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RE: Big Buck Barometer
I don't know the circumstances regarding Ryan's deer. I just know that he lives near Allegheny County. The point was, Rybo has killed as many PY-caliber deer in PA as anyone I know (2), and that feat was not accomplished overnight.
PA has approximately1,000,000 hunters, and the vast majority of them hunt deer with either gun or bow. The point is that if PA was crawling with booners, somebody would've shot a few of them by now. It's not that everyone hunting inside the confines of the Commonwealth is a bumbling clueless idiot. They just can't shoot what isn't here. Go back to this acquaintance of mine. This is a guy who has never killed a deer over 120 in his entire life- he goes on a pay-hunt to Illinois and shoots an absolute freakshow buck 3 days later. What happened? Did he just wake up one day and learn the inner secrets to slaying monster bucks? Should I expect him to shoot a booner back here in PA next fall, now that he has learned these new-found skills? Yes - I did indeed bear witness to the big buck that Rybo bumped out of the scrape that he was supposed to be hunting over. [:@] I only saw it briefly, but it was a definite shooter. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: rybohunter Yeah, but you did SEE a big buck right? Your 1st night in the tree no less. How many that size have you seen in your home hunting grounds? Location fellas.....location.;) From what he tells me, it was about the same size as the last 2 bucks I killed here in PA. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
Welcome HUNTERNY! I live in Woodstock NY,about an hour south of you I am guessing.There are some area's surrounding Albany that are bow only correct?
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RE: Big Buck Barometer
Quick I am going to answers this question as honest as I can.
Plain truth is many of us, me included simply just do not know what the top end deer is in our area. My dad has lived on our farm for his entire life, how many 170+ deer has he seen alive? 0 My neighbor living room window looks right into big buck paradise here in MI. He has never seen a monster, he has seen some 125'' deer, but not any big boys. Until a person decides to make a 110% commitment to hunting the top on deer in his area. He simply will not know what is there, and if he has a pressured area,it willjust got 100 times harder IMO. I am not saying this is "Gospel", it's just the way it is for hunting top end deer in your area. I can tell you how it works. First year the hunter may see one. He will see a lot of 1.5 and 2.5 bucks, at this point he realizes he is hunting the wrong spots. Second year he starts to see some bigger deer and he starts getting an understanding of what he needs to do. Third year I bet he gets a shot, and from than on one just keeps learning. The more you learn and more one applies the more shots he will get. Putting a lot of time in a stand does not gurantee one will see a top end buck. Hunting Hard is only about 10% of the equation IMO. What's the trade off? Time of course and this is a decsion each hunter has to make for himself. I will not know myself these next 16 years, I have commitments to my children and wife. I may go buckless for a long time:D |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: huntingson Old son-of-a-gun too. You know how old bucks get those squinty eyes?. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: BigJ71 ORIGINAL: GregH Well, if I had just went by what I saw for the first 18 years of hunting,. 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. It wasn't until 1984 that I shot a 96" 8 pointer with my rifle and I thought that it was a monster! I thought woods were woods and that deer were deer. I didn't realize that over 80% of the bucks taken during that time were only 1 1/2 year olds. Then a buddy told me about the P&Y and B&C clubs. I started to wonder why I had never seen one. So I started studying about deer, scouting and making a real effort to try to find one of these beasts. I started trophy hunting in 1991 and started hunting Ill in 1994. And now I'm where I'm at because of the desire to hunt big bucks. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: quiksilver 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. 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. In other words, you could still be hunting where they live and just not know it. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: Germ Until a person decides to make a 110% commitment to hunting the top on deer in his area. He simply will not know what is there, and if he has a pressured area,it willjust got 100 times harder IMO. I am not saying this is "Gospel", it's just the way it is for hunting top end deer in your area. |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
ORIGINAL: GregH ORIGINAL: quiksilver 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. 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. VA Game & Fish magazine runs articles like these every season not to mention specific articles that focus on certain counties or public lands that produce. On average I am usually happy with 100"-120" deer but I also see deer much bigger than that being taken every season with 135" to probably145" not being too "uncommon". Now bigger than that is a whole different ball game but VA has some of those guyslurking as well, I've just yet to be photographed with one;). Virginia's 2007 Deer Outlook -- Part 1: Where To Find Your Deer Virginia's 2007 Deer Forecast -- Part 2: Where To Find Trophy Bucks I guess my point is if I had more time/resources I know where I could increase my odds(by using easily accessible info onmy state)I just can't prioritize it that way at this point, probably a lot of others in that same boat I'm guessing but just because I'm not going after them doesn't mean they ain't there(within my state that is). |
RE: Big Buck Barometer
tsoc, yes we do do have some areas that are bow only. Its nice to be able to do out during gun season and not have to deal with the orange army. Not that I dontenjoy gun hunting as well....
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