I have to admit I am a little bit surprised by this. http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=313#art1 [h=2]Wisconsin leads nation in trophy whitetail bucks[/h] MADISON -- The number of trophy bucks taken in Wisconsin has risen by 857 percent in 30 years, with a record-breaking 383 entries during the five years ending in 2010, according to historical records kept by the venerable Boone and Crockett Club. Wisconsin Buck & Bear Club measurer Marlin Laidlaw of Marshfield with a large buck he shot a few years ago. While impressive, it falls short of record book standards. That makes Wisconsin the number one state or Canadian province in North America for trophy whitetail production, muscling up from its earlier position of third. The records show the number of trophy white-tailed deer in North America shot up by 400 percent during the past 30 years. During the period from 1980 to 1985, North American hunters entered 617 trophy whitetails, every one of those antlers scored by a certified Boone and Crocket “measurer,” a designation that can take years to earn. For the period 2005-2010, that number jumped to 3,090 trophy deer, dramatic evidence that North America’s whitetail deer herd has grown by leaps and bounds. One long-time, certified measurer is Marlin Laidlaw of the Wisconsin Buck & Bear Club, also a member of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress big game committee. Laidlaw says Wisconsin’s number one ranking is about a lot more than numbers. Laidlaw said while there is good deer range throughout the state, there are more unofficial refuges now – private lands where deer are not hunted or are hunted lightly – where bucks have a chance to grow older. “Plus, you have people who just don’t care to shoot small bucks anymore,” Laidlaw said. The last half century has seen a remarkable shift in hunter attitudes, Laidlaw said. He recalls the story of the third largest buck ever shot in Wisconsin, taken by Joe Haske in Wood County in 1945. Haske was surprised when a big buck flushed right in front of him. He instinctively fired, hitting the deer in the rear, an unfortunate shot placement from the standpoint of a butcher. As Haske’s son, Roger, told the story, other hunters gathered to admire the magnificent antlers. Even then, when hunters didn’t think much in terms of trophies, they recognized there was something special about this deer. “But I remember my dad just being so mad about all the meat he’d ruined,” the younger Haske told Laidlaw. “When the others remarked on the antlers, he shot back, ‘You can’t eat the horns.’” Back then, and even into the 1980s, Laidlaw said, hunters were primarily interested in trading their buck tag for a freezer full of venison. Then as now, a young deer became a legal buck, for hunting purposes, when its fork horns reached a length of just 3 inches. “About 85 percent of the harvest was legal bucks,” Laidlaw said, “so there wasn’t much carry over. Meat was meat. If it had 3-inch horns, it was dead.” But it’s a fact that big bucks excite hunters; research has shown that just seeing a big buck can cause a hunter’s heart rates to skyrocket. That’s one reason big game hunter Teddy Roosevelt founded the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887 and why he and others developed a system in 1906 for scoring trophy game animals – whether deer, elk, bighorn sheep, caribou, antelope or bear. “He (Roosevelt) felt they deserved recognition for what they had accomplished in the wild,” Laidlaw said. “We don’t measure people. We measure their trophies.” In the case of deer, antlers are scored with a series of precise measurements to include the circumference of the beams at four locations on each side, the length of each of the tines reaching skyward and the widest inside spread between the upward curving beams. Measuring the separate class of “non-typical” antlers is more complex. In the 1960s, there were only a handful of Boone and Crockett measurers in Wisconsin. One of them was Pete Haupt, a colorful hunting guide in Hayward who believed Wisconsin wasn’t getting recognition for its trophy hunting opportunities. In 1965 he and others – including Bob Hults, Arnie Krueger and Gerald Younk – founded the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club with the mission of training measurers and “keeping Wisconsin No.1 in the record books.” In 1961, the national Pope and Young Club was formed to recognize trophies taken by bow hunters. Both national clubs are ardent supporters of fair chase ethics and sound conservation practices as is the Wisconsin club. In 1965, Wisconsin had five deer listed in the Boone and Crocket record book. There are now more than 300. There are more than 1,500 Wisconsin entries in the Pope and Young book and more than 5,000 deer have qualified for Wisconsin state records maintained by the Wisconsin Buck & Bear Club, which was sanctioned by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1996 as the as the state's official big game records keepers. The minimum