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I stabbed around 50-60 of them in the ground a couple years ago, didn’t have a single one make it. Not sure if it was bc of the deer or if they just didn’t take. Guessing I didn’t do something right haha

Both fantastic bucks! That bottom one like you say, what a slammer of an 8pt, congrats to that young man well done!

Hopefully the link works. Had this sent to me by some friends. Ive been saying for 10 years that nobody is talking about reducing doe harvest, the pendulum needs to swing back, etc…well, FINALLY there’s an article, podcast, tv celebrity, talking head that is discussing the subject. Love it haha...

Spot on imo. I’ve been banging this drum as loudly as I can since 2012.

We got aggressive last year in taking out a few cull bucks that were old and maybe it’s just coincidence but this fall we seemed to have our best quality of older bucks we’ve had on the farm in the 6 years we’ve had it. Seemed to help

Yeah EHD is straight from the pit of hell haha. Like Skip said it’s just a major kick in the nuts to think you’ve got one that made it to 5 or 6 years old only to find him in September dead. It’s beyond frustrating. But also in my mind one more reason why most hunters/areas need to reduce or...

And I’d agree with him. Lowest number of deer in the state since 1990. Add in crossbows to an already diminishing herd with the same amount of pressure as always and no question the number of old mature bucks is at an all time low.

One last example Skip is your very own IA….just about every resident you ask in IA when the best hunting the state has ever had it’s pretty unanimous that the 2000-2010 range was it. So it’s worse today as we sit here. Why? Hasn’t been crossbows (thanks to the hard work by guys like yourself)...

My neighbor killed two 200”s last year, he’s hunting two different 190 inchers right now as we speak, I had a 180“ on my farm all fall get killed by a different neighbor sunday night w shotgun, old neighbor a couple counties south of me killed a 197 last night, my son killed a 181” in October on...

I pretty much agree with most everything you point out but i guess what I’m saying is that now go in to every area/state you just described and eliminate 30-50% of the deer overnight. In every single situation you described the hunting would go from bad to worse. I don’t see any possible way...

Wow that’s surprising. 5000 acres is beyond comprehension haha. I don’t know much about southern IL, haven’t ever really had any experience down there. Is he getting bucks to 5-7 years old but they just don’t have the racks or is he struggling to get them to age? Hard to imagine w that much...

That’s amazing. Out of curiosity how big of farm is it? (The one that needs 100 does killed) Also, how would you describe the quality and quantity of bucks in that farm/area compared to others with lower populations.

Definitely has happened. To what extent I’m not sure. But still, IL basically has a 3 day gun season followed by a 4 day season a couple weeks later. if some of the gun hunters switched to the bow season bc of crossguns they now have like 60 days to kill something instead of 7. Seems like the...

Just to clarify, you’ll never hear me say the herd was too big. I’m saying that it was phenomenal in the 2000s and if we simply went back and mirrored the herd population to what it was in those days IL would once again be one of the top 3 or 4 states in the country despite crossguns...

All good conversation. On your question to me on age structure it’s hard for me to truly quantify because it’s one of those things that I feel none of the states do a good job of measuring (and admittedly it’s hard to do). My true belief is that in IL the age structure is actually better than...

Would also add one small comment too to your point about all the nr’s flooding the state in the 2000s and shooting the 1.5 to 3.5yr olds. Don’t disagree, that was definitely happening, but the residents that may have been displaced on that same farm when the outfitter leased it out from them...

Kinda talking about a couple separate issues though imo Skip. Demise of the quality and quantity of the IL deer herd. And access. Crossguns were only legalized in 2017. Access- In my mind access to “quality“ illinois ground was nearly impossible back in the 2000s with the explosion of...

Reduced antlerless permits? Are you talking MO specifically? I could be wrong but I’m not sure, at least in IL, there’s been any meaningful reduction in doe permits. I wish that were the case and it’s what the state needs badly imo. But I do agree that it seems like the connection to access...

So I am not a fan of crossguns and hate the fact that in IL where I own land and hunt they are legal and very popular among hunters in the archery season. I think pretty much everyone agrees that they are way easier to kill a deer with, much more lethal, and are being used the entire archery...

Havent hidden my feelings/opinions on this subject on this forum over the years. Was literally just doing some quick research this morning on deer vehicle accidents in IL. This is one of the states primary metrics in tracking trends in overall deer populations and I think it’s a pretty solid way...