teedub31

In the states mentioned (Tx, Ill, IA) I know that there is a lot of commercial hunting on so called deer ranches. Those owners practice QDM for money reasons IMO. Watch the hunting shows. YOu want to hunt their property, you are gonna shoot the buck they tell you to. I see them not allowing guys to shoot deer that 95% of the hunting population would honestly not think twice about shooting. Allowing deer to get old is the #1 ingredient to growing trophies regardless of nutrients and genetics. I went to a seminar put on by the Drurys in which they said nearly every deer born has the capabilities to be a 140 class deer (who is gonna say 140 is a bad buck). They just gotta make it past the 3.5 year age group in most cases.

In the east, their is little ranch style hunting thus it is just a free for all that makes it hard for those bucks to get old and big.

isatarak

Look it up. They are a different sub-species of deer. As I mentioned earlier and someone else mentioned, the deer tend to be larger in body size as you travel from south to north. They raise corn and soybeans way down in the south, so good food sources are available in many parts of the country.

IL-Cornfed

There is nodobt that we are blessed with exceptionally fertile soil here in IL, especially between the IL and MS Rivers. These several counties sandwiched between these 2 Rivers have consistently produced several of the largest antlered and bodied bucks in the World. With the exceptional nutrition, superior genetics and short restrictive gun seasons, mature deer fourish and awesome animals are produced regularly.

isatarak

They have 400# deer in Saskatchewan and I don't think the soil is anything special or the food source.