anyone, what kind of experience in 35B last bunch of years?

[firstcoueswas80]

 

 

 

That mentality has been around as long as hunting

While I agree, I think you might be missing my point.

 

There always will and always have been "meat hunters" ( which is perfectly fine).

 

What I'm getting at is, (some) guys who don't use any points, and are probably not in their unit of choice seem to switch to a "If it's Brown it's down mentality". Where as these same guys would have more patience and hold out for something better on hunts they had the draw.

 

And I think that is having a big impact on the deer herd.

 

Agree or don't that's fine, but that's an opinion of mine that I have formed by ting mostly leftover hunts since they came out.

Shooting smaller Bucks reduces deer herd numbers??? You do know that the does give birth right??? bucks will breed with multi does???

Your premise makes zero sense FirstCouesWas80...

I guess I need to be a little bit more specific. I don't mean the quantity of the herd, I am speaking more to the amount of quality, mature bucks running around.

[firstcoueswas80]

For instance, last year on my October hunt I saw I believe 45 bucks roughly on the first 2 days. If I recall correctly only two of them were even at or near 80 inches.

[ThomC]

Science, not seat of pants.

[RTAYLOR]

Gonna give my 2 cents here.

 

You have more hunters in the field, which guys get lucky and stumble across quailty bucks. Which happened to me and my buddy last year.

 

You have hunters sitting on hills with spotting scopes that can see for miles.guys have the option to really look over a quailty buck. then they have a canon with a 8x32x56 nightforce that can hammer a buck 1000-1200 yards.

 

Then there s guys taking long shots that probabley shouldn t, wounding mature bucks. Not being able to find the buck, then later in the hunt hammering another buck.simple fact to hunting, it happens!!

 

predators!!! will always always be a problem. Heard from a game and fish officer that old mature bucks are easier targets for predators since they travel alone or in pairs.

 

last year i saw 7 hunts for 35b. 4 rifle hunts,2 muzzy hunts, and a jr hunt. thats not including the archery guys. I m sure there were quailty bucks taken on every hunt!!

[JACK]

Gonna give my 2 cents here.

 

You have more hunters in the field, which guys get lucky and stumble across quailty bucks. Which happened to me and my buddy last year.

 

You have hunters sitting on hills with spotting scopes that can see for miles.guys have the option to really look over a quailty buck. then they have a canon with a 8x32x56 nightforce that can hammer a buck 1000-1200 yards.

 

Then there s guys taking long shots that probabley shouldn t, wounding mature bucks. Not being able to find the buck, then later in the hunt hammering another buck.simple fact to hunting, it happens!!

 

predators!!! will always always be a problem. Heard from a game and fish officer that old mature bucks are easier targets for predators since they travel alone or in pairs.

 

last year i saw 7 hunts for 35b. 4 rifle hunts,2 muzzy hunts, and a jr hunt. thats not including the archery guys. I m sure there were quailty bucks taken on every hunt!!

👆🏻What he said...plus more archery hunters these days too...

[OpticNerd]

I've been hunting/filming in that area and surrounding areas since 2005. I too have noticed a decrease in antler size over the years. This year was one of if not the worst year for me being able to find bigger bucks. Like others have said this seems to be a common trend in these border units as of late. I'm not going to even begin to speculate on what is causing this trend but I will say I don't think it's not just one factor causing the decrease of the older bucks in these areas. Or it could as simple as my eye sight and hunting skills are deteriorating with age.

[AZAV8ER]

My brothers and I plus a few friends have hunted this area since 1978. Since late 90's the acorn crop has disappeared, in the last couple years seen seeps and wet spots come back. We see plenty of does and fairly good fawn numbers, we see bucks also but nothing much bigger than modest 3X3. I had one guess and that was that bigger bucks just plain hide out more.

[billrquimby]

For instance, last year on my October hunt I saw I believe 45 bucks roughly on the first 2 days. If I recall correctly only two of them were even at or near 80 inches.

Hi Casey:

 

You have just described a healthy deer herd. As with trees in forests, an abundance of young is a sign of good things to come in the future.

 

Bill Quimby

[Coues assassin]

Most guys hunt a very small portion of a unit they are familiar and comfortable with which is only 5-10% of the unit and then draw conclusions about the unit as a whole