DEER WEIGHT

[DOUBLELUNG]

What does the average deer weigh? Buck? Doe?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I stole this off another web site..

Fawns are born in late spring and summer and by early November a male fawn weighs about 85 pounds and a female about 80 pounds. Yearling bucks average 150 pounds, while does of the same age average about 20 percent less, or about 120 pounds. Some older bucks weigh 200 pounds or more when field dressed (about 250 pounds live weight)

[archerystud]

Another point is that I think deer growth rates vary greatly within the state. They get larger faster in Southern MN with all of the good food sources. I would say as deer get to 3.5 years old then genetics take over and the Northern deer in general get even larger.

I've been fortunate to get 3 bucks that dressed out over 200. I've seen does at the Ripley weigh in that have been between 130-150 lbs. but I've never shot a doe that was nearly that large. The 150 average of a yearling buck seems a little high to me although they definitely get that big.

I also see quite a few yearling bucks in the 120 range as well. Maybe late fawns from the year before.

[Mo Gator]

Deitz's tidbit from another site must be referring to live weight.

It would be a very large yearling buck to dress out at 150, or a yearling doe at 120.

I used to work at a baitshop through high school, and we registered and weighed alot of deer there. A 120lb doe dressed out is a big doe. A 130lb doe is pretty rare. And a yearling buck dresses out at somewhere between 110 to 130. A 2.5 yr old buck will usually be around 140 to 160 lbs.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I was asking about deer that are dressed and hung. It wouldnt be very fun weighing those things with the guts still in em.

[Tenpoint]

I like this question. I help butcher a lot of deer each year. The group that I help, weighs and records the weight of every deer that comes through the door. After looking through the records, I would have to say in my part of the woods, (East Central, MN) the average does weighs between 110 and 120 pounds. The average buck weighs between 125 to 165 depending on the age. The largest doe weighed, was 155 pounds, and the largest buck was 227. This is an average of 350+ deer, spanning about 12 years. If I have learned anything, when people estimate the weight of there deer, it is always high.

[lcornice]

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I like this question. I help butcher a lot of deer each year. The group that I help, weighs and records the weight of every deer that comes through the door. After looking through the records, I would have to say in my part of the woods, (East Central, MN) the average does weighs between 110 and 120 pounds. The average buck weighs between 125 to 165 depending on the age. The largest doe weighed, was 155 pounds, and the largest buck was 227. This is an average of 350+ deer, spanning about 12 years. If I have learned anything, when people estimate the weight of there deer, it is always high.

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You got it. The only thing worse than hunters guessing deer weight is guessing gross B&C scores. Nothing hurts more than being told your field 160" is actually a nice 135".

[Mark Christianson]

I love paging through the Outdoor News and seeing what people report for weights..... An awful lot of 200+ lb deer. Or so they think...

My biggest was 195lbs. Talk about ginormous compared to anything I had ever shot too.

I always love hearing the reports of the "200 lb doe" or the "300 lb buck". Its hard not to tell people they are nuts, or their buddy that shot it is nuts.

[harvey lee]

I'm one of those guys that are nuts as I shot one in Wisc approx 7 years ago that scaled at 302. I shot another one in North Dakota a few years back that had to have went 300+ as it was the biggest deer I have ever shot. The neck was 29.5 inches and one cannot purchase a deer head form to even fit it. It needs to be custom made to be mounted as the neck and body was sooo large.

This just shows that the bigger bodied deer are out there.

[lcornice]

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I love paging through the Outdoor News and seeing what people report for weights..... An awful lot of 200+ lb deer. Or so they think...

My biggest was 195lbs. Talk about ginormous compared to anything I had ever shot too.

I always love hearing the reports of the "200 lb doe" or the "300 lb buck". Its hard not to tell people they are nuts, or their buddy that shot it is nuts.

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This fall will be my 19th consecutive year working at a deer check station (and yes, giving up hunting opening weekend). I've worked them in Illinois, Indiana, Utah, and Minnesota. In those years, the heaviest buck I've ever seen was 247 (Illinois) and the heaviest doe was 155 (Indiana). I've honestly never seen a bona fide 300 lb deer, although I'm sure they're out there (yes, I believe you Harvey ). I do see a couple of 200 pounders every year, but they're rare. Most often, mature bucks (3-5 years old) are in the 160-180 category. The deer really has to be over 5 years old and have access to pretty good nutrition to get that heavy.

My favorite exchange is when you tell them their 200 pound deer is actually 170. They don't believe you so it gets put on the scale and weighs oh ... 172. They then tell you that the scale is broken, load the deer back up and continue with the story of their 200 pound deer.

It's almost like black bears. Everyone you hear about or read in the paper causing trouble is 300 pounds. Typically, they're 150 pounds yearling males.

