Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Now.... About all Those 130 Class Whitetails Running Around.....

Gene, I would guess you to be correct. Some hunters will kill several, but most will not. I only have a very few, and I have killed lots of deer in my lifetime. I will say that a big rack is not my priority, but I don't pass them up either. I shoot a lot with genetics that I don't like, for here, even though I know that I am wasting my time given the amount of land that I have control of. miles

makes it nicer for us who live down here.

Disagree. An otherwise great buck with a small spread is just a basket rack.

And?

If air impresses you great, but a 130 class 8 point with a 15" spread is more impressive to me than a 130 with a 24" spred

My opinion is the same as yours. I'm kinda put off by the whole "bass tournament" inspired trophy hunting. Any deer is a good deer, in my book. Nice to get a big one, but good to just get one . Pa. is a good example. Used to be, the average guy could just go out and shoot a deer. I do not like, or agree with, the antler restrictions. Joe Average has 2 or 3 days to hunt rifle season, and he should at least see something legal. Pa. has really shot themselves in the foot, regarding deer hunting. They got rid of a lot of their deer. Used to be THE deer hunting state. Not anymore. I've shot a few deer over 130, but I'm a meat hunter, and you don't eat antlers. Fun to chase a big one. I'll admit that...

I have been hunting and killing deer since I was 7, some 60+ years. I don't recall ever feeling the need to kill a deer based on it's antlers. Just don't care. I hunt for the enjoyment of the event, and for the meat. I have never mounted a head, and saved just one set of antlers from a deer I killed.
That's my opinion...............

i think curdog is right. In many parts of the country it seems they are hard to find and kill.

In other places they seem more abundant. Depends where you are and what hunting opportunities you have.

This one is pushing 130" I believe.

OBTW he will exceed 250lbs live weight as well.

Here you go Scott last years archery buck(sorry he was a 9pt)

One I'm also after this year the piebald

These are my "training aids" for helping young hunters estimate scores:



Their scores, Left to Right: 110, 115, 120. These are all net scores, but these three racks had few deductions.

Interestingly, the 110 on the left was a 4 1/2 year old deer, but would not be legal under the 13 inch rule in effect here now. He only has a 12 1/2" spread, but he is a nice trophy as s I'm concerned because he only drops 1/2 inch left to right.

Id say if you said 140 or 150 yes. 120 just isn't much, even in the hill country, took me about 10 years to do it with my bow up there where the deer are tiny.

Took me 2 deer to do it at home and have/could have shot 130 plus every year.

I"m not that serious of a hunter, iMHO, but I don't have a clue how that relates to "normal"

Currently 3 bucks at home over 140 gross, I could have shot any of them by now, but they can all benefit from another year... or more. Or at least breed some more does as I saw one after this morning again.

The major fault I see, if you have not shot one that size, is age. You typically won't get that at 1-2 years of age that a lot of bucks are shot at. It should be self serving, IE once I've shot one of X age/size I"m moving up... plenty of does and culls for meat, at least in the areas I hunt, even on public land.

There's never anything wrong with a big rack. Never.

shoot what ever makes you happy.

Most years it makes me happy to not shoot one.

Absolutely! My philosophy is simple.

Hunt until it's time to shoot, then shoot.

Sometimes it's on the first day and sometimes the time doesn't come at all.

It should be about the hunting experience, not just the antler score, and certainly not about competition.

I enjoy deer with big antlers, they are fun to look at fun to hunt, living in S.Tex. we see our share of nice deer in the 130 to 150 B&C class.

Here we control what is killed and what is not killed, based on age of the deer, we look at age first, antlers 2nd, we rarely kill a buck that's under 5 yr old unless he is a sure enough cull. most people seem to forget, deer have a whole new set of antlers every year, if the genetics for good antler growth is present antlers will be good with age.

Most of the deer I see pictures of are killed to young, and never get a chance to mature.

My advise would be, look at the whole deer, not just the head. spend some time learning to age deer and score deer on the hoof.

I posted some of our deer pic's here on deer hunting thread, (from the chopper), if you look at the pic's think age, and you will understand what I am talking about. Rio7

Bingo, we have a winner ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Perfectly stated.

That's been going on around here for 6 weeks or so...

I know. The season hasn't started yet. But, that makes no difference to the idiots around here.

Nearly every morning at daybreak I hear a single shot with a thud.

They aren't "sighting their rifles in" at the crack of dawn...