early in

Very good Mark!!Was the deer hunting really one of the reasons you moved to your area, or did it just happen that way?

AF Hunter

It was a definate factor in determining where to move to. There were other places that my wife liked the home, but the land didn't offer anything. When we found this place, my wife sacraficed her idea of a nice home for the timber, # of acres, and the 7 acre lake on the property. It had all I wanted and she knew it and lied (yes, spouses will like on occasion) and said she liked the home so we would buy the property. If you come out for the Tuff Bow Competition, you can see for yourself what drew us to this place.

btomlin

and I'm fairly sure they come out of the "pool" for NR tags.....IF true, some NR hunters are getting to watch a tv personalty use their tag they may have drawn. I'm not behind the closed doors, so I can't say this is 100%, but that is what I've been told.

To add to fletch920....I think deer hunting(for the most part) has evolved pretty fast into a sport that, for the majority of people in our area, is more about seeing how big the bucks can grow. Fletch passed a good buck for 3 years to kill him this year as a world class buck....the majority of hunters is this area have a similar philosophy. In the past, it was "get your buck" and that still exists, but not on the scale that it was even 10 yrs ago.

Another reason we have big bucks is...to us they are not big bucks. A 3yr old 140class deer is a nice deer, but for me, its not a big deer. Many people think it is.....I see that animal and imagine him in 2 yrs. Most of the people that are putting up pictures of big deer are killing these 3 yr old bucks when they are 5 yr olds cause they passed them to see how big they would get...Fletch's 2008 buck is a prime example.

It also helps to have unlimited food, cover & low pressure. We don't see the "level" of party hunting Fletch spoke about like we used to see. There is just not enough big chucks of ground that 20 guys can surround as it has been broken up and sold.

I guess to me, deer hunting has evolved into "hunting" vs. "shooting" in our area and that has helped in our ability to grow bigger bucks...Most want the thrill of "dancing" with a 170+ animal...win or lose, it's all about the experience.

TLockTerror

We have it kind of the same here in SD. We can get one archery buck tag for east and west river, also we can get a Rifle tag for east and west river if you are drawn in the lottery drawing. In addition to thatyou can get up to five doe tagsfor archery. Also you can get a muzzleloader tag. And if there is leftover tags in the lottery you can get up to five additional Rifle tags.

One year i ended up with two bow buck tags, two east riverrifle buck tags,4rifle doe tags,1 west river buck tag, 2 bow doe tags, and a muzzleloader tag.

No i didnt shoot that many, But in SD most of the counties you have to get a double tag 1 doe and 1 buck for rifle.