Average archery buck score for each state. Anyone know how the data was obtained? If this is accurate Most states are higher than I expected. Some are insanely high….153” average?? PA Antler Restrictions are a miserable failure. South Dakota is doing something wrong. 107” in Florida is maybe the most impressive number in that map.
I think that may be a bit high, would be interesting to know when the data was gathered, before or after crossbows were allowed in archery season.
How would one even go about obtaining this type of info? Given the amount of 1.5 year old bucks killed each year that are never scored I can't imagine this number being an overall average score for all bucks. This would have to be some sort of sub-set of bucks that are brought in for official scoring somewhere.
Pa antler restrictions aren’t a failure, people just can’t pass up a 1.5-3.5yr old legal bucks. I wish Pa could implement an age restriction. That be something. We have the genetics, just need the birthdays to get them there. At least in the SW part of Pa. I know some areas of the state are awful.
dont know about those 'antler restrictions', but the OBR (one buck rule, with a few exceptions) was the best damn thing Indiana DNR ever did for us here ... the average buck age class being killed has went up ...
No doubt……especially with the hunter numbers in the Northeast. Personally I would LOVE to see NY go to ONE buck only and implement a 2 year moratorium on ALL bucks. THAT would be sweet!!!
I don't know how old the OP is, or if he even lives/hunts in Pa (I don't know where Uncertain is located), but with all due respect, saying "Pa antler restrictions are a miserable failure" couldn't be farther from the truth. Actually, it's the BEST move the PGC ever made!! I've hunted deer in Pa since the mid 70's, when a legal buck was one with antlers 3" or longer. Back then, an 8pt buck was a big deal. As time went on, after the antler restrictions were instituted, the size of bucks, antler wise, has increased greatly statewide. That's just the facts. I've spoken to a lot of hunters who agree. I have no idea how accurate that Pa average antler score of 115" is, because how would you be able to determine that??? Edit: FWIW I have seen the biggest bucks, by far, on cam that I've ever seen in 20+ years of hunting my woods.
Or, how it was gathered. Because, a LOT of deer never get measured, or even reported for that matter.
tag registration does not ask about antler size, and we all know how creative people can get with a tape measure if they did ask.
How are they a failure? Not sure where you’re from (“uncertain” under your name) but I’m from Sw Pa and have seen the benefits of the antler restrictions. It gives the younger deer that don’t meet the restrictions another year to grow and hopefully learn to hide/evade when pressure is on. Where I’m at it’s 4 on a side. There are definitely way more legal bucks than when I first started hunting 26 yrs ago. The age class is much much better also. Still not a ton of 4/5 yr olds but they’re around. Seems like every year I have a handful to chase around my properties. Each part of the state is different with different restrictions, can’t speak outside of SW Pa and NW Pa. But the deer density and quality where I hunt is very high.
I am wondering if the state(s) are incentivizing processors to do quick raw scores for data purposes- I had a very matched typical mainframe 8pt with a busted G3 that I shot in WI but processed and euro mounted by a shop in IL, and when I picked up the head from the shop, it had a tag on the antlers with '125' on it. There's no way I was the 125th buck they processed as it was in mid-November and I gotta think they had easily done 200+ by then. (I presume it's possible I was the 125th person to have them euro mount a head, but that seems kinda high.) Not only that, he actually measured just under 120, and if that busted G3 matched to the other side, would have been about 5" (making him roughly 125.) FWIW, I didn't ask them to measure it. That tag and '125' might be completely unrelated to the OP's post, but it's very possible. I imagine the DNR(s) want to know if their APR/buck management strategies are having any effect. Would not be hard for them to require the processors to be licensed, they have to do quick rough scores on all the bucks. Wouldn't take more than 5 minutes per deer, and that's if they're being pretty precise.
I am having a hard time believing NE and KS are that much bigger than Iowa. And there's no way in hell OK is that much bigger than WI.
That's a possibility, but I doubt it. How could they use that as a statewide statistic when many deer are processed by the hunters themselves and the antler score never revealed?
Now we all know what these drone are for, all over the news. Mass antler scoring by the state so they could put together a average antler score of bucks, haha. Kidding aside, that map is a joke. I would bet if that was real, very few states would average over 100 inch buck. So many states try to guess the average age of deer that are shot each year, which for the most part is a joke. Most are done by tooth wear, which is highly inconsistent. I personally dont know a single person that submitted a survey on antler size, or age class. So were there getting any info, who knows.
