, or am I misguided in thinking that? I don't doubt your word, GMMAT's or his taxi's, I'm just saying what I saw and my perception....Not that this is really the point of the thread anyway.

Do I agree that some areas hold more mature bucks than others? Sure. Does that increase your odds of shooting one? Absolutely. BUT.....I SERIOUSLY don't think it's the MAIN factor in whether we shoot one or not, it's how hard we work in the offseason. Whether there's 1 mature animal or 5 in an area, we still have to find them to shoot them. Is it maybe easier if there's 5? Possibly, but not necessarily. I have found that the more mature bucks there are in an area the more people are hunting them IN that area.....

You know, I kind of have to laugh at myself here, now that I think about it.....I've never killed a buck PERIOD, with archery tackle anyway.....Maybe I haven't earned the "right" to discuss it......

You've got every right in the world, mobo....and the thread I posted the other day referenced BIG deer......not mature deer.

Now insert that into your previous post.

I just can't fathom why that's so hard to see. It's not really debateable. It's fact.

And mobo.....my deer was rutting hard. He was chasing does when I shot him (the morning I shot him). He was huffin like a train. I have no doubts he was a healthier specimen in October. He still weighed 170+ lbs.....which is a big deer if you ask .....well....if you ask people around here.

It's kinda hard to travel "one measley" county north if you have a job and your hunting hours are limited. I don't believe that anyone here is debating that there can be and are big bucks in every state, but that doesn't mean you have the ability to hunt them. Even if ya did, are you gonna set up trail cams in the entire state so you know which bucks are there?

Given that alone, then absolutely. But even in an area w/ "small" deer there are some "big" ones, yes?

Man, I can't keep up w/ the edits.....LOL Yes, 170 is a big deer, in anyone's book.

mobo.....why does no one think my last buck last year was a "big" deer? Who all can say they shot the biggest buck they've seen in their woods? I'm not naive. I won't say there's not a bigger one out there (this, of course, is a stance that's taken by some that is indefensible by me).....but you'd think I'd at LEAST see him....or get a trail cam photo of him....or have a neighbor see him....etc... Didn't happen.

Everything's relative.....and the public perception is determined by "location". "I" feel lie it's a fact. I may be wrong.

You absolutely do, remember, those that can't.....teach(coach)...lol It's your year my friend.

Remember the drop tine buck I posted the other day? I've been hunting there for YEARS and NEVER seen that buck......Or any big buck.....I have cameras out as well, and my parents live there.......NEVER seen him before.....But he's been there, of that I have NO doubt. Them rascals are just plain old good at hiding.....