Deer Ridiculous

[Flipper Dude]

I was thinking 115 tops. But I didn’t say it. I really don’t believe it’s a legal deer in East Texas with the antler restriction. Way too close to shoot

 

[RTG]

I'm a whitetail hunter and I simply do not participate in such silliness. I hunt the biggest, most mature bucks I can find but kill and eat anything that gets in my way...

I hope nobody ever pulls out a photo of a ranched deer and expects me to be impressed because I'll have a hard time faking it.

Ditto. We hunt whitetail every year and filling the freezer is job one! We'll shoot doe's too, just don't lead them as much.

I'm much more selective if paying to hunt overseas however.

 

[TheSayHeyKid]

Yous guys gotta come up to Big Wisci! The entire state is a food plot (Iowa even more so). Just in my immediate rural neighborhood (two sections)...we put at least one 150" or 160" deer down every year (and sometimes 2). We do our part to manage that and shoot cull bucks if the opportunity arises. I'm with ya though...pen shot monsters sure as h*ll ain't for this kid!

 

[Flipper Dude]

Would love to hunt Wisconsin. I saw some monsters when I used to bow hunt Ohio. Never closed the deal, though. So must crap to go wrong bow hunting.

 

[Jfet]

All of these deer were taken off the 3BH Ranch in Throckmorton County TX. None of Them are a 150 inch deer

Afte 20 years of hunting and managing this ranch this was the biggest deer taken and it was 160 inche

The average mature whitetail is going to be 135 inches.

 

[Hunt anything]

View attachment 480661
View attachment 480662
View attachment 480663
All of these deer were taken off the 3BH Ranch in Throckmorton County TX. None of Them are a 150 inch deer

Afte 20 years of hunting and managing this ranch this was the biggest deer taken and it was 160 inche
View attachment 480664
The average mature whitetail is going to be 135 inches.

Good mature white tails all! I don’t think people realize how hard it is for a main frame 8 pt to make 150”, need those couple of extra points to get over that hump.

 

[IvW]

From the minimums of the 31st Edition. View attachment 480657

Wonder when they changed that...guess I am getting old always use to be 53 7/8.
Thx for the update

 

[mdwest]

I was thinking 115 tops. But I didn’t say it. I really don’t believe it’s a legal deer in East Texas with the antler restriction. Way too close to shoot

I think he's legal.. a quick rule of thumb is if the antlers are at least as wide as the ears, then you meet the 13" spread rule...

but he's certainly nothing over the top... where I hunt if anyone took him it would be for freezer filling purposes only..

from the angle and the granularity of the pic I cant tell if he is fully mature.. but I am assuming he is.. if so, we'd definitely consider him a "cull" where I hunt.. We basically self regulate and only allow ourselves 1 "trophy" deer per year, 1 cull buck, and we have more doe than we can handle.. so take all of those you want (its a "managed herd" on about 21000 acres of low fence timber.. the state issues the land owner roughly 200+ tags every year, we have longer seasons, etc..)...



From the TPWD website...

 

[Andrew62]

As for why someone would pay for the privelage to hunt an apparently inferior animal. Well the same reason we pay to go to Africa and hunt a 50 or 52 inch kudu (I have one of each) even though the minimum for Rowland Ward is 54. It's still an amazing animal and we believe it's worth it. To each their own.

Well said Ryan!! On my first bongo hunt I shared camp with a fellow who was a member of DSC. One night at dinner he says, 'the most disappointed I ever was when hunting was when I shot my sitatunga'. I said, 'why do you say that?' He says, 'because it was only 27 1/2"!" I said, 'damn, that's a pretty nice sitatunga, why were you disappointed?' He says, 'because so and so from the club shot one 31 1/2". I replied, 'are you hunting for the experience, or to impress your buddies from the club?' I have taken kudu that measure 47", 53" and 58 1/2", and I would not exchange one experience from the other. We all hunt for different reasons, but the one thing I have learned to do is leave the tape measure at home!!!!

 

[Reed Thoma Outdoors]

I live in MN and have been deer hunting for 10+ years and I have seen only one deer that was maybe close to scoring 150. I mostly only see does and spikes. With the amount of hunters we have in the area the deer rarely get very big (in my hunting area). That being said I wouldn't pay to hunt a high fenced whitetail or to pay to hunt with a guide unless it was something more foreign (ex. Anticosti Whitetails, columbian whitetails, south american whitetails, etc.) I see the reason why people do pay because many areas just don't produce big bucks whether it is due to hunting pressure, environment, or other factors.

