Would you hunt where there are no (or VERY few) big bucks?

I have often wondered if the people who know nothing more then big bucks being out there (seen and killed every year by them or others close by)............and are used to the luxury of being able to pass smaller bucks because they KNOW bigger ones will come along sooner or later would even enjoy hunting in places where a basket 8 around 100" is a heck of a deer.

I have often heard people respond to someone who says they hunt where very few if any monsters roam from year to year by saying they would simply not hunt there........and would find somewhere "better".

I find this interesting as I hunt the VAST majority of my time in woods where chasing big bucks is an exercise in futility yet I would bet I enjoy hunting as much or more then anyone out there. I wonder if this is because it is what hunting is to me as I have hit these woods for over 20 years now........is it just perspective??? Would I think hunting in my woods sucked if I was born in Kansas or Illinois instead??.....I can easily see how that could happen.

I just wonder sometimes when guys say they love hunting so much..........but then follow it up with "I wouldn't even hunt where you do"........how those two statements can both be true.

My guess is perspective (location) would strongly sway the answers each person would have to this........and rightfully so I suppose.


So........if you didn't at least THINK a big boy was out there somewhere with a REALISTIC chance of seeing one at some point in the season..............would you still go??

 

Where I hunt up in Northern Wisconsin big boys are far and few between and mostly basket bucks but I love that
country and have been gun hunting it every year since 1984. I have yet to get a big boy up there
but have some relatives who have and to share those memories I will cherish.
But to answer your question YES I would still go hunting as you just never know.
T

 

I would not!!! It doesn't take long to drive or plan a hunt where big boys run!!! The best saying I have ever heard was from Gene Wensel a long time ago, he was doing a seminar up here in Michigan and someone asked him I bet you couldn't kill a buck like that where I hunt and he just looked him in the eyes and said I would hunt where you hunt!!! Light goes off and on the road went Walt!!!

 

That going on the road isn't always affordable or practical. For my first three seasons with a bow I hunted land close to home. On that land I had little chance to kill or even see a deer over 110-120. In that 3 years I killed 4 does and 3 bucks. The best buck was about 90". This year I will be traveling. I'll have much better odds at killing a large racked mature deer. However I won't be able to hunt nearly as often. No more after work hunts, no more spur of the moment hunts. Now I'll have to plan and budget for every hunt. I love hunting. I love it enough to want every chance in the woods that I can get. I would rather hunt much more often close to home and kill small bucks and several does than have less time in the woods but have better odds on a big buck. Don't get me wrong though, in a perfect world I'd have it both ways! Big deer close to home would be great.

 

I do already, that is what makes it fun.

 

You bet I'd still go. I don't have the big numbers of P&Y and B&C bucks that Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio all have but they are here where I hunt, just not near as many of them. If I can shoot a buck of the same caliber as the big buck states do I would feel pretty damn proud about it. On a side note some year I plan on doing a serious hunt down south some where in Iowa for these big guys.

Another thing too one would be surprised in what they have for big guys running around on there property. There may not be allot of them but I'm thinking there's one here and there.

 

depends, if its private land and you can manage your property well enough you can eventually get big bucks there... hunt smart, keep them well fed and allow them to feel safe... I'd hunt where there are no big bucks and I'd be selective on the does i took for the first 6-8 yrs until I got the herd where I wanted them to be...

 

See that big blank spot in the the NLP, just west of Alcona county



That is where I found this:



I scored this antler 64, which puts him close to 150. I have checked the P&Y records for this county, a P&Y has not been recorded in over 11 years. In 60+ years my Grandfather has not seen one that big.

Fun would be hunting this big SOB woodland's buck

BTW for a dollar which county in NLP has had AR test program for the last 5 years They had a vote to renew it this year, in a shocking vote it passed, by a lot.

 

Jeff just so you know
50%-54% of bucks killed in Oh, Indiana, KY are 1.5 bucks. All one buck states. Next highest is 2.5. The only state that is different is PA, and is's 2.5 make up 50% of the kill.

50% seems to be the target for most states for 1.5 bick kill.

So the majority are killing bucks under 120''

BTW in MI the numbver is 68% 1.5, I bet it's a bit higher, damn I love this state. Highest Unemployment and Highest 1.5 buck kill. We Rock

 

Cool, but that is not how your post read.

