A 2.5 year old 130" buck?
How common is that? Dang I have hunted all over Iowa and several other states and I bet I haven't seen too many of them!
Well, unless the taxi I go to can't age deer, I've shot a 124" and 127", both aged at 2 1/2 allegedly by removing the jaw bone and sending it away to be aged. I thought I was shooting an older deer, but was told otherwise. Not 130" but real close.
I digress, a lot of guys on the last day of their hunt in Iowa, with a $700 tag in their pocket, will probably shoot a 124" or 127" 2 1/2 year old instead of letting the deer grow larger.
How common is that? Dang I have hunted all over Iowa and several other states and I bet I haven't seen too many of them!
Well, unless the taxi I go to can't age deer, I've shot a 124" and 127", both aged at 2 1/2 allegedly by removing the jaw bone and sending it away to be aged. I thought I was shooting an older deer, but was told otherwise. Not 130" but real close.
I digress, a lot of guys on the last day of their hunt in Iowa, with a $700 tag in their pocket, will probably shoot a 124" or 127" 2 1/2 year old instead of letting the deer grow larger.
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Dolph
New Member
I come to Iowa to have a chance at shooting a P&Y buck. I will not shoot a small buck just to fill my tag. I will however shoot a doe to get some venison and if the farmer wants us to shoot does. Which he always does. I am lucky enough to be able to afford this tag and would pay more if I had to (not too much more though) Great hunt with my 2best friends and time with our new friends in Iowa. Can't wait!!
kbnelson3
Supporter of Landowners
I come to hunt my own farm that we manage pretty tightly, I know when I last had a bow tag 3 years ago I let bucks that were 3 1/2 and right at 140ish walk because it was October firstly and secondly they weren't quite where we would want them to be yet. I can definitely see not being a landowner and shooting the first 125" 2 or 3 year old on the last day of a hunt.
When I come to Iowa to hunt my goal is to take a buck larger than the best I have taken so far or go home with nothing. So far my best is a 147" so that would be something 150" or better. Reegardless of the tag cost - it doesn't change my philosophy. I will still pay for the tag and play the point game with the price increase to hunt Iowa every 2 or 3 years as I feel for a week or two of hunting - Iowa gives me one of the best chances to take that 150" deer.
quackmaster
New Member
Ok, this may be a dumb question, but I'll throw it out there. I don't have any pref points built up and I applied for a tag this year. Due to the price incr. will chances be greater to get drawn this year, or will it probably still take a few years?
Kris
Kris
quackmaster
New Member
AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
JNRBRONC has a very good point. often times, too much emphasis is placed on the size of the antlers to qualify a trophy and not on the hunt/experience itself IMO. having said that, tag soup is nothing new to me out here in AZ. i plan on coming back to Iowa to bow hunt the farms I grew up on before moving away. i've let several smaller bucks (still bigger than anything i've harvested out here) walk in Texas to honor my brother-in-law's management goals and not regretted it. i did regret the dink i mistook and harvested, though, and that was my 2nd trip to Texas in a couple of months and put me back several hard-earned dollars. i do have high goals for when i come back to Iowa because i grew up seeing big bucks in the area i plan to hunt. i'd probably get my doe tag filled right off the bat so i can settle down and look for the trophy i came there for. if, on the last day, a 3.5 year old 140"+ walks within range, i'd probably take him because its still bigger than anything i've been able to harvest or i'd wait until the last possible moment and bring back 2 does. In AZ, we're on the lottery for big game hunting and, if you get drawn, you have about one week (usually a specific friday-thursday) to hunt that managment unit. a lot of spikes, forks, and young bucks get taken out here because its mostly about the meat in the freezer (no doe tags issued, except limited junior hunts). we just don't get the 5+ tags and several months to hunt out here and the hunting is much harder with all the competition public land (about 70%) and the rugged nature of the land out here. i was very spoiled back in Iowa with a couple thousand acres of private land to pheasant and turkey hunt and fish at my leisure with no competition. so would you IA residents travel 2 days down here and eat tag soup after paying $750 for an elk tag or would you take a spike or rag horn on the last day (they do taste better if you're after meat)? that's enough rambling. yes, there's an undertone of jealously for the private land i used to have and the guaranteed tags of an IA resident, but the fun in the challenges of the terrain out here make it worth while. if you want a real kick-in-the-pants fun hunt, come hunt southeast Arizona for the Coue's whitetail.
letemgrow
PMA Member
If and when I do get my IA tag, I will shoot my doe that the state wants plunked and hold out for a bruiser. If that cannot be acheived then another doe would be on the menu for me. If I paid 5000 for it I still would not shoot something other than what I really wanted (02). Others feel the need to put the tag on antlers even if it is not what they really want to shoot to justify paying for the tag...more power to em, but like Saskguy stated, people do not buy a 500 tag to fill the freezer.
