Not to big in the rack department on average...for the few 4.5 yr olds that get taken-they will run around 155...a 3.5 yr will get maybe 120 but we get bigger bodies to deal with the snow depth...I'd say the average decent buck taken here is 8pts and 16-17 inch spread and G2s at 6-9 inches...quality has declined since they enacted the QDM guidelines for the U.P. since every guy ot there is first interested in filling the tag so even if I let one these go(as in the pics as we do every year)...they get shot by someone else - all the nice potential 2.5-3.5 yr, 6pt and 8pts get whacked where there is hunting pressure as you can not by law take a crappy 3pt and gotta fill the tag ya know. This isn't an area where guys go for trophy but for meat and most do not bowhunt so bucks it is. Btw an average 2.5 yr old here will dress out at 150 approx and 3.5 is up around 170 dressed. Many bucks get shot that hit around the 200lb mark dressed. We do still get the occasional monster buck scoring up around 180 but I haven't seen anything close since the 3 I saw in 2004 I think it was.
I like the times displayed on your trail cams. Bucks are usually up just before dusk, then again around midnight and 3 a.m., then just around dawn. You can't do anything about midnight and 3 a.m. But being in position for the dusk and dawn shots, still and quiet, is what the challenge is all about.
I would really like to see pic number 4 come back. hopefully he will have picked up a few more points and length
Honestly I think I really want to see the buck in pic number 3 - that pic doesn't do him justice...if I had seen him while in the stand last year I would have had a hard time passing - he was actually bigger than number 4 though only 7pts --I did shoot number 4s twin late last fall which had smaller brow tines and a little more uneveness...had arrow and bullet wounds already to.
nice deer. I've always thought geography plays a big part in antler genetics. I've noticed that my minnesota bucks have a much narrower spread than the north dakota bucks. ND bucks (central-east) have alot bigger bodies though as well to deal with the harsh winters, open country. North Dakota - where there is a pretty girl behind every tree.
