jeremyjms06

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??

Rory/MO

Lanse couche couche

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.

Primetime/IL

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

Bocajnala

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

2 Lunger

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!

Lanse couche couche

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.

crenshaw

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.

WKP Todd

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.

Centauri

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