I live & hunt outside of Meadville, there are plenty of 150 class bucks shot in rifle season and a few in bow season, the biggest detractor of killing big bucks here is the one and your done rule,you'll never shoot a 3.5 year old buck if you are happy shooting every 2-5 that walks under your tree.[:-]

Im out of here for the weekend, everyone have a safe and fun 4th of July.

ps- It as a great change of pace to be a part of a thread whre everyone had a mature and interesting debate with no bickering.

Once again, have a safe and happy 4th.

.0026% ? I'm so depressed I think I'll quit hunting.[&o]The thing you forgot to factor in was habitat. If you own the best land and manage it for deer your % is going to go way up.

The fact is (and this is true for anywhere you will ever hunt) There are a few select places that produce trophy deer. These are usually the result of managed private land or places where hunting is not allowed.Access to these places is almost impossible. I travel 170 miles north to do my hunting. Within 10 miles of my house a 180+ buck was shot last year. rumor has it that the guy shot the small one. My chances at the other one are far less than .0026%. [&o]I have to laugh at all the people who look at those maps of trophy deer and believe that there is a trophy deer hiding behind every tree in Wis. Most of those deer are taken off private property where the deer are allowed to mature. I hunted for many years in central Wis. I saw only a handful of big bucks in all those years.
If I had the money it takes to grow trophy bucks I would retire instead and use the money to enjoy all that this world has to offer.

Many people say that age determines the trophy. Why do these people then complain that their area doesn't produce inches? Why do they suppliment with minerals? Minerals don't increase age. Why do they plant food plots? Why don't people look at a deer mount or picture and ask "how old was he"? Why do people ask "what did he score"? Why does the deer contest on this forum go by score and not age?

Gary - Once I'm tagged-out in PA, I pass 2.5's until I think I'm out of time. At that point, I take the bow off the hook andtag out. I will not eat tags, especially the expensive NR variety. I'll wait as long as I can, but IWILL shoot something when the sun starts to set on my season. I don't care if it's a spike - I'm going to the check station one way or the other. I DO still enjoy shooting deer.

I just checked my log books - this year, I saw and/or passedSEVEN 2.5's in Ohio between 10/28 and 11/10 - six days in the tree. On 11/10,I shot a tree on a 120-125 class 4x4, and shot a 110" buck 30 minutes later. I passed bigger deer than the one I killed.

You'd hunt all year to kill a buck thatnice back near home. I saw eight in six hunts in Ohio, and killed #8. I was out of time.

So you suggest that I'm not killing booners because I'm not passing up the smaller stuff... Well... I AM passing up the smaller stuff - until I get to the point where I have to choose between shooting a decent buck or just going home and eating my tag. The difference is, back home in Fayette County, PA, you can pass 2.5's until you're blue-in-the-face, and the chances of a 140+ walking around the ridge are probably in the .0026% range.


For what it's worth: I'm amazed by my math skillz, and the aforementioned bell curve results. Sofa King Awesome.

By the way, great post Matt/PA.

Fran I see the lawyer in you coming out Notice what state I asked about.
I never said one word about Ohio, I know what a Out of Statetag cost.

Well no...not really, I guess there was (obviously) some reason why you didn't see any, perhaps there just weren'tas many around........like how it is in those other states I mentioned.

I do think it has more to do with location that experience gained throughout the years (although that helps) because I've been seeing P&Y caliber deer for as long as I can remember....I guess I'm just that good.

Sorry a little off topic: or is it?

Barometer

Most outdoorsman pay close attention to the barometric pressure as an indication of general activity no matter what sort of game they may be after. This is the number one one weather indictor to pay attention to and check regularly when heading to the woods. While it can be a complicated topic, whitetails seem to favor a moving barometer to a stationary one. A rising barometer (such as high pressure moving in after a storm) verses a falling one and a steady high barometer verses a steady low one seems to promote the best activity. You may want to invest in a barometer for your deer lodge or camp so you can track your specific area verses the one your get from the TV weather man, sometimes 100 miles or more from where you are.
A barometer in your deer camp will give you the ability to accurately anticipate the amount of deer movement you can expected on your next hunt.


Barometer/Barometric Pressure: A device that measures atmospheric pressure. A hunter should be aware of changes in barometric pressure. White-tailed deer sense pressure changes long before hunters experience an actual change in the weather. Deer movement always seems to increase with a change in the barometric reading. A constant wind in the evening, lasting into nightfall, is often a good indication the barometric pressure is going to change (that is a front is coming in). A rising barometer indicates fair or good weather is on the way. A falling barometer signals the approach of worsening weather.

G: No. My best chance at having a great year is to shoot the first nice 2.5 that I can in PA, and head west to Ohio and try to be dialed-in on a fewsolid areas forwhen the rut finally arrives. The earlier I'm finished in PA, the more time I get to soakinto Ohio, where I believe that I stand the best statistical probability of shooting a big buck with the very limited amount of time that I have available.

I note where the needle is pointing then tap on the face to see if the needle moves up or down.

Fran I think you do not use game cameras like me, so the Rut is the best time to hunt and see what is out there. Being you missed it, how do you, me or anyone really know unless we use game camera's? Spot lighting does not do it, I could spot light until I am blue in the face. Those big boys in PA and MI are not coming to a field where they can be spotted(that often).

Before any one jumps on me I am talking with Fran about deer hunting. There is no malice between us, we are learning together