I know In different parts of the country a big buck will vary In size allot. The reason I ask this question Is allot of the guys around my area have a completely different outlook on what I and them think a good sized racked buck Is. For Instance a friend of mine always tells me when he see's a big buck and I always ask how big? He'll then put Is arms out and show me a 14 Inch spread. I laugh every time to myself. There are very few people that I take what they say serious around my area here when talking big bucks. Most have no clue what a big buck Is. It seems the bucks they see are either 100 Inchers (my buddy's take on a big buck) or their 16 point 200 Inchers that everyone seems to see during our gun seasons. To answer the question when a buck hits that 135" to 140" range that Is when I'll start calling them a big buck In the area I hunt.
I'm pretty much right there Schultzy. I think a big buck for me is 140+. For me when I see a 140 class or better then it's a no brainer grabbing the bow. 130's and under I always have that hesitation.
I don't focus too hard on the inches. I've seen a "big" 6 point. He was a 3.5 year old with 12 inch G2's and 6 or so inch brow tines. That's a big buck to me even though he wouldn't score as much as a small 10 point. Know what I mean? Mass, and what I call the "antler frame" (envision the box it would take to enclose the entire rack) are really my determining factors. Not so much total inches.
I don't really consider bucks 'big' until they're 150" or better. My definition of a 'shooter' buck is much different and pretty fluid depending on the situation, my mood and time of the year. I was rather tempted to shoot a young buck that I was able to sneak up on earlier this year.. I hunted with a guy from PA (we were in TX) and he couldn't get over the size of the antlers on the wall. They were all about 90-110" He said he'd never seen deer that big in the woods. Hmm.. I told him he should go to the IL Deer and Turkey Classic. A 125" buck looks like a baby there.
I have no clue what a big buck is. If I saw a set of antlers I couldn't even come close to guessing the inches.
I have just started getting into understanding and using the whole inches thing. For ME, a buck that goes 105 inches or more is pretty big and I would be happy to send an arrow their way!
X2. My best buck was 90 something inches. Anything bigger is big. On my lease anything over 115 is big. A 130 is doing REALLY good. I have never done REALLY good or even really good.
140s and up for 4x4s .. if hes a main framed 5x5 right at about 150 makes him big score-wise... anything over 150 is a heck of a buck out here.
This part here states my thoughts very well. Knowing that some bucks can appear bigger/smaller than what their inches indicate, (see above "antler frame" here’s my descriptive breakdown Nice buck ~100” Really Nice ~120” Big buck~130” Huge buck >145” Holy &*^%^$ >160”
Its all relative to the part of the country you hunt IMO. I honestly get excited seeing any buck, but a 150" plus buck really gets me pumped big time.
I consider anything over 110" or so to be a pretty nice buck for my area. Anything that will break 125" is BIG to me.
it depends what part of the Country your hunting in, here in NW PA well 110 + say IL i would have to say 150+
Anything that makes me say, "Oh yeah!". 130 to 140's is a decent buck and anything 150+ is a big buck for me.
A solid 150's and better is a big buck to me. That being said, I shot a 136" 8 pointer last year to fill my second buck tag because time was running out and he was a big mature (5 1/2 yr old) deer. He just wasnt ever going to be one of those jaw dropper bucks and I was happy with him. I had passed on him a couple of times earlier in the year and decided that if he gave me another chance I would take him. Even in the midwest, not every buck is going to have a huge rack when mature. I would rather shoot him than a 4 1/2 year old 150 that might be a booner the next year.
A nice buck in the areas I hunt is a 90-105" deer or so. The better hunters around here will get a crack at bucks like this maybe every other year. A really good one is a 110-120" buck, I honestly only know a handful of guys that have taken deer like this bow or gun. 130"+ is the buck of a lifetime in these areas........I can count the number of guys I personally know from NY or PA that have taken a deer like this (archery or gun) on one hand.
Since 2005, I've probably sat 400 sits for whitetails. I've seen exactly 7 bucks that would go over 100".....and the largest I've seen from stand "might" go 110-115". Add to that, I've probably only seen a few more than that in the 90-100" range (less than 10, for sure). So.....I'm in the camp that a 100" deer is a "big buck" in my woods. That's always my goal.....and I fall short some years. Some years I don't.
Does size really matter?!!! Sorry, had to say it... I was trying very hard not to.. but im a smarta$% . i will now hang me head in shame and giggle to myself
