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Increased number of big bucks due to food plots.

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
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SW Ohio
What do you guys think? Do you think the large increase in the number of big bucks in the last 25-30 yrs. is due to the increased number of food plots being planted? Ihttp://whitetailinstitute.blogspot.com/2015/06/stunning-increase-in-record-book-bucks.htm
 

jagermeister

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No. IMO It's due to increased awareness in the fact that they must reach 3.5+ years of age to become trophy deer. More people are letting young bucks walk these days. As a result the age structure has shifted and there are more mature deer wondering the woods.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
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No. IMO It's due to increased awareness in the fact that they must reach 3.5+ years of age to become trophy deer. More people are letting young bucks walk these days. As a result the age structure has shifted and there are more mature deer wondering the woods.

I agree with this.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
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I'll have to say no to that idea. I just don't see the average deer hunter not shooting the 1st buck they see. Oh sure the are a lot of somewhat advanced deer hunters that let smaller bucks walk past us but I don't think that's normal. But most of the deer hunters on the TOO forum are above average deer hunters.
IMHO
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
With the just about unlimited doe tags, more hunters are letting the small bucks walk and hanging on to that antlered tag. The swing of bow hunters vs gun hunters is also helping.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
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I don't see it happening that way. In 2013 when I took my 8 pt. buck to the processor there was 10-12 bucks hanging in the freezer and not one of them was over 6-8" in height and this was Oct. 26 during bow season. Only report what I seen.
 

Carpn

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Wooster
No doubt some small deer get killed . Ya can't make everyone to pass em , nor do I expect them to . But the study is looking at the last 20 or whatever yrs ago , and if you compare the average hunter from then to know a much larger percent as a whole a passing up deer .
I'm sitting here racking my brain thinking of everyone I know who deer hunts and I can only think of a couple who'd shoot a young deer . One is my mom who has never shot a buck . However I can think of lots who won't shoot a deer under 125 .
 

motorbreaker

*Supporting Member I*
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North of Toledo
I don't think food plots has much to do with it. Typically the percentage of big bucks eating in a food plot that is not already native to the area has to be low. Take away soy beans, corn, alfalfa, and clover and it don't leave much of anything that is widely available and high in protein.
 

jagermeister

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I don't see it happening that way. In 2013 when I took my 8 pt. buck to the processor there was 10-12 bucks hanging in the freezer and not one of them was over 6-8" in height and this was Oct. 26 during bow season. Only report what I seen.
Another thing you need to realize is that nowadays the guys who are serious about shooting mature deer are usually also serious about processing their own venison. So you can't look at deer laying on the floor of a processor as an accurate representation.
 
Another thing you need to realize is that nowadays the guys who are serious about shooting mature deer are usually also serious about processing their own venison. So you can't look at deer laying on the floor of a processor as an accurate representation.

That's a great point to make! So many people I know these days do it themselves that used to take them to the processors just a few years ago. Prices are way too high in some places and that's why I try to do my own every time nowadays.
 

Jackalope

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I don't think hunters holding out, food plots, or minerals supplements has a lot to do with it. I think it's purely a numbers game. Over the last 25 years the population of deer in Ohio has exploded. Over that period ohio has remained a 1 buck state with comparatively short gun seasons and a long bow season. In ohio approximately 33% of hunters were successful. Of that 33% how many shot a buck? I don't have the numbers on my phone but let's say it's 20% of the licensed hunting population. If the deer population is high enough it doesn't matter what those 20% shoot. Plenty of deer will survive to be 2, 3, 4+ year olds. if your deer population is significantly lower people will still shoot bucks but fewer of them will remain to grow older. We can see this exact trend playing out in the OBBBC book entries. Over the past 5 years our deer population has been decimated by our DNR, OBBBC entries have followed suit. The reason that we've seen bigger deer over the past 20 years is simply because up until 5 years ago the population was growing. The opposite is holding true now that the population is reduced.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
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SW Ohio
My view on food plots. I've owned my farm for 24 yrs. now since 1991. I planted 3.0 ac. food plot beside my hunting woods on the rear of the farm in 2013.
For 21 yrs. from 1991 till 2012 I never seen over 3 deer at a time on the farm. Mostly only 1-2 and more one deer than anything.
Starting in 2013 I started seeing 5-6 and in 2014 I started seeing up to 12-15 at a time in my food plots. In 2014 I seen 14 bucks in one day chasing does through the plot during the peak rut.
My new food plot is drawing deer to my farm and a lot of new bucks. But on the downside my pinch point woods has dropped greatly in deer traffic. Now the traffic is through the food plots.
My view is my food plot is drawing numerous does and bucks to my hunting area and this greatly increases the chance of a bigger buck sightings and hopefully harvest.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
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Appalachia
I agree with JB and Joe.

Age grows bucks bigger much moreso than nutrition. Hunters as a group are collectively more educated on what it takes to grow bigger deer. There's also a lot of truth in Joe's assessment.