WV Hunter

I went with my buddy over the weekend to the taxidermist to pick up his deer. While we were there, we proceeded to look at all the racks and ask a bunch of questions. The widest was a 25" (inside) 8 point. It came from private land that borders skyline drive (a national park--no hunting). Nice buck! This area generally produces some monsters every season, because they can hide in the park and live to be quite old. It didn' t have real long tines, or a ton of mass, but it was impressive for sure. Probably 150" .

The biggest bowkill he had was about 145" typical 10 pt. It came from private land also, in a lightly hunted area, near northern va. (suburbia)

He also showed us a 132" typical 8 pt taken in the county that we hunt in, also on private land. Very nice buck, especially for an 8pt. The thing that got me thinking was....he told us that this was only the 3rd P&Y qualifier EVER taken in our county. WOW, I was shocked! I' m sure there have probably been some that have never been registered, but to only have 3...wow.... []

I' m a firm believer that skill will prevail, all things being equal. However, based on the obvious lack of big bucks in our area, I' d have to say that the LAND you have to hunt, has to play a big part in it...at least on trophy bucks (P&Y class) .
I still can' t believe it' s only 3. I have friends in other parts of the country that have personally taken more P&Y qualifiers than that.

Maybe next season it will be 4 I' m hoping anyhow!!!

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mez

I agree with Krisken, land is number one. Even Chuck Adams can' t hunt or kill what isn' t there.

CBM SC

Would trophy bucks be called trophys if they were easy to hunt ??? Would one of you be happier with a 180" killed in a high fence area or a 110" deer that you had to work your a$$ off to get in crapville ??This whole discussion has reminded me of the tree falling in the woods/noise thing. Just cause you don' t see a mostly nocturnal mature buck ,does that mean he doesn' t exist ?

BobCo19-65

Very true CBM, I' d just like to give an example. There is a small plot of land that a friend of mine owns in a Suburb. Although we never see any mature bucks or sign on the land we know they are there. Every year, a nice 130 class buck gets hit by a car within about 1/4 mile of the area. This happens every year. This past year year, we found one dead in the creek that runs through his land. we assume it was another car fatality. But, we can expect another buck to be there next year. Seems like no-one ever sees these bucks except for the cars during the rut. And this is in NY. Where a 130 class buck is pretty darn rare.

RICHIE3

Even though I do not have one, a game camera would probably suprise you what type of animals are on a given property. A buddy of mine bought one to put on his place, and at first, we both thought that maybe he was wasting his money. He then showed me pictures of a 160' ' animal that he has hunted for 2 years running, and has several different pics to prove he is still around. But yet, he has yet to see it live and in person. The land is all private, but not what you would call an " ideal" spot as far as we have ever been concerned. Boy, that game camera sure changed my mind about a few things.

HuntingBry

The way I see it is this, if you put a dope on great land loaded with monsters he' ll most likely go home empty handed and think the property is a dump. On the flip side, an excellent woodsman may hike it 7 miles back into the deep woods and drag out a big boy on public land. To level the playing field a bit, if you put a moderately skilled hunter on good land and a fairly good hunter on heavily hunted public land the guy with the better land will score on more and bigger bucks. I don' t have a honey hole so I work hard and do the best with what I have.

wimp

Every piece of land will have bucks you don' t see but are there, both good tracts and poor tracts. Bottom line is the good tract will have more, that' s why its good. Going to extreme conditions to try and prove something does not work. Take a mixed group of hunters to a loaded area, and thier success rate will rise above average. Take that same group to a low populated area and thier success rate will drop. Cut and dry. Pointing out the guy that can find a P&Y in the middle of main street and the guy who wouldn' t know a deer if it kicked him, is not the way to determine success limiting factors. Work was never one of the original options, work can make up for some lacking skills and poor land quality, but can' t replace everything. Besides I' m sure anyone wouldn' t mind having to do a little less work(not saying having the deer handed to you) to get that buck.

WV Hunter

CBM, Bob... I agree with what your saying. And yes, I would much rather kill the 110" that I had to work for. I personally enjoy the challenge of trying to kill the biggest animal that lives in the area I' m hunting. Although it usually doesn' t pan out, it' s still worth the work.

And I definitely agree with the fact that just because you don' t see him or get him, doesn' t mean he' s not there. I' m sure there are P&Y bucks in almost all areas. Just alot more in some than others.

We have to face it though....some land is just flat out fantastic, no doubt.....which IMO would make it much easier for the skilled hunter. Guaranteed success? No. Odds up...you bet. I...along with alot of you...don' t have that.

This past season, I saw alot of small to medium bucks, and actually ended up taking the biggest buck I saw (and have ever seen in the area). A 115" 8pt. Not a monster that' s for sure, but from what my neighbors tell me, they' ve only seen a few any bigger in the last 25 years. Are there bigger around??? Probably. In fact I' m sure there are...somwhere. I haven' t seen them, but I' m always hoping one will mess up and show up during daylight. I only have 100 acres to hunt, with not alot of bedding cover, so my options are somewhat limited. I believe if I could hunt the entire area around our property, and ours...I may be able to find out where the big one' s hang out, thus having a better chance at one. But I can' t, so I do the best I can with what I have.

I was just suprised to see that only 3 had ever been registered here. Now I know I' m not in the midwest, but I would have thought that there would have been more than that. It' s a little disheartening, but also it' s actually instilled a little challenge in me at the same time. I' m shooting for #4. The buck I killed this year was 3.5, so give him another year...who knows?

Rack-attack

This isn' t what the original question asked.

If you are talking about strictly TROPHY hunting for the biggest bucks in your area then YES land or REGION is very important.

You can' t kill a 170" if it doesnt exist.

If your idea of success is regularly taking good mature quality deer, the best deer that live on the land you hunt then skill, knowledge, work and dedication are by far the most important ingrediants to reaching your goals.

If a 70" mature eight is the best deer on your land and you get him, That is just as hard as that 180" in another area.