standard for state trophy deer is marginally less stringent for gun hunting, 150 points vs. 170 points for the Boone and Crocket records. Just as the number of certified trophy scorers has grown in Wisconsin, Laidlaw said, so has the information available to hunters. In the 1960s they were lucky to find a single book on deer hunting in a school library. Those same libraries are now well stocked, and the Internet – along with the emergence of cell phones, global positioning devices and motion-activated trail cameras – has changed the game completely. “I’m wondering if there is a deer in Wisconsin that hasn’t been photographed,” Laidlaw said. In recent decades, Laidlaw said, the “quality deer” movement emerged with landowners banding together and establishing hunting guidelines under which young bucks were more likely to survive. “Let ‘em go, let ‘em grow” has become a mantra among some hunters, even being adopted as a trademarked slogan by the Wisconsin Bear & Buck Club. Not everything is rosy, Laidlaw said. He and others, while often fond of their local deer biologists, have been critical of state Department of Natural Resources deer management policies. A common complaint is that the DNR has not found a way to manage for quality deer hunting on public lands where hunters with little or no access to private property congregate with little incentive to “let ‘em go.” Laidlaw said many hunters believe predator populations, primarily wolf and bear, have been allowed to grow too large. A great deal of research and public debate is being directed at these issues. But in the meantime, Laidlaw and other measurers with the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club draw crowds when they set up at small town fairs and big city deer shows. At each of these events, dozens and sometimes hundreds of people bring in their deer mounts – or their grandparent’s deer mounts – to be officially scored, and they bring their stories with them, Laidlaw said. While the Boone and Crockett Club is celebrating the resurgence of the North American deer herd and the exponential growth in trophy deer, the 150 or so highly trained measurers with the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club can celebrate the unrivaled success of their public outreach efforts. When it comes to keeping Wisconsin number one for trophy deer, they can justifiably claim “mission accomplished.” FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Ed Culhane, DNR west central region public affairs manager, 715-781-1683. The Boone and Crockett state-by-state ranking of trophy deer entries can be found on the organization's website: www.boone-crockett.org/news/featured_story.asp?area=news&ID=125.
Thats an awesome article! Glad to see a lot more people practicing QDMA! I know its been helping around my area!
I find it amusing that they're talking about WI record book entries and use a dude's picture of a buck that he most likely shot in Saskatchewan. (you can tell by the white jacket he's wearing)
Dan, you posted the same thing I was going to!! What is also amazing is that there are numerous bucks that have not been entered into any "books". I am sure this is the case in every single state that not everyone takes the time and spends the $$$ to enter their "trophy" just so it is in a book. Just in my little hunting group (5 people) and other family/friends (8 more hunters) I know of 11 P&Y quality bucks that were not entered, but harvested in WI and 1 B&C a friend shot a few years back in SE WI that again was not entered.
I guess I'm surprised since Iowa, Illinois, Ohio seem to have a better reputation. I never saw any hard facts comparing the states.
I have to admit, Wisconsin has been great to many of us. One thing I will add, and this is true no matter where you go...but many people don't ever enter their deer into the books. I have been all over the midwest and maybe I was just in the right areas, but there are very big deer everywhere. Congrats to my home state, but lookout for Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, among others. It may surprise us that if you calculate the numbers by hunter population and not by total numbers, the data may change...
Actually, Wisconsin has not always led in this category. If I'm not mistaken, there was a period of time where Mn. led Wi in record book deer.
Good ole' Hoosier state staying pretty steady...high enough to be attractive, low enough to keep a low profile :D
Here's a link Greg to a big write up I did on another hunting forum. http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11632 In the last 20 years Wisconsin has blown everyone away. Compared to Minnesota In this time period (1991 to 2010) they've entered almost 4 times as many. Prior to this Mn was up there but I'm not sure If they've ever been ahead of Wisconsin. Michigan at one time was up there as well.
Here, I found this........ From this article.http://www.americanhunter.org/articles/where-bc-bucks-are-coming-from/ I was thinking further back.....'70's and '80's.
