Big Buck Barometer
07-02-2008, 12:23 PM
#31
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
RE: Big Buck Barometer
If you are in fact ALWAYS (always as defined sometime during the season) seeing the largest deer your area has to offer each year, then your deer are really, really stupid.
In general, though....I see your point.
07-02-2008, 12:26 PM
#32
Site Bouncer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Illinois
Posts: 4,099
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: huntingson
I think you are absolutely right. In the end it comes down to priorities, situation andcircumstance. I could hunt areas with bigger bucks than my farm, but I have other priorities that limit the time I can spend there (staying employed and trying to keep from becoming divorced are the top 2
). I'm not complaining. I just think it comes down to what are you willing/able to do to make it happen.
I think you are absolutely right. In the end it comes down to priorities, situation andcircumstance. I could hunt areas with bigger bucks than my farm, but I have other priorities that limit the time I can spend there (staying employed and trying to keep from becoming divorced are the top 2
). I'm not complaining. I just think it comes down to what are you willing/able to do to make it happen.
Sure, it's "possible" that the land you're hunting holds P&Y deer but we all know some areas hold FAR more than others. So yeah, it can be said "just hold out for a booner" or "go find the booners" but to what extent and time does one need to do this in an area that simply doesn't hold that caliber deer? I dare say that the folks who have no problem "holding out for a booner" would become quite disenchanted and disheartened with this "game plan" if they hunted in the areas where those deer just aren't found.
I cantell you alltomorrow that I'm going to "hold off" shooting a buck until it's at least a 140in deer KNOWING full well I'll probably see one that bigwithin a year or two. I don't think I'd make that same statement if I knew it would take me 20 years before I even saw one much less had a chance to kill one!
I can honestly say that in all the years I've hunted exclusively here in Illinois (over 20 years) I've seen at least oneP&Y (125in or bigger) deer while hunting. They many not have all been in range or even during the bow season (some sighting happened during the gun seasons) but I've seen big deer every year for as long as I can remember. And this isn't even in the "choice" areas of Illinois. How anyone can hunt here in Illinois and NOT see at least one deer that size in that many years is either doing something extremely wrong or is sleeping in their stand.........
07-02-2008, 12:26 PM
#33
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Chatham, Ohio
Posts: 8,834
RE: Big Buck Barometer
One thing i think we can agree on is that unless we go and hunt with one another, we don't "know" what its like in different areas. Just because a guy is seeing 150+ bucks every day doesn't mean the deer are stupid, maybe hes glassing them from 1/4 mile away in a field. We just simply don't know unless we experience it first hand.
07-02-2008, 12:28 PM
#34
Site Buck Guru
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Racine, Wisconsin
Posts: 5,922
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: quiksilver
That's the point.
I'm just saying that we all should temper our expectations according to what we see, not what's listed in the record books.
Otherwise, we're just setting ourselves up for a magnanimous letdown.
ORIGINAL: GregH
Google "record book bucks of Pennsylvania, NC, SC, NY etc" and see what you come up with. They may not be as common as in other places but there are bucks scoring 160+ being taken from these places.
Google "record book bucks of Pennsylvania, NC, SC, NY etc" and see what you come up with. They may not be as common as in other places but there are bucks scoring 160+ being taken from these places.
I'm just saying that we all should temper our expectations according to what we see, not what's listed in the record books.
Otherwise, we're just setting ourselves up for a magnanimous letdown.
The above is meaningless unless ones goal is to start taking mature bucks. If it is your goal to hunt for a mature buck the record books can help verify whether you are wasting your time in a certain county or you are simply hunting wrong and not seeing them.
My point is........ don't only go by what you see. You may be doing something wrong.
07-02-2008, 12:37 PM
#36
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: The OH-IO
Posts: 7,103
RE: Big Buck Barometer
There's a very distinct reasonwhy you stay on the west side of the PA/OHline.
I do hunt PA from time to time andknow quite a fewwho hunt there...One example is two brothers whodo a lot of videoing and in factshot a150+ (among other nice bucks) with the bow that was on one of the Drury videos.... They don't live in Allegheny county either.Ryan has laid down a couple, Matt/PA, Kidd, remember Muzzyman?... Heck he laid down a few fine PA bucks.....
I am just saying they are there..... For sure..... No doubt in my mind.... Are they on your specific land? That I do not know... But they are "there".
2004 statistics show PA as the #8 producer of P&Y bucks.... You guys were only a few years deep into AR's then.... Numbers don't lie..... and the numbers say PA was #8 in 2004....
5 days, and I saw more quality deer over that span than I'd seen in hundreds of stand-hours in PA,
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07-02-2008, 12:42 PM
#37
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,796
RE: Big Buck Barometer
What you see, whether personally or trail cam pics, is proof of certain deer being there. What you do not see, and claim not to be there, is an educated guess, at best.
