Wow, the numbers might be alittle off, but i think the way you put it paints a very clear picture, in a way, im kind of depressed right now.

Makes me feel A LOT better about not tagging a 5.5 year old buck.

I'm screwed.

Yup that pretty much sums up the chances in PA unless you are one of the select few with some pristine untouched ground bordering unhuntable ground.

And then only maybe...

The numbers have heldthe same forthe last 8 years. With the 15" AR, the 1 1/2's get a free pass, a large number of the 2 1/2's (border line) get a pass. The bulk of thebuck's taken are 3 1/2, the limited 2 day gun hunt, 15" ARand ageclass of the buck's allowsa small % to slipthrough the cracks and become mature. There is a full time whitetail bioligist on the property, which I have became good friends with, he said "At the start of the gun hunt, any given year, there are about 90 antlered buck's and 270 antlerless deeron the park" (15,000 acres).

I have no idea what all that Jargon you typed comes out too, but i can pick a few things out of it that i know for sure. I have had 91 deer sightings this year from stand, and onlyone was a 3.5 year old buck. Thats pretty consistent with your findings. If i go back to last year, i had in the ball park of 70-80 deer sightings (might need to check my numbers), and once again, only2 were mature bucks (or a HELL of a 2.5 year old), and i saw them both at a distance. Thats pretty close to the % you threw out there.

Good stuff Fran, but my gaydar redlined for a second there....

You should have seen the 2 1/2 year old 10 point thattaped out at 147.[:-]

I have seen 14 bucks this year. 9-1.5 year olds, 3-2.5 year olds, and 2-3.5/4.5 year olds.

The place I hunt is around 60,000 acres and they estimate the deer herd to be around 4,000-5,000 deer, which means 1 deer for every 12-15 acres. And on many areas of the base I hunt, the number is alot lower because some areas of the base are super-concentrated with deer while others are very sparse, putting the actual deer ratio to around 1 deer for every 30-40 acres.

Oh yeah, they usually keep track of the mature bucks killed on base by way of pictures posted on the game check. I would say less than 10 mature bucks have been arrowed on base this year, meaning 1 mature buck has been arrowed for approximately every 5,000 acres.

The deer herd where I hunt must be really messed up. In 14 sits this fall I saw 13 does and 7 antlered bucks. The bucks were: two 1.5s, and four that were 3.5 or older. I didnt determine the seventh one. So...20% of the deer here are bucks ages 3.5+ and there are no 2.5s around at all [8D]