illinois deer vs texas deer
 

i could not believe the small body size of the deer in texas ive dropped 200lb does in illinois and on my hog hunt the deer were smaller then the hogs all the hype of texas deer left me after hunting in junction no wonder the racks look so big on video the cant be bigger then a feed sack im not saying no large deer in texas but the avg. size was unreal any texas hunters im not doggen but it really blew my mind maybe we can trade some hogs for deer bowhunting

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

You do realize that, as a general scientific rule, species tend to get larger the further North one goes. The winters tend to be worse "up north" and critters need the extra body mass for warmth and survival. Compare the big brusiers of Sask. or Alberta to central and NE U.S. bucks. Same deal.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

If you don't like the size of the deer, you sure don't ever have to come back.

I live here and have never understood the "hype" about hunting in Texas. I also hunt in NW Oklahoma and would be willing to give up Texas all together for hunting up there.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

I know Ill. has bigger bodied deer, but I hunted the northeast part of the pan handle and the camp had deer over 200lbs - dressed.
I'm not sure about the rest of Texas, but were we where was excellent, good body and big racks.
Almost everyone shot +130" deer, there were a couple of premature shooters, if you know what I mean!

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

+1. Bergmann's Rule-- states that body mass of a geographic race is in direct relation to the distance from equator.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

IL just rules! I was hoping this question was where would you rather hunt whitetail, and without a doubt, IL!

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

You can't compare them. It's like comparing apples to watermelons. But I wish Illinois would learn to manage their deer like Texas. We shoot our deer way too young.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

The hunting shows makes them look huge in TX in most of the shows anyway. But when the hunter is next to the deer they look small.

That being said I would still like to hunt TX for sure. And then there are the hogs....

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

Deer just look bigger in IL. because the Thin Corn Stalks make them look HUGE!

And pictures are takenthe hunter stands10' behid the deer;)

TF

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

I have to agree with everyone on the north and survival and food and all that good stuff. In florida I heard the deer get about 75lbs.........I've never hunted there, I just heard they were a smaller breed of whitetail.
I know in Texas we have at least 3 different types of whitetails.
We have the deer with the Looong faces, then we have the deer with a real heavy head, shorter nose, and then we have the Coues deer (shorts face, legs, body)............I've shot all 3 types in Blanco, Texas

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

You were hunting in the Hill Country. The deer are generally quite a bit smaller there. I hunt near Fredericksburg, which is in the same general area as Junction. If it's a good year with plenty of rain, a good sized buck in that area will get to about 150-170 lbs. Does will average about 90-100 lbs. We had couple years of drought in 2005-2006, and deer weights were down 15-20 lbs in those years. We do year round supplemental feeding on our lease, and that seems to help keep them healthy in bad years. Generally speaking though, in addition to the fact that deer seem to have larger bodies further north, there is also a huge difference between deer who live in a desert climate like the Hill Country, and deer who live in a virtual smorgasbord of corn and soybeans...

Deer are much larger in other areas of the state. South Texas bucks will hit about 250 lbs, as will deer in the panhandle area.

Texas8Point: I never heard of Coues deer in Texas, and certainly not as far east as Blanco. I thought the Coues was an Arizona/New Mexico/ Mexico deer.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

the deer in the texas hill country tend to be smaller than in most of the state acct nutrition, genetics ect but they also have the highest density persqr mile. you take those same fawns where thenutrition is better and they grow bigger. Texas land owners mostly understand that larger deerequals more lease money so deer are managed as a cash crop and a matter of pride on many ranches.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

Kind of wild nowdays to see Illinois being held up as some type of deer Mecca. When i was growing up in the 1970s there weren't even that many of them, especially big ones. But this year there were a bunch of bucks in the 10 to 24 point range taken just within a mile of my land.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

How would this size up for Texas!

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

Just look up some info on the web about mature and immature whitetails. There are plenty of sites that will explain that a mature bucks head is more "block shaped" and that a immature bucks head is "longer".

And we don't have Coues deer in Texas, if you did see and kill one than you were breaking the law.:eek:

We have mule deer and whitetails

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

Howdy from an ex-Illinois boy! I grew up in LaSalle county, and we fed-em the best corn and soybeans deer have ever seen! I've seen 200-250 lb. doe's and 300+ lb. bucks come out of LaSalle andBureau counties. I now live in SC, and they grow-em small here too, but as a deer hunter, I appreciate the deer no matter how big or small.Texas/Illinois/SCor wherevever, theirALL smart as heck, and every one of them is a trophy. A realtor friend ofthe familyjust sold a 300 acre farm in Pike county Illinois for 1.6 million to 3 major league baseball players just for whitetail hunting. And to think my brother-in-law sold his 300 acres about five years ago for a song!

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

This is very true. You dont see Moose sized animals in South America.
Deer in TX and IL are different types of the same species. For that matter, deer in Zavala County TX and deer in Brazos County, TX are different sub-species. Different antler growth, diffent body mass, color phoses...etc.
The monster deer you see coming out of TX are almost always out of South TX, free ranging ones anyway.
Look at the size of Canadian Whitetail, their body mass is often bigger than Muledeer.

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

Well hell, I sure thought it was a coues deer, or at least thats what I was told....(taxidermist, meat guy, normal joe hunter).......I musta shot a freak buck. It was probably 10 years ago and I shot a pretty dern good buck.
AND then i started looking at him.......he had a reaal short head, legs, body.......funny looking. But he was fat and had good horns.........hmmmmmmmm. Any ideas ?

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

Sounds like your describing me!
5' 5" - 178 pounds, although my mother says I'm handsome, but all mothers think that of their children!
I guess I got the short stick again, fortunately it's not my horn!

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

RE: illinois deer vs texas deer
 

I don't care how much they weigh.. As long as they score more than they weigh.. :D