Trophyhuntr, the truth of the matter is it is probably more expensive to hunt a State like Texas as compared to the other trophy states mentioned.

Handles:

Actually the Tx state record nontypical P&Y grosses 250" and nets 234", it was killed by Jack Brittingham and you can see the hunt on one of his hunting videos. The previous record was killed on the Hagerman WMA and scored in the high 220". Jack Brittingham also killed the new state record P&Y typical buck this year, but before the season was over, another hunter shot a buck that was bigger then Brittinghams buck. So the new state record P&Y typical nets 182" and was also killed in s. Texas.


To tell you the truth, most hunters in Tx (myself included) would not whip are butts with the P&Y club. Most of the bucks that are shot that would make the P&Y min. are not entered, becuase most of them are considered cull bucks and are taken off the ranch for management resonses. A 125" buck (p&y min.) is not a trophy down here (s. Tx). In states like Wis. there are alot of bowhunters, that is not the case in this area of the country, most people rifle hunt.

The thing that makes this area special is the quanity of trophy bucks. Sure other states might have bigger records then Tx, but I'm sure that those states dont have the overall number of trophy bucks like Tx does. In this area, you have a really good chance at a 160"+ buck, especially in wet years like in 2003. Just because some state occasionly produce big bucks, does not mean that state is better then any other state.


This past deer season (2003-2004), there were 25 TYPICAL bucks registerd with TP&W that NETTED 170"+ on the B&C scale. All of these bucks except for 2, where killed in South Texas. The biggest typical this year netted 188". So there will be 25 bucks added to the B&C books after one season of hunting. I am sure that next year will be just as good if not better then last year, because we have had 2 really wet springs in a row which means BIG ANTLERS.

"Not only is the racks bigger! but how many texas deer do you going over 300lb?"


I've never heard of a Tx buck weighing over 300 LBS. But I dont think there is a single guy in Tx that cares about that. I have no problem killing bucks that weight in the 150-180 (average) range, besides I dont want to drag a 300 lb buck threw the brush and I dont want one deer to take up my entire freezer. Couldnt care less how much are bucks weight.


It really dosent matter where you hunt, as long as you enjoy it that is all that matters. But if for some reason you want a really good chance at a 160"+ buck, come to s. Texas, thats your best bet.

Handles:

""Here are the top 5 typical Pope and Young for those two states:
Texas - Wisconsin

1. 172 - 186 5/8
2. 171 - 180 2/8
3. 163 1/8 - 177 1/8
4. 160 5/8 - 176 2/8
5. 158 6/8 - 175 5/8 ""



I'm just curious as to how old those records are? I cant belive that the 5th biggest p&y typical only scores 158". Just one ranch that I know of killed a handful of bucks with bows this past season that scores more then that. Bowhunting is not the "king" of Texas, rifle hunting is. I know there are 2 guys who each held the State record 2 different times through the years. Both of these guys only bow hunt, which shows that if your a serious bowhunter and hunt on good ground, then you have a good chance of placing high in the P&Y books because you dont have much competition. Bow hunting is becoming more popular in Texas, but it is still along way from rifle hunting.

Handles (and who ever else)

This is the most current info that I can find in my hunting mag. (2002). This is the total number of bowhunters in the following states.You wonder why there are more P&Y bucks killed in Wisconsin then in Texas? Well maybe this will tell you why................


Wisconsin = 258,000 bowhunters
Texas = 77,000 bowhunters
Illinios = 100,000 bowhunters
Minnesota = 325,000 bowhunters


"Looks like Texas ain't even in the same ballpark."

Yeah how can it be, when other states have 5 times the number of bowhunters. When a state has 300,000 hunters, you would expect that there would be several P&Y bucks killed each year. No wonder why Buffalo county in Wisconsin claims to be the "best county for producing P&Y bucks" when there are 260,000 people hunting there, I would expect them to kill a large number of 120"+ bucks.


Just because Texas does not have as many bucks in the P&Y books as other states, does not mean that those states are better then Texas. Last year I think there were over 500,000 hunting lic. sold in Texas, only about 80,000 of them were bowhunting lic. the other 420,000 were rifle hunters. Which goes to show that bowhunting is not as popular in Tx as rifle hunting, which is the reason why Tx does not produce many P&Y bucks.

You can not post the number of P&Y bucks killed and claim that this state is better then that state, because this state has more p&y bucks entered. You also have to compare the number of people who are out there hunting, or did you intentially leave out this information??

TXhighrack

as you can tell im with you on this one i love hunting south texas, around menard and sanora, i will say this i dont see how you can really bow hunt down there due to the trees, there are only a hand full,

Lets see the new #'s on B&C rifle between texas and Wis.
You are right at defending the # of bowhunters in Texas vs. Wi, good argument but for fun also

Trophyhuntr,

Are you planning on going to Menard this season?

dont know yet

B&C article:

STATE # OF ENTRIES
1. IOWA 615
2. MINNESOTA 608
3. WISCONSIN 589
4. ILLINOIS 552
5. TEXAS 316
6. MISSOURI 285
7. KENTUCKY 279
8. KANSAS 255
9. OHIO 235
10. MICHIGAN 155


Check the link - a good read on whitetail distribution:http://www.boone-crockett.org/bgreco...area=bgrecords

My apologies to all, my records were not current, they were from 2000. I wasn't really picking on Texas, just that an earlier poster was completely bragging up the state saying something to the effect that there are more 195 class bucks than anywhere else. I just wanted to see how it stacked up vs. other states.

As for the # of hunters, that can be just as much of a downfall as it is a bonus. Wisconsin has almost 1million hunters (overall) in an area much smaller than texas, many many more small bucks get taken and therefore it is actually more difficult for a buck to reach maturity, and therefore even harder to tag one of those monsters.

Here is my West Texas buck from two years ago. He scored 209 3/16 B&C. So dont tell me there are no trophy bucks in Texas.