I'd like to know where Ohio is on the list, I know we have increased by I believe it is 400% in trophy bucks in I think ten years or something like that
Here's some P&Y stats, not B&C. 1. Wisconsin 1991 to 1992- 395 1993 to 1994- 501 1995 to 1996- 628 1997 to 1998- 753 1999 to 2000- 961 2001 to 2002- 855 2003 to 2004- 957 2005 to 2006- 1002 2007 to 2008- 994 2009 to 2010- 1088 9136 Typicals entered all time, 509 NT's entered all time. 2. Illinois 1991 to 1992- 403 1993 to 1994- 422 1995 to 1996- 541 1997 to 1998- 501 1999 to 2000- 528 2001 to 2002- 596 2003 to 2004- 706 2005 to 2006- 674 2007 to 2008- 603 2009 to 2010- 499 6234 Typicals entered all time, 721 NT's entered all time. 3. Iowa 1991 to 1992- 258 1993 to 1994- 422 1995 to 1996- 541 1997 to 1998- 365 1999 to 2000- 312 2001 to 2002- 324 2003 to 2004- 428 2005 to 2006- 411 2007 to 2008- 408 2009 to 2010- 317 3748 Typicals entered all time, 456 NT's entered all time. 4. Ohio 1991 to 1992- 141 1993 to 1994- 160 1995 to 1996- 208 1997 to 1998- 211 1999 to 2000- 241 2001 to 2002- 236 2003 to 2004- 334 2005 to 2006- 309 2007 to 2008- 319 2009 to 2010- 320 2904 Typicals entered all time, 243 NT's entered all time. 5. Minnesota 1991 to 1992- 154 1993 to 1994- 165 1995 to 1996- 174 1997 to 1998- 176 1999 to 2000- 131 2001 to 2002- 160 2003 to 2004- 188 2005 to 2006- 201 2007 to 2008- 197 2009 to 2010- 196 2342 Typicals entered all time, 186 NT's entered all time. 6. Kansas 1991 to 1992- 104 1993 to 1994- 97 1995 to 1996- 138 1997 to 1998- 148 1999 to 2000- 141 2001 to 2002- 180 2003 to 2004- 230 2005 to 2006- 218 2007 to 2008- 235 2009 to 2010- 319 2309 Typicals entered all time, 364 NT's entered all time. 7. Indiana 1991 to 1992- 81 1993 to 1994- 101 1995 to 1996- 99 1997 to 1998- 108 1999 to 2000- 125 2001 to 2002- 178 2003 to 2004- 238 2005 to 2006- 294 2007 to 2008- 339 2009 to 2010- 325 2118 Typicals entered all time, 167 NT's entered all time. 8. Missouri 1991 to 1992- 107 1993 to 1994- 84 1995 to 1996- 135 1997 to 1998- 135 1999 to 2000- 141 2001 to 2002- 135 2003 to 2004- 245 2005 to 2006- 190 2007 to 2008- 183 2009 to 2010- 221 1768 Typicals entered all time, 161 NT's entered all time. 9. Michigan 1991 to 1992- 88 1993 to 1994- 93 1995 to 1996- 144 1997 to 1998- 151 1999 to 2000- 121 2001 to 2002- 92 2003 to 2004- 114 2005 to 2006- 158 2007 to 2008- 156 2009 to 2010- 135 1514 Typicals entered all time, 88 NT's entered all time. 10. Texas 1991 to 1992- 88 1993 to 1994- 111 1995 to 1996- 145 1997 to 1998- 147 1999 to 2000- 149 2001 to 2002- 107 2003 to 2004- 156 2005 to 2006- 174 2007 to 2008- 169 2009 to 2010- 156 1507 Typicals entered all time, 84 NT's entered all time. 11. Pennsylvania 1991 to 1992- 43 1993 to 1994- 53 1995 to 1996- 89 1997 to 1998- 102 1999 to 2000- 91 2001 to 2002- 117 2003 to 2004- 162 2005 to 2006- 167 2007 to 2008- 161 2009 to 2010- 207 1279 Typicals entered all time, 54 NT's entered all time. 12. New York 1991 to 1992- 55 1993 to 1994- 62 1995 to 1996- 90 1997 to 1998- 100 1999 to 2000- 136 2001 to 2002- 161 2003 to 2004- 152 2005 to 2006- 101 2007 to 2008- 127 2009 to 2010- 106 1229 Typicals entered all time, 50 NT's entered all time. 13. Kentucky 1991 to 1992- 52 1993 to 1994- 65 1995 to 1996- 67 1997 to 1998- 82 1999 to 2000- 66 2001 to 2002- 74 2003 to 2004- 99 2005 to 2006- 131 2007 to 2008- 125 2009 to 2010- 126 1011 Typicals entered all time, 86 NT's entered all time. The top 16 states the last 10 years for entries are- 1. Wisconsin- 6215 2. Illinois- 4113 3. Iowa- 2517 4. Ohio- 1921 5. Indiana- 1631 6. Kansas- 1558 7. Missouri- 1238 8. Minnesota- 1158 9. Texas- 974 10. Pennsylvania- 950 11. Michigan- 830 12. New York- 818 13. Kentucky- 683 14. Nebraska- 596 15. ND- 589 16. SD- 474
Wow thanks schultzy for the info, I'll take top 4 and as long as we are way ahead of Michigan I'm happy
