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

This is a classic. Good one!

WTF!

When we weigh deer here its is fully gutted. The biggest i know of right around here was one my DAD killed years ago. It won the big buck contest at 267.5 a day after he shot it. This is northern north dakota. ED K

The mortality numbers would be roughly the same. winter is the biggest limiting factor to carrying capacity, hunting removes excess deer prior to them being winter-killed. most if not all states determine the targeted harvest numbers based on that. states with unlimited tags use other restrictions such as limited doe tags to keep the numbers in check.

to put it in it's most simple form it's like this.
Surveys indicate Hunt unit 123 has 100 deer in it, Carrying capacity (k) is 75 animals per year. average hunter success is 50% so they issue 50 tags for the unit.

*due to weather only 20 deer were harvested, so statistically 5 will die due to weather/food limitations.

since most tags/application deadlines have to be set the year before it can really complicate things. there are many factors EHD, Drought, bad winters etc. that can happen, but are hard to account for in their severity. especially if they occur AFTER tags are purchased. which is why the deer population can have swings in it, and why hunters love to say the state has no idea what they are doing, where in reality they are the only ones who can manage deer populations on such a huge scale.




your second part is hard to follow, and is more genetic/geographic dependent rather than just speculation.

shooting a 2.5-3.5 year old deer guarantees it will not grow up any, telling yourself "well it probably wouldn't have been a monster anyway" is just a way to justify shooting it.

180

If he hunts where a 130 is a top end buck and never goes anywhere else then he may never kill a 130 class buck. After all what are the odds that any of us will kill the biggest buck the area has to offer?


But for sure there are places where a 130 class buck can be passed up in hopes of something bigger. Not that a 30 class is not a good buck anywhere but in some places you will never kill a big one if you blow a tag on a 130.

This was aged by biologist at 8.5 years:

Brandon Mulhern with his Dad's 2014 Kansas whitetail buck. by Sharps Man, on Flickr

Got 3 more that were 7-8 years age.

Holy bases, Batman!

How about this one Scott. Was hoping for him this year, didn't happen.


picture from august with a couple of his running mates.


I've got a feeling he might be related to this one I took several years ago.


I ended up taking a 161 gross buck with better mass, but would of taken this buck with a choice.

one my second cousin killed a couple days ago here in south texas, 15 points, typical points measured 191.

I like 8s, too.

That couldn't be any more beautiful. Love the color contrast on the face and neck. Looks alot like a blacktail in that regard.

Is that a Catawba County buck Mike? Reminds me of the area around Catfish and Lake Lookout. I hunted that area in the 80s. Your buck would been a true trophy then- any 6 or 8 pt deer was a trophy. I believe the county has a lot more deer now- not to mention turkeys and coyotes.

This buck will fall well below 120

If you notice a black pickup following you around during hunting season next year, that's me.

This goes for the rest of you too.

Saw a 130 class this yr. Never got a shot at him. Best buck we saw all yr.

Cuz popped a 150 gross 3 yrs ago. Last yr I got this one, 131 gross (126 net). Never saw him in bow

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3rd best buck I've taken. Best is my avatar deer was 177 gross, 166 net. Shot on a bud's farm in another county. saw some whoppers up there. Bucked out on something small once, went out MZ for doe and saw a 189 net non typ. Found one of his sheds. Rabbit hunters found him all ate up by coyotes later.......got him scored. Dunno if poached/lost or hit by vehicle or what.

Most of my deer run 100-120". They taste great

Kid around the corner popped a 160 class, dunno if off that farm or away where he goes to college.

Guy at work said he about hit a whopper 13 pointer a quarter mile from my current spot. Was headed that way. 3rd shift.....saw it just before midnight.

The 130 we saw in gun didn't get popped.
Hopefully he dodges the blue hairs and their Buicks.

Not many recurve hunts left in me. Really want a P&Y with bent stick.