I need to write a book

[B. Amish]

well for what its worth...

the last three bucks that i've shot weighed in at 205, 215, and 245 dressed.

all of them were weighed on the same accurate scale.

[Gissert]

From some of your trail cam photos, I don't doubt that one bit. Some of those things looked like cattle. Good eats make big deer.

Up until about 1990, we hunted an area that had some real bruisers. It also had some great cover. In the time we hunted there we took three that dress out at 225-240. That land was sold, and we now hunt about 35 miles west. Our group has not shot a buck much over 160-175 since. They are there, just not many. Probably not as much cover and more hunting pressure. I've had a couple on trail crams that would crack 200, but I have only ever seen one during season.

[fivebucks]

Those weights sound about right to me. Last year was the first year we had a scale at camp. I got a decent 8pt, big body but not a great rack, that I estimated at 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 years old. It weighed out at 155 dressed. I was expecting something closer to 180. This was a way up north deer so size is probably a little smaller than corn country.

[archerystud]

Another thing to consider is when the deer was shot. A buck shot in mid October will weigh much more than if the same deer were shot in mid November. Of my bucks over 200lbs. two were shot in October and one on November 4. So I got all of those before they had made it through a long rut.

The largest doe that I've had weighed was 109 for a contest. I may have shot a couple that were a little bigger but I doubt I've had one break 120 lbs. I've seen does weighed at around 150 lbs. They look like a 2.5 year old buck with a real skinny neck.

[CodyDawg]

We have shot some big bucks and had them weighed on scales. Some have topped 200 lbs, but it seems that lately there have been less and less of them. Even some of the big racked bucks arent breaking 200#s anymore. In the mid 90s, we had 3 or 4 go over 200 and a couple by a long ways. The thing I remember most vividly is how long they were. We use a bucket on a tractor to skin them and the other deer would be off the ground by a lonnnnng ways before these guys even got their rump off the ground. The thing with a 200#er is there is no question it is huge. If you think there is the slightest possibility that it doesnt hit 200#, it doesnt.

I find it interesting that the guys who weigh tons and tons of deer both have never seen a 250#er. How rare does that make them?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I worked at a sporting good store in Bemidji for 5 years... I always looked forward to deer season. Used to do a who can guess the closest to the weight of the deer.. Its amazing how little a deer acutally weighs. I think the biggest I ever saw in the 5 years up there was about 260 some. I did get to weigh a bear that went 440 though.. thing was a monster!

[lcornice]

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Another thing to consider is when the deer was shot. A buck shot in mid October will weigh much more than if the same deer were shot in mid November. Of my bucks over 200lbs. two were shot in October and one on November 4. So I got all of those before they had made it through a long rut.

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That's another excellent point. Illinois has a December second gun season and by that time, the bucks are pretty lean. Often, you'd see ribs and hips showing and thing weighed much less that what it would have weighed in September.

[Piker]

Deitz, I saw a bear picture in the Oklee Herald that was 530lbs. I think from the Clearbrook-Gonvick-Gully area. You're right when they are that big they do look like monsters. Freaky head size, I've been talking about that thing all week.

[Gofishleech]

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I'm one of those guys that are nuts as I shot one in Wisc approx 7 years ago that scaled at 302. I shot another one in North Dakota a few years back that had to have went 300+ as it was the biggest deer I have ever shot. The neck was 29.5 inches and one cannot purchase a deer head form to even fit it. It needs to be custom made to be mounted as the neck and body was sooo large.

This just shows that the bigger bodied deer are out there.

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Any picks? Id like to see a 300 deer.

[harvey lee]

There out there. My father years ago saw one he said that the back end of it looked the size of a horse. Sounds like a story but after 50 years of deer hunting he knew his deer.

[Piker]

From the MN DNR HSOforum on whitetails.

"The biggest one ever recorded in the United States was a 500-pound Minnesota buck."

[Mark Christianson]

There are surely very large deer in MN....

The point being that they are not as common as people like to think they are....

[harvey lee]

I would really agree that this is not common but, they are out there. All of the larger deer I have taken or seen have not been in Minnesota but remote areas of other states.

[maros91]

I would have been one of those guys that said there deer was bigger than it is. Halloween night 2001 I arrowed a really nice 8 pointer. I brought it to Marv's Minnows in Zimmerman to get it weighed. He said, "whats your guess?" I said about 225lbs. It ended up 175lbs. It is decieving when you first get up to it and start dragging. My dad shot a doe later that year that was really big and it weighed 125lbs. I also chuckle when people say they got a 200lb doe. They are out there but few and far between.

[brassman]

I shot a doe that dressed out at 165lb I have pictures but have to find them. I am telling the whole truth when I say she dressed out at 165 too. once you see the pictures, you'll see.