 

[Doug3006]

There is (or used to be) a show on TV where the host would go see deer breeders, mostly in Texas, and showcase the genetically enhanced deer there. “That there is Meglodon. He’s outta Titan.” The host would nod appreciatively and remark on how all of the deer in the pen were awesome. I don't get it. I’m not saying it’s a bad way to make a living. I’m not saying that people who would hunt these deer wherever they are realized are wrong. I simply just don’t get it. When I look at these deer I see freaks not to be found in nature.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

I have been after a monster 4 point for the past few years. I thought he was gone but I have him on camera again. He has horns like an Australian Buffalo with brow tines and a huge body. He will score very high on my "that is a cool looking deer" scale.

 

[Hunt anything]

I always wondered if the meat from those mega deer is fit to eat or is contaminated with steroids or growth hormones. I wouldn’t want to hunt one nor any of the color phases of different plains game. No problem with those that do just not my thing.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

And then there is this.........Christmas is coming..............

 

[crs]

Taking a large trophy buck is fun, but after a while the pile of antlers grows so large as to be in the way. That is one of the reasons I usually shoot some does for meat and am not impressed with bucks.
Lack of room for antlers is why my nice 6x6 elk had to be mounted on a wall of our courtyard.

 

[Flipper Dude]

I think he's legal.. a quick rule of thumb is if the antlers are at least as wide as the ears, then you meet the 13" spread rule...

but he's certainly nothing over the top... where I hunt if anyone took him it would be for freezer filling purposes only..

from the angle and the granularity of the pic I cant tell if he is fully mature.. but I am assuming he is.. if so, we'd definitely consider him a "cull" where I hunt.. We basically self regulate and only allow ourselves 1 "trophy" deer per year, 1 cull buck, and we have more doe than we can handle.. so take all of those you want (its a "managed herd" on about 21000 acres of low fence timber.. the state issues the land owner roughly 200+ tags every year, we have longer seasons, etc..)...



From the TPWD website...

View attachment 480665

I’m thinking he’s probably legal as well. A lot of Texas hunters seem to forget that it’s INSIDE spread that counts though. I’ve seen several deer killed by family and neighbors that didn’t quite make it, although they thought they were completely legal. No use telling them then. Just agree that’s it’s a fine buck, job well done!

 

[Daktari]

If you derive all your satisfaction from a hunt based on a minimum trophy size then you completely lacking in substance. There are many factors that make a hunt "worth it" such as the overall experience, the people you're with, the terrain, and a high quality food source.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I live in S. E. Arizona - Coues deer country - so I don't 'have a dog in this fight'. These whitetail deer are tiny, but take a lot of hunting to collect.

Most of my life I have hunted mule deer or blacktails. No fences, feeders, mowed lanes, or elevated blinds... just country to hunt and deer if you're good enough to find them.

My best mulie is 31-1/2" and I don't apologize for him.

I just can't get jazzed over buying a deer to shoot.

 

[WAB]

I live in S. E. Arizona - Coues deer country - so I don't 'have a dog in this fight'. These whitetail deer are tiny, but take a lot of hunting to collect.

Most of my life I have hunted mule deer or blacktails. No fences, feeders, mowed lanes, or elevated blinds... just country to hunt and deer if you're good enough to find them.

My best mulie is 31-1/2" and I don't apologize for him.

I just can't get jazzed over buying a deer to shoot.

You live in great country! Last year was my first Coues deer hunt and it won’t be my last! One of the best hunts of my life.

 

[John the Electrician]

Buckhead in Atlanta, Ga or Hebbronville, TX …

For example, this is probably a 130 that I passed on at the end of last season. In hind sight, I should have shot him - he is declining and on his way out. Genetic cull for the area, though.

View attachment 480619

We take our whitetail hunting pretty seriously in Wisconsin. I got really lucky once and shot what I am told is a 160”+ buck. This one in the pick is no where ear 130” anything, sorry.

VERY few hunters will ever kill a 150” deer. I live in whitetail monster heaven.
Literally one country north of Buffalo County. A big deer in the 150” class isn’t common at all.