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RE: Big Buck Barometer
I have shot several 6 and 7 year old bucks. Usually their racks are on the down swing all busted up and their bodies are all scared up from the 3 and 4 year old deer kicking the crap out of them. I look for 3/ 1/2 to 5 1/2 year old bucks. These bucks are at the top of their game. You can let out a grunt and these aggressive deer will turn on a dime with hair standing looking for the intruder. Aggressive, big racked, mean, dominant bucks. The ones after you shoot when your walking up on them your praying they are dead. Its all about the rack to me period. The half racked 7 1/2 year old buck I shot a couple of years back didn't even come close to the emotions I felt when I shot that big racked 3 1/2 year old.
When we have our hunting contest wescore by rack size not age. All who enter are hoping for the biggest racked buck they can get. Lets keep it real guys. Big racks are where it's at and they have to be there for you to have a chance to get one. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
Huntingbry I know where a number of big bucks (none in the 150's, but some pushing 140")bed and travel very close to a property I hunt. The problem is there is no hunting allowed in their core area. Believe me, I have tried every conceivable way of ethically and legally trying to get access to the land and been denied. My only hope is that a doe will get hot and come onto the property I hunt and come by my stand while I am in it. The fact that you can see them in a non pressured environment is not surprising. If in fact you were allowed to start hunting that property, the big boys would seem to disappear there as well. In a matter of days, not weeks. But they would still be there.They are quick to adapt to the amount of pressure that they experience and change their habits/behavior accordingly. GMMAT nj.....I can take you to a spot within 5 mi. of my house .....and if we don't see a P&Y caliber deer in the evening, feeding.....I'd be disappointed. GMMAT NO ONE can hunt this area......and what a lot of us is saying is.....they shouldn't be considered a "legitimate" "top end" barometer for our area. That's all. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: buckeye I can agree however if there is no freak status to either... A 5.5 y/o is more of a trophy than a 3.5 y/o. Point conceded. Is a 6.5 y/o NC buck more of a trophy than the 4.5 y/o Hanson buck? [/align] Now, take the 2500 miles that seperate the two places where these bucks were killed and put them on the same property.....which would be harder to kill? Sure, the Hanson buck will turn more heads, but the the 6.5 yr old is no slouch either.....no matter what his rack size is, he may not have been blessed with the genetics but I bet he's a lot smarter. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
I have shot several 6 and 7 year old bucks.  |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
The difference that im seeing is whether we have access to these top end bucks or not. If my property only holds 100-110 inch deer and If my neighbor has a 200" whitetail that lives every second of his life on his property and he doesnt allow any hunting at all. That is the top end buck in the area, not the 110 inch ones walking around my property. Having access to these deer doesnt change the fact that in that given area, they are the head of the class. Now we can all argue over whats our "area", which some of us are talking aboutcounties and some of us are talking about a few acres. My opinionsare based ona few miles surrounding each area i hunt. This is based on a buck having a home range of a mile or more, although mature bucks ranges grow smaller as they age, but thats besides the point. In theory, if my stand is a half mile from the center of a given bucks home range, he could be on the opposite side of his range, a mile from me, on land i cant hunt, but he is still in my area. Not sure that makes sense though.
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RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: quiksilver 4 guys in camo, all sitting around the OUIJA board. "Oh Mighty OUIJA - Hallowed Be Thy Name - Show Us The Way." B-O-N-E-R :D |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
Is a 6.5 y/o NC buck more of a trophy than the 4.5 y/o Hanson buck? Is a 50# bull dolphin more of a trophy than an 8lb. OH Largemouth? Apples and oranges. TO ME....(since I don't hunt OH).....I'd be tickled to death with my 6.5yr old NC buck. He'sone helluva representativefor his species in my state. Would I (given the choice) shoot him (even with a half-rack)overa 110" 3.5yr old? Yes I would....and I haven't shot a 110"buck, yet. There's no right or wrong answer to these scenarios. Just differing points of view.....which is fine. I stated that I agree with _Dan (and others) on their assessments. I didnt say my outlook on what I might shoot was any different than Dan's. Given the opportunity to take a really good representative 2.5yr old from the herd I hunt....I'll take it.....even though I'm holding out (on paper and ideologically) for something a little older. If he's one of the best representative deer (which I've already defined) for my area.....I'd be happy to kill him. A really good 2.5 yrold would fit that description. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: quiksilver I think we're bickering over terminology here: When I say "representative deer" - for my area - it's a 1.5 year old scrubrack 3x3 - or smaller. When I say "top-end deer" - I mean a deer that will put you on the leaderboard in the local archery contest. Not the biggest deer in the county. When I say "the biggest deer in the township/borough/zip code" - I'm talking about a deer that will virtually guarantee you victory in the local deer pool. When I say "the biggest deer in the county" - I mean exactly that. The biggest deer in the state - is the biggest deer in the state. The state record - is the biggest deer ever harvested in a state. Every township has a big buck, and every county has a lot of townships. Every state has a lot of counties. So, if you look at it through this lens, it seems that there are a lot of big deer in every state. But hunting them, realistically, is another thing. In my area, the biggest deer in the township is probably a 140. The biggest deer in the county is probably a 160. That said, if you shoot a 115" buck, you'll probably finish in the money in the local bow pool. That's usually around 100 local entries. So, if I hear a guy in Fayette County, PA say that he's holding out for a 140 - it's a laugh. If past history is any indicator of the present, he has a better chance of being struck by lightning. Let's just say, for the sake of argument that a certain township is 35 square miles (that's about average). 35 square miles is 22,400 acres of land mass. Do you have any idea how hard it is to see, locate, and dial-in on that particular deer? It's a magnanimous commitment of time and effort, topped off by some VERY long odds. Brace yourselves and open your minds, because His Majesty is about to take you down a road that you've never been down...  Mathematically, if your range is 30 yards... KILL ZONE= 3.14 x 90 ft (squared) KILL ZONE= 25,434 square feet So, if you're hunting a 22,400 acre area.... 1 Acre = 43,560 square feet So, if an average Township is 22,400 acres.... 43,560 x 22,400 ACRES = 975,744,000 SQUARE FEET That means that, at any given time, your odds of having the biggest buck in the township WITHIN 30 yards is: 25,434 / 975,744,000 = .000026 .0026% That's what I'm trying to say. What date did you shoot big boy last year? I cannot remember |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
The average top end deer wear I live is around 150 but Ive seen a hand full that would make you famous way over 200.
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RE: Big Buck Barometer
Mathematically, if your range is 30 yards... KILL ZONE= 3.14 x 90 ft (squared) KILL ZONE= 25,434 square feet So, if you're hunting a 22,400 acre area.... 1 Acre = 43,560 square feet So, if an average Township is 22,400 acres.... 43,560 x 22,400 ACRES = 975,744,000 SQUARE FEET That means that, at any given time, your odds of having the biggest buck in the township WITHIN 30 yards is: 25,434 / 975,744,000 = .000026 .0026% Your chances of having the biggest buck in the county within range at any given momentare: 25,434 / 27,878,000,000 = .0000000912. That's .00000912%. Pretty good odds, eh?  So the moral of the story here is, to shoot the biggest buck in your county, you have to be extremely, extremely lucky. Even to shoot the biggest buck in your locality, you have to have the stars align, and be fortunate enough to access the specific parcels that he's using. If you DO somehow manage to do it. You are not the norm. You are a statistical anomaly. Gary: I shot one buck on 10/19 I think. The second one was taken in the first week of November. |
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