That being said, don't give me the BS that "other" mature deer do not live in or near your hunting grounds, when in fact, you have no proof. You are going by an educated guess at best and I don't care how else you try to see it.
LT
That being said, don't give me the BS that "other" mature deer do not live in or near your hunting grounds, when in fact, you have no proof. You are going by an educated guess at best and I don't care how else you try to see it.
LT
07-02-2008, 12:44 PM
#38
Site Bouncer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Illinois
Posts: 4,099
RE: Big Buck Barometer
I'm still hung up on Greg's statement because my observations over the last 20 some odd years have been QUITE different.....
Greg,
In those 18 years you didn't see a 135in or bigger deer, where were you hunting? Were you hunting the same land you are now in Illinois?
I'm just trying to get a grasp on how anyone in Illinois hasn't at least seen a P&Y (125in or bigger) deer in 18 years of hunting.
Greg,
In those 18 years you didn't see a 135in or bigger deer, where were you hunting? Were you hunting the same land you are now in Illinois?
I'm just trying to get a grasp on how anyone in Illinois hasn't at least seen a P&Y (125in or bigger) deer in 18 years of hunting.
07-02-2008, 12:45 PM
#39
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,716
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: GregH
By looking at the record books and seeing that they do exist would hopefully cause one to change his tactics and start hunting differently or in a different place. You can have two places, basically adjacent to each other and one will out perform the other. The record books are a good starting place to plan your strategy of where to start looking. They also give one hope by letting them know that big bucks do exist in certain places of their state . . . the record books can help verify whether you are wasting your time in a certain county or you are simply hunting wrong and not seeing them.
My point is........ don't only go by what you see. You may be doing something wrong.
By looking at the record books and seeing that they do exist would hopefully cause one to change his tactics and start hunting differently or in a different place. You can have two places, basically adjacent to each other and one will out perform the other. The record books are a good starting place to plan your strategy of where to start looking. They also give one hope by letting them know that big bucks do exist in certain places of their state . . . the record books can help verify whether you are wasting your time in a certain county or you are simply hunting wrong and not seeing them.
My point is........ don't only go by what you see. You may be doing something wrong.
And you'll find out that when you finally do make the move to a Trophy-heavy area, you'll see different results almost immediately. It's not necessarily that you were doing something "wrong" at home, it's just that you were hunting a certain caliber of deer in an area that simply didn't hold enough of them to realistically give you a mathematical chance.
Obviously, this is why many huntersdumpthousands of dollars every year, intotraveling all over the U.S., instead of staying home and hunting in their own back yards.
07-02-2008, 12:49 PM
#40
Site Bouncer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Illinois
Posts: 4,099
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: quiksilver
I agree, Greg. That's kinda the point. People need to understand the trophy productivity and frequency in their home counties before they go out there expecting to see a 180.
And you'll find out that when you finally do make the move to a Trophy-heavy area, you'll see different results almost immediately. It's not necessarily that you were doing something "wrong" at home, it's just that you were hunting a certain caliber of deer in an area that simply didn't hold enough of them to realistically give you a mathematical chance.
Obviously, this is why many huntersdumpthousands of dollars every year, intotraveling all over the U.S., instead of staying home and hunting in their own back yards.
ORIGINAL: GregH
By looking at the record books and seeing that they do exist would hopefully cause one to change his tactics and start hunting differently or in a different place. You can have two places, basically adjacent to each other and one will out perform the other. The record books are a good starting place to plan your strategy of where to start looking. They also give one hope by letting them know that big bucks do exist in certain places of their state . . . the record books can help verify whether you are wasting your time in a certain county or you are simply hunting wrong and not seeing them.
My point is........ don't only go by what you see. You may be doing something wrong.
By looking at the record books and seeing that they do exist would hopefully cause one to change his tactics and start hunting differently or in a different place. You can have two places, basically adjacent to each other and one will out perform the other. The record books are a good starting place to plan your strategy of where to start looking. They also give one hope by letting them know that big bucks do exist in certain places of their state . . . the record books can help verify whether you are wasting your time in a certain county or you are simply hunting wrong and not seeing them.
My point is........ don't only go by what you see. You may be doing something wrong.
And you'll find out that when you finally do make the move to a Trophy-heavy area, you'll see different results almost immediately. It's not necessarily that you were doing something "wrong" at home, it's just that you were hunting a certain caliber of deer in an area that simply didn't hold enough of them to realistically give you a mathematical chance.
Obviously, this is why many huntersdumpthousands of dollars every year, intotraveling all over the U.S., instead of staying home and hunting in their own back yards.