In Ohio I go for 140+, IN 130+, KY 130+, IL 140+. When it comes down to I usually hunt one specific buck that I have history with, which usually turns into tag sandwich or killing a buck that I like that's just as big with zero history.
Around here people come out of the woodwork to see a 120" rack. I'll be hunting farther upstate again this year and hopefully I'll find one of those 150" monsters up there. Also going to MD... looking for a 140-160" down there.
Back home in NY anything 120+ is a really good buck. I think I've only seen deer over 130" maybe 4-5 times in my life and I don't think I've ever seen one over 143". If I can find a way to put myself on one of these bigger bucks in IL this fall I don't know what I'll do with myself. I'm committed to holding out for a 130"+ buck though this year.
5+ years old...first and foremost. Any deer that age and older is a true trophy, hopefully it's commonplace here in the next few years though. Antler wise, I checked 150+ even though I have four on the wall well over 160+, they aren't easy to come by over 150 here. 140+ is very realistic expectation here to see a couple per year in bow range.
150 is a decent deer here, brother killed a 189 on his farm a few years back.there are some big deer on the Mississippi River bottoms here. A lot of farms are duck clubs that don't allow deer hunting,mega buck sports players are trucked in like they are the president or something.truly the Gold triangle
Honestly for south florida a deer around 100' is a really nice buck. But what i consider a monster is 150+. Have i seen one 150+ down here? No a deer close to 100 yes. And that is a big buck for down here. Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
I think anything over 150" is a heck of a buck. For youngsters I think they should shoot the first buck that presents a shot and then try to shot one better every year after. Just hope that first one they kill isn't a 200"+ monster! lol! Boy are they going to be disappointed next season! This deer was not shot in KS.
Im going to say that around the area that I live in 170 and bigger would be a big deer. Back in the day when deer hunting was good people wouldn't hardly stop to look at a 150. I will shoot anything thats 140 in plus 4 year old and any 5 year old plus deer that walks by me will get shot at no matter the rack size.
I agree. I shot the first buck I had a shot at ( a spike) and am now holding out for my #1 hit lister (the shed set I posted). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Can't eat the antlers man. This year if it was brown, it was down. Hunting good Illinois property, I can say I've shot the biggest deer I've ever seen in stand and it scored 140 flat. but I'm all in it for the meat. Personally I think wide bucks are "big bucks" to me, those always get my heart racing hard in the stand, and mass.
I voted wrong. I chose for 130+ thinking shooter but after reading responses realized that wasnt the intention. For a truly BIG whitetail, I think 150+ and honestly closer to 160+.
A 120 inch buck where I hunt is generally a 4.5+ year old buck. When I see a 120 inch buck in the woods I take that as a big one. I am not embarrassed to state that at all.
I said 140-150. For the area I hunt thats a big buck. Sure we see some over that but they are few and far between. My personal goal use to be 140 and over... now its if I like the deer and its close to 130 I'm going for it...
Seriously... I like big bodied deer. I see a lot of 8 pts here and if they look like a grown deer I hunt them, passing on smaller bucks. I shoot grown does for meat while I wait.
Any buck over 200 pounds is pretty big around here, have seen a couple 250 pounders. I've seen many 210+ pound bucks with less than 120" of antler and that's fairly normal for this area. 130" is pretty big but we do see some in the 140"s 150"s + occasionally.
