Do not think for a minute that I discounting what the Midwest offers. States such as Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana, and Iowa offer some of the best deer hunting around. I know guys who go there year after year and harvest many bucks well over 130 inches. I have personally have been hunting in Kentucky and look forward to being able to hunt in the midwest again in the future. This article is on managing your expectations for the properties you hunt. North Carolina and the southeast US can and continue to produce huge deer. A quick search on the internet and you can see several deer in North Carolina that score 140 inches and even a boone and crocket or two that have been taken. Also this is article is not trying to promote the "Brown and Down" mentality which encourages the hunter to shoot every yearling they see.
A hunter is blessed with property he owns, leases, or has permission on. That hunter is managing his deer population as best as his or her situation dictates in the hopes of shooting a bigger than normal deer. On some of my properties you could place a 130 inch gross minimum on bucks and never ever see a shooter deer. As a hunter, I have been blessed to harvest several bucks that I consider large. I know in my heart that I am not expecting a 150 inch deer. Would I love to shoot one? Yes. Stranger things happen yearly as well. That is however a superstar animal that rarely exists on most of the places I get to hunt. My personal goals are for a mature buck. That may be a 120 inch 4 year old on some of the land I hunt or a 7 point or better , 3.5 year old on my other properties.
As a deer manager, this article is not trying to advocate that you need to fill all your buck tags every year. Some years you just aren't going to shoot that big boy. That is why its hunting and not killing There is a certain reality you must however realize on properties. If your standards are higher than your properties hold, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
We as deer managers, we all want to grow big ones. Love it when we see a huge buck killed in our home state and the person posts "This is what happens when you LET THEM GROW!" These people are right. As a deer manager, you however have to figure out when they have grown all they will grow. Pour the good food to them, let the little bucks walk, and if that 4.5 year old ain't big enough for you to shoot, you can contact me and I help out! Good hunting and grow them BIG.