If there's a few guys that choose to shoot an immature buck- whatever. I think the vast majority won't AND the number of NR's isn't going to decimate the immature buck population even if they did.
Iowa is one of the most desirable places in the country to hunt for MATURE deer. Coming here to hunt to shoot immature deer is just contradictory thinking to what most folks want an opportunity to accomplish.
One more guy here who would travel ANYWHERE in the country and go tagless over drastically reducing my standards and goals.
Iowa is one of the most desirable places in the country to hunt for MATURE deer. Coming here to hunt to shoot immature deer is just contradictory thinking to what most folks want an opportunity to accomplish.
One more guy here who would travel ANYWHERE in the country and go tagless over drastically reducing my standards and goals.
letemgrow
PMA Member
I would not shoot a 125 in my home state let alone IA. If people were seriously setting those for their standards in IA, they might as well hunt my home state of MO where they can shoot all the 120's they want for less than half the price and get unlimited doe tags really really cheap too.
My standards for IA would be a 4.5+ buck just like my home state of MO....the only difference is I would have far more bucks in that age range to choose from in IA
My standards for IA would be a 4.5+ buck just like my home state of MO....the only difference is I would have far more bucks in that age range to choose from in IA
Tim Bannen
Active Member
I have eaten tags before and would definately eat another one. Especially if I just dropped 500+ dollars on it. I always try to shoot a doe when I am hunting out of state though
whitetail fanatic
Member
I agree with letemgrow. I will not shoot a buck under 135" in my home state of Wisconsin. And I try to make sure they are 4 1/2 years old or older, but definately at least 3 1/2. I would be crazy to come to Iowa and shoot a buck that small. I have had days during the rut where I saw and/or passed up 4 or 5 bucks that big in Iowa. Anyone wanting to shoot a 125 to 135" buck would be much smarter to come to Wisconsin and pay $160. Not that we need anymore hunters shooting little 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 year old bucks here. Like letemgrow said of Missouri, there are plenty of bucks in that range in Wisconsin too. We just don't have the numbers of older and bigger bucks that Iowa does. I go to Iowa because there are more bucks 4 1/2 years and older and 150" and over. 4 1/2 years old and 150"+ is my goal when hunting Iowa and I've had years where I passed up bucks about that big in Iowa and went home with tag soup after 14 days or more of hunting in Novemeber and never regretted it one bit.
About the comment on 2 1/2 year old bucks being 125 to 130". There are a lot more 2 1/2 year old bucks that big or bigger than you would expect. We have our taxidermy send in the teeth from every buck we shoot to a lab where they age them by cementum analysis. This method involves slicing the incisor teeth and inspecting them under a microscope. This method is pretty much 100% accurate for aging all kinds of mammals, from deer to bear to elk and more. Yes, most 2 1/2 year old bucks in the midwest will be from 90" to 120", but there are always some with exceptional genetics that will be bigger, even much bigger sometimes. These are the bucks that end up having racks scoring 150" or more at 3 1/2 + years old. Our taxidermy, in the same hunting season, had a 170" 10 point typical with tons of mass aged at 2 1/2 years old and another buck in the 150"s also aged at 2 1/2 years old, aged by cementum analysis. Those were from SW Wisconsin. Just look at the world record typical, Hanson buck at over 210", was estimated to be only 3 1/2 years old. He had to be pretty big as a 2 1/2. I have read about many top end bucks (190" or more) in North American Whitetail Magazine that are aged at only 3 1/2 years old. Yet, what we have found from aging the bucks that we have shot, plus all the other bucks that our taxidermy has aged by cementum analysis, is that MOST BUCKS WILL NEVER SCORE MORE THAN 135" TO 140" AT THEIR PRIME. I mean bucks at least 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years old or older. It takes a buck with special genetics to get bigger than that. I hear a lot of guys say that they don't have good genetics in there area, but it's not true. I know guys who hunt some of the best areas of Iowa and they say the same thing, most bucks 4 1/2 and older max out around 140", however, Iowa has so many more bucks that old or older and so they have many more bucks with that rare potential to be greater or much greater than 150". My point is this, just like there are men who are 6'5" tall and there are men who are only 5'5" tall, the vast majority of men will probably be 5'8" to 5'10" tall. The same can be applied to bucks, most will be 135" to 140" at their max, at least throughout the midwest US. As another example, I have found sheds from the same 8 pointer the last 3 years on my parents farm in Wisconsin when he was 2, 3 and 4 1/2 years old. At 4 1/2 he was only in the upper 120"s. Yet, every year on the same farm we usually see at a couple 2 1/2 year old bucks at least that big or bigger. Many years ago, when we weren't as choosy as we are now, but still trying to pass up all 2 1/2 year old bucks, one of my brothers shot an 8 pointer that grossed 131" and was aged at just 2 1/2 years old by cementum analysis.
