lack of bigger bucks??

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Sit tight....they'll show up. We've had a pretty warm early fall. The late crop planting this spring means almost everything is still in the fields. If you were a deer, why would you ever come out of a corn field? Eat in one row, sleep in the other, dump in another.

[bigbucks]

I would say I've had pretty typical pics. A decent one hear & there. Often even where I know there's a good one from other signs I can't get a pic of him. I think antler size is down some do to a slow start on growth with the late spring. I've seen several spikes this year & we almost never have those.

[Musky Buck]

The only issue with the corn etc. is they always come to our oaks in 3 counties and about August 15th we put cams out because acorns are magic but so far and wow it's Oct. 9th already and the acorns dropped a month ago so who knows. Does and fawns and yearling buck or 2 is it. A month from today it's let er rip but might not be much to hope for this fall. There is no way to know really even with the t-cams, a different kind of spring, etc. we just finished picking our apple trees 3 weeks behind the norm. Maybe these nice bucks are finding a better place to be for now, still concerned my dad who drives prime times all over the area with a 2AM paper route has yet to see a shootable buck, he normally has certain areas or farms where he sees them but not yet anyway, what a great surprise it could be if the corn goes and here they come.

[TruthWalleyes]

What would you guys do if we had years where the antlers didn't grow as big due to natural causes?

I think i might panic

[bigbucks]

I think I'd still just go hunting.

[96trigger]

I would shoot a 2nd doe.

[paceman]

I think I'd still just go hunting.

Yep me to...

[Bear55]

What would you guys do if we had years where the antlers didn't grow as big due to natural causes?

I think i might panic

You might say that is happening this year. I have a ten on cam that might have gotten smaller this year, he was 3 last year. Pic was bad so I can't tell for sure but that spring we had did some damage.

[mntatonka]

You might say that is happening this year. I have a ten on cam that might have gotten smaller this year, he was 3 last year. Pic was bad so I can't tell for sure but that spring we had did some damage.

How do you know he was 3 and not 4 or 5? Maybe he's on the downturn and getting old?

Or maybe he's sick?

[Scott K]

How do you know it was the same one?

[muskiemanAD]

What would you guys do if we had years where the antlers didn't grow as big due to natural causes?

I think i might panic

I'd just hunt harder cause I know there would be a few that grew giant racks... BTW What would you do if the river dried up due to natural causes and you couldn't chase trophy Cats and Sturgeon?

[Gofishleech]

Im the same as the poster. I have monitored the same property for 10 years now. Cams, food plots and salt stations. This year is the worst ive seen in terms of older bucks. Several 2&1/2s and of course 1&1/2s.But just one 3 year old that I saw once and did not get a pic of. I had years where I would get pics of numerous bucks im sure were 3 plus. We have wolves now to and the long winter would of had to take its toll. Im not surprised at all. It is also the best food plot year I have had so hopefully I can strengthen the area heard for the coming winter.

[hockeybc69]

Ebs and flows of Mother Nature maybe could be "accused"?

How can anyone expect to have consistent age classes, population numbers, recruitment and whatever else?

Its Mother Nature..... Even if you own and manage 10 square miles, you are going to see rises and falls in all wildlife. You cant control every input that goes into a wild animals life. Yes you can manipulate it, but they are still free ranging and wild.

[lakevet]

Our area has had fewer younger deer past few years. Mature does by themselves, and seeing more mature bucks as percentage of deer seen. Overall fewer deer. Wolf activity higher than average past few years. Suspect long winter, wolves, and the "Gotta get a buck, any buck" mentality all playing a role. We have not seen a spike or fork for 3 years now. It will cycle the other way eventually.

lakevet

[TruthWalleyes]

I'd just hunt harder cause I know there would be a few that grew giant racks... BTW What would you do if the river dried up due to natural causes and you couldn't chase trophy Cats and Sturgeon?

I think i'd finally move to colorado where the sturgeon are HUGE

But, comparing a resource that is GONE to the lack of size of an antler is just hilarious

[Bear55]

How do you know it was the same one?

No one ever knows for sure, it was an educated guess. Racks look to have very similar genetics and I don't have a lot of mature bucks running around so one mature buck is pretty easy to pick out. He could have been 3 or 4 last year but I guessed 3 based on body size/characteristics. Either way I expected him to grow a bit more this years and he is either the same or smaller. This isn't surprising with the crazy spring we had, the bucks would have been in much worse shape at the start of the antler growing season.

[Scott K]

Bear, I think you nailed it, a long winter, cold, snow covered spring, when the antlers started to grow, and the deer needed the vegetation for minerals to grow big racks, we got dumped on with a huge snow fall, and cold snap, thus the deer not getting the nutrients they needed to form big racks this year. I have some land over in Wisconsin, and I havent noticed any lack of antlre growth, but we didnt get the huge late spring snow fall that they did in MN this past spring.

[muskiemanAD]

Truth, I know comparing apples to oranges.... I have heard the Colorado River produces some giants though...

[TruthWalleyes]

Truth, I know comparing apples to oranges.... I have heard the Colorado River produces some giants though...

I was getting bait in cabelas last friday. The cabelas guy who was helpin me asked why i was getting 6 scoups of minnows. I said i was going sturgeon fishing, told him what my biggest was this year..Then i hear a chuckle behind me - from a guy who fishes the monsters in colorado I was humbled lol.

[PurpleFloyd]

Quit shooting all the older bigger bucks and you will have more of them around.

[lungdeflator]

I'm not really upset or disappointed, just more curious as to why. You would have to be a fool not to accept the ebbs and flows of Mother Nature but that doesn't mean we can't be curious and ask questions to help us better understand. Just gotta be out in the woods and have realistic expectations.

[Bear55]

Quit shooting all the older bigger bucks and you will have more of them around.

Quit shooting ALL deer and think of all the meat running around the woods.

[Huskie]

I hunt one of the lottery areas north of highway 2 and my cam has shown more pictures of bucks than it did last year, a couple good ones too. Last year all the pix were of does, yet we nailed a nice 8 point. You never will know until the 9th rolls around, better still go hunting anyway.

[Musky Buck]

All I know for sure is 25 years ago a big buck was a big buck and today a big buck isn't what a big buck used to be for many. What produced those large bucks, non-hunted land/or large tracts of dense thick stuff and short gun seasons, that allowed the deer to age talking old zone 4. The weather also helped the deer as it was definitely colder and people didn't sit as long because the season was short deer drives were a must and box stands with heat etc. were rare; and who almost really needs heat the way the seasons have been since 1995. I don't want a fawn feeding us till December 1st, I want a large deer that will get us to Easter or beyond or it isn't worth the basic 100 cut up fee.

[TruthWalleyes]

or it isn't worth the basic 100 cut up fee.

Bahaha.

If you have an hour to spare. Grab a knife. It's free

I've cut up every deer i've ever shot and MANY for other people as well.

Why do i do it by myself...Cuz i don't trust nobody else to take care of their deer meat as well as i do and i don't trust no meat locker to make sure i get MY deer when it's all said and done.

+ I think it's just a fun part of the hunting process.