 

kinda the problem we have in AL, probably about 90% of hunter live by 'brown its down'... and they have a ridiculous season down there of one buck per day and one doe per day (yes, you could take two in a day down there and the local DNR officer has told us to take 2 does if we wanted)... but it has really diminished the amount of big bucks in the area, but the overall population is still quite high...

 

The differnce between where a hunter in Ohio hunts and MI is 2. They have about 3 shooters to my 1

 

It's the same post he has made the last 3 years, lol We all know

"We don't shoot big deer as midwest guys because they are not there", just put it in your sig

 

I would go absolutely...there's no way I would miss time hunting just because there aren't trophy bucks around If I lived in a place where 100 incher was big, then fine, I'd still be more than happy to go hunting. I'd still try to make a hunting trip out of state to a big buck area as much as I could... hopefully once or twice a year. But for the rest of the time, I'd fullfill my love & passion of hunting for what hunting is.

 

Some card games you have to play the cards your delt, I live in the blank spot on the map Germ has posted above, not only is the 1 1/2 year old kill rate almost 70 %, they lack good browse, mast, and minerals to become what most consider trophy bucks even if they do make it to 3 1/2 or older. I have been lucky enough to tag 3 out of the 6 biggest Bucks to come out of this area in the last 10 seasons, yet none will score over 140", They mean just as much, if not more to me than my 174 from Kentucky or the 152 from Kansas due to the location.
Now as far as playing cards go, in poker you get to draw more cards if you dont like the ones you were delt, so I learned to play poker!
I am establishing my residency in Kansas and will continue to hunt Kentucky the first week of Nov till my Mother passes, she is 82 now, and looks like RuttNutt will be moving to MD next year, so will get a few weeks of bow season with him ever year.
I am stacking the deck!

Germ, Best of Luck on that northern beast, I would sure like to see you put a tag on him.

 

Exactly

 

I have been thinking alot about this subject lately. I think that big buck envy and the extreme focus hunting puts on antlers now is terrible. My neighbor got a picture of a 3.5 (guesstimate) year old buck that has 4-points. I guarantee that he is the biggest 4 point you have ever seen! My neighbor was whining about its rack. I think it is awesome! I would love to take that buck. It honestly isn't all about the rack score for me. I look more at character and age to determine a "trophy".

 

You're describing what I do now. I thinke we all wait for the "big boys" to show up. How do you know what exactly is out there. Let me convey a story to U. I gun hunt up in Black River Falls, which is know for being a battle ground come opening weekend. There are tons of people hunting that area of wi. Mainly basket up there because they only eat what's in the woods. No food plots, farm land for a long way off, I'm talkn 80,000 acres. Any way, a buddy of mine goes back up for the last weekend. On sunday morning around 10 o'clock out comes this real nice 10 ptr out the same marsh he's been hunting near the weekend before. You don't know what is going to show up from day to day. Same area, couple of yrs ago. The day before the opener, my & another guy go out to scout a spot for him. Out runs nice 10 ptr & runs right past us at about 30 yds. He doesn't see us at all, & trucks by. That other guy never seen one deer that weekend. Go figure. They'll be, were they'll be. Isn't that why we're out there any way, for the hunt. I'm putting meat in the freezer, & if I get some bone on the skull, great. Can't eat them things anyway.

 

Speaking just for myself, I got Big Buck fever the first time I ever seen one in 1959 at the age of 4, it has nothing to do with envy or marketing, more along the lines of an infection.
I know what your saying about the 4 pt, I spent the better part of a season in Kansas passing up some bucks that I would shoot in a heartbeat around here waiting for an opportunity at a gaint 6 pt I had watched most of pre season. But that ended when the 152 got to close.

 

I completely understand what you are saying, but everyone describes bucks now in inches. "Old Harvey sawa nice 140's 8-point", which you know are 99% of the time WAY off. 20 years ago it was just "Saw a big 10 point", "got an 8-pointer", etc. Everyone focuses too much on score for my taste. I only hunt "big bucks" but that doesn't necessarily mean a specific score. Your 6 and my 4 are perfect examples of what I mean, and I think we are on the same page. Age is more a trophy than rack size IMO.