About the comment on 2 1/2 year old bucks being 125 to 130". There are a lot more 2 1/2 year old bucks that big or bigger than you would expect. We have our taxidermy send in the teeth from every buck we shoot to a lab where they age them by cementum analysis. This method involves slicing the incisor teeth and inspecting them under a microscope. This method is pretty much 100% accurate for aging all kinds of mammals, from deer to bear to elk and more. Yes, most 2 1/2 year old bucks in the midwest will be from 90" to 120", but there are always some with exceptional genetics that will be bigger, even much bigger sometimes. These are the bucks that end up having racks scoring 150" or more at 3 1/2 + years old. Our taxidermy, in the same hunting season, had a 170" 10 point typical with tons of mass aged at 2 1/2 years old and another buck in the 150"s also aged at 2 1/2 years old, aged by cementum analysis. Those were from SW Wisconsin. Just look at the world record typical, Hanson buck at over 210", was estimated to be only 3 1/2 years old. He had to be pretty big as a 2 1/2. I have read about many top end bucks (190" or more) in North American Whitetail Magazine that are aged at only 3 1/2 years old. Yet, what we have found from aging the bucks that we have shot, plus all the other bucks that our taxidermy has aged by cementum analysis, is that MOST BUCKS WILL NEVER SCORE MORE THAN 135" TO 140" AT THEIR PRIME. I mean bucks at least 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years old or older. It takes a buck with special genetics to get bigger than that. I hear a lot of guys say that they don't have good genetics in there area, but it's not true. I know guys who hunt some of the best areas of Iowa and they say the same thing, most bucks 4 1/2 and older max out around 140", however, Iowa has so many more bucks that old or older and so they have many more bucks with that rare potential to be greater or much greater than 150". My point is this, just like there are men who are 6'5" tall and there are men who are only 5'5" tall, the vast majority of men will probably be 5'8" to 5'10" tall. The same can be applied to bucks, most will be 135" to 140" at their max, at least throughout the midwest US. As another example, I have found sheds from the same 8 pointer the last 3 years on my parents farm in Wisconsin when he was 2, 3 and 4 1/2 years old. At 4 1/2 he was only in the upper 120"s. Yet, every year on the same farm we usually see at a couple 2 1/2 year old bucks at least that big or bigger. Many years ago, when we weren't as choosy as we are now, but still trying to pass up all 2 1/2 year old bucks, one of my brothers shot an 8 pointer that grossed 131" and was aged at just 2 1/2 years old by cementum analysis.
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SaskGuy
Active Member
Off topic but, no way Hanson's buck was 3 1/2. I don't care who claimed that, James Kroll I think. Bentley Coben, quite the avid and world reknown shed hunter from here found a shed from the previous year and it was a 90" 5pt. He publicly called that one out in anarticle he wrote for Big buck magazine years back. No way, we're growing 200" typicals at 2 1/2, our growing season avg's 110 days.
whitetail fanatic
Member
Yes a little off topic, but here are two links that give ages of the Hanson buck:
http://www.inmetrodetroit.com/outdoors/hunting/Hanson.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/dshunting0/apages/wcbucks.html
One says it was estimated to be 3 1/2 years old like I said and the other says 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old. Even if he was on the upper end of these estimates at 4 1/2, then from the shed found the year before he would have been around 200" as a 3 1/2, and if that was the case, I bet the year before as a 2 1/2 he was at least 170" give or take. Sorry if these age estimates are wrong, I just thought everyone involved had pretty much agreed that the Hanson buck was 3 1/2 years old. No matter how you look at it, bucks like these have super rare genetics.
http://www.inmetrodetroit.com/outdoors/hunting/Hanson.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/dshunting0/apages/wcbucks.html
One says it was estimated to be 3 1/2 years old like I said and the other says 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old. Even if he was on the upper end of these estimates at 4 1/2, then from the shed found the year before he would have been around 200" as a 3 1/2, and if that was the case, I bet the year before as a 2 1/2 he was at least 170" give or take. Sorry if these age estimates are wrong, I just thought everyone involved had pretty much agreed that the Hanson buck was 3 1/2 years old. No matter how you look at it, bucks like these have super rare genetics.
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