So, where is the line between PA bucks and Ohio bucks? What I mean is, Ohio has a reputation for producing huge booner bucks and PA does not. But they border each other. So eastern Ohio habitat must be similar to western PA habitat. Where is that line and what changes?

If you look at a map, there's a line between the two states.... That's where I'd draw the line :wink: .


To answer your question. I spend my bow season hunting Ohio mainly because I prefer to save my PA tags for rifle season or flintlock in PA. Ohio's gun season matches with PAs first week, and I'd rather be hunting in PA with a rifle. I'll gun hunt Ohio's extended late season but If I use my PA tags up in archery I'd miss out on my favorite hunt of the year. So when I have days off I'll head to Ohio and archery hunt for a day or two. As for Ohio deer I think a few things go into making our deer, and bucks, bigger..... Some of those things are (IMO)...
-That until last year we were a shotgun only state.
-That we have flat land full of crops, no mountain deer.
-This might be one of the main reasons and That's I think the general expectation is better in Ohio, leading to more people passing smaller buck. As opposed to the wide spread "brown it's down" mentality in PA.... I do not hunt for antlers, but in Ohio I have passed on decent 8 pointers early in the season just because I wasn't ready to shoot a buck unless it was a huge one, and I knew there were a lot bigger bucks running around. Where as in PA I have rarely passed a legal buck. I don't go the brown it's down route, but I know.... and so does every PA hunter.... people that have historically hunted that way. I just don't see that mentality in Ohio very often
- Only speaking for my areas here (North East Ohio & Indiana County, PA) when I look back at my logs of what I've seen while hunting The bulk of the Ohio bucks I see are allot bigger than PA bucks.

EX. In PA on the first day of rifle I saw two small spikes, a 3 point, a smaller buck that was probably 4 points but may have been 6 points, an 8 point and a very nice 9 pointer (That I unfortunately missed)..... I saw 59 deer that day.

In Ohio for the entire season the smallest bucks I saw were a 5 point and a spike. The rest were 7 points or better and a quick glance over the log looks like I saw maybe 12 different buck that season..

What I really notice as a difference though is weight. I've helped people drag multiple bucks that weighed over 200 lbs in Ohio. I've seen doe that weighed over 170lbs... Our heaviest PA deer since I started weighing them about 10 years ago was a 169lbs 9 point... I just think they are bigger in general in Ohio than where I hunt in PA.

Now here's my disclaimer. I am the wrong guy to be asking about Deer size. I don't hunt for antlers and I don't manage my property for antlers. The farthest I get with QDMA is reading about it here and in the magazines. My two biggest buck were both PA deer. I'm typically shooting the first legal and good opportunity I get.
-Jake

On the flip side I also shot a doe in Ohio that weighed 39lbs dressed....Not my proudest moment! But dragging was easy.
-JaKe

I doubt you will ever see big deer state wide in pa. To many hunters that kill small deer. I wish they went to a state wide antler restriction of 4 on one side and grouped any spike buck could be tagged as a doe. The area in 2e I hunt has about 15 big bucks but I have 40 or more scrub racked bucks and a lot of spikes.

But lots of crops also means no browse and no cover. From October through maybe June, there is nothing but bare earth and dirt.

Tell that to all our big Ohio deer! :rock: But really, I don't know the answer. I just know I see bigger deer in Ohio.
-JaKe