What makes the midwest so different???
 

Just curious to your thoughts on this. Why do you think the midwest produces so many monster bucks compared to the rest of the country?? Do you think its just genetics?? The abundance of crop fields that produce the nutrients to grow such large deer?? Buck to doe ratio?? Whats your thoughts??

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

:eek:

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

In the area of Illinois where I hunt and own land, it is the sheer quantity of deer there. With so many deer running around you have got to have quite a few big boys mixed in their. In other areas, you get a lots of "managed" operations that would be producing big bucks no matter where it is.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

The high nutrient agriculture fields we have here in the midwest contribute to the big deer all around. (Rack and body size)

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

the crops. Also more people practice not shooting small bucks than in other areas of the country from what I noticed. Almost everyone in my area of ohio waits for an 8 point or bigger. Its just not smart to shoot a smaller buck when we all know a bigger one is out there!
-Jake

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

All of the above.

People don't realize how much soil has a part in rack growth. The rich black top soil of Northern IL. and Iowa plays a major part in the nutrients. There was an article in North American Whitetail a couple of years ago about what caused all of the giant non-typicals of Missouri. The biologists where able to trace it back to the calcium that is spread on the fields for the dairy cows!

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

15 years ago, i used to brag to friends and family in south Louisiana about the big Illinois deer. But thanks to some management programs there, you should now see some of the big boys taken down there.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

Alot of reasons.

1. Lots of food from the agriculture in the area.
2. Tag limits. Most Mid West states only give you 1 to 2 buck tags.
3. Archery during the rut. Prevents a lot of bucks from getting killed.
4. Ohio, Indian, Ill, Iowa all shotgun states, no rifle. That helps a lot.
5.Lower population of people, and larger farms. Compared to other areas of the country population of humans is lower and a lot of the land is farm land, not houses and buildings.
6. People practice management, they are into growing big bucks, not all people but a lot do because of the massive potential.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

Lack of hunting pressure compared to the rest of the country has more to do with it than anything. More square miles of great habitat is the second piece of the puzzle.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

Like everyone said, its the sheer abundance of food, because thats where most of the nation's farms are located.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

In Iowa I think it’s the following…

Food (nutrition)
DNR (they really have a great program)
Hunting practices
Less people
Shot gun only (except for the southern 2 county rows, they now allow High Powered Rifles due tothe low people and high deer population)
Short shot gun seasons 1st is only 5 days and 2nd is I think 10 days
Crop filed provide lots of cover and again we all know how much corn these deer eat!

Never herd of the soil playing a vital part in non typical bucks… but if some scientist thinks it can then well…

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

I say available deer resources I hunt in Mid-North Missouri In Mexico,MO there's just fields of corn,beans,and Alphapha but to add to this where I hunt there's a ton of woods for deer to take cover in and its not just Deer were pretty abundant in everything coyote,squirrel,fox all those woodland critters. Would not want to hunt anywhere else!

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

the crops

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

IMHO, all the above.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

i agree. the midwest has better agriculture which means better nutrients which makes bigger racks and healther deer

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

To me the midwest is where deer live....

the rest of the areas with deer, are almost like transplants....they're there, but do they really belong? and how good are they?

but i think if deer were managed, just about anywhere can grow monsters....but ya the midwest has alot of great natural things going for it...

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

1) The potential for bitter cold helps to thin out small deer.

2) Here in Iowa, our gun season is after the rut when big bucks are not so sex crazed. Big buck are more likely to survive.

3) Good nutrition in farm country.

4) More selective hunters.

5) Lucky genetics.

I have noticed that more states are producing higher numbers of big deer. I think this is due to more people passing on smaller bucks; a QDM mindset. It also helps that the doe stigma is almost gone. When I was a kid most tags here in Iowa were bucks only and even if you had one of the coveted any sex tags, most hunters would shoot any buck before shooting a doe. Now a large number of hunters will shoot does before they shoot anything but a big buck.

I see pictures of monsters coming out of almost all of the cold weather states now. There are more big deer coming out of the South than in the past too.

Bob

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

all of the abovegratefull nw ohio hunter-we rock

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

Bits-N-pieces of all the above!
Agricultural states
Less pressure
Archery and Shotgun only
Shorter seasons
Harsh winters, weeding out inferior genetics
With the abundance of bigger bucks, comes better selectivity

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

Actually the Whitetail deer did not originate in the midwest. It orginated in the east. In fact most of the orginal home range of the whitetail is in the 13 orginal colonies, and places like WVA, Kentucky, and parts of the Ohio valley in small numbers. The greek name for the whitetail is actually "virginia deer". the whitetails being that they have adaptive nature followed the humans to a degree. Sure they were already present in midwest states, but they actually did begin to be very noticable until farming the midwest took place in the 1700's the whitetail has traditionally followed man across the country. You make a farm they will show up.And now people are evening seeing them in California.

RE: What makes the midwest so different???
 

food, genetics, and ALOT less hunting pressure. in the south, everybody (including grandma in her wheelchair) hunts.

I love the shotgun only states---that makes killing a big one alot tougher---and the states that don't allow modern gun hunting during the rut.