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RE: Right or Wrong?

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Jimmy S

Quote:

ORIGINAL: SWThomas

Deer size is a product of environment. The reason the deer are larger in certain areas is because of agriculture. If they have the food to support such growth, they will grow.

I respectfully disagree. We have deer here in northern New England that are some of the biggest deer in the country. Yet there is very little agriculture. They food source is whatever is availeble in the deep woods.

I agree with Redclub...The deer up north are usually always bigger because they have to be big to survive the nasty, cold winters up here.
The genes are then passed on....

They must be finding something in the deep woods that contains plenty of the nutrients they require. Good genes will only take them so far and then they need the nutrition.

RE: Right or Wrong?

Quote:

ORIGINAL: SWThomas

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Jimmy S

Quote:

ORIGINAL: SWThomas

Deer size is a product of environment. The reason the deer are larger in certain areas is because of agriculture. If they have the food to support such growth, they will grow.

They must be finding something in the deep woods that contains plenty of the nutrients they require. Good genes will only take them so far and then they need the nutrition.

Of course they need nutrition and they find it in the deep woods, not in agricultural areas. There are no fields, farm land, farm crops etc, which to me is agricultural land. Plus they have inherited genes necessary to grow big enough to survive the northern winters.

If I wanted to shoot a big bodied deer, a deer that dresses well over 200 pounds, I would head north. My chances would be much beter hunting Maine than South Carolina or Florida. Even though the deer in Maine would be struggling to find feed in 4 feet of snow with temps well below zero.

BIG is in the eye of the beholder

Body size may be bigger up north but here in TX the horns rival most anything in the world. Depending on what part of TX youre in. And what about Mexico its hotter then hell and not much agriculture to speak of in the brush out there and i believe the true giants are there i just dont think its worth risking being kidnapped or killed to go there

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougE (Post 3374912)

It's called begmann's rule.The farther you go from the equator,the bigger the deer get.

Beat me to it.;)

Look at the record books to see where the biggest bucks are taken. Most are around agricultural areas in the upper midwest. Texas has big bucks, but they are also on larger ranches than what you see in the midwest where controlling the deer herd is easier for the ranch owner. I think if you are looking for the highest percentage of big bucks you head to the midwest on up to canada. As for body size, the further north the bigger the body. Texas racks look bigger because they are on smaller bodies.

Some pretty big bucks come from the Canadian bush. What do they eat? Birch and aspen buds?

It is true that the farther North one goes the deer are larger as a genetic by-product of the environment. That goes for body, but not necessarily for horn growth. Northern deer still need decent genetics and old age to have good horn. This is something that can be duplicated in Southern deer by feed/management. Northern deer seem to have mass genetic, and curiously enough the colder it is for longer time periods the shorter the ears. I have heard that is because they freeze back, but in any case shorter ears can make a bucks' rack look wider.