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Message
“That deer was on the decline”
Posted on 12/7/17 at 2:49 pm
Posted on 12/7/17 at 2:49 pm
I feel like this term gets thrown around entirely too often. Considering a healthy deer in a supportive habitat continues to increase antler size until 7 yrs old. Most hunting leases in fairly high pressured areas of Louisiana and Mississippi usually kill mostly 3-4 yr old deer so the odds of a buck to survive three months of rifle season for 8+ yrs seem very low to me so statistics would suggest that this term is false a majority of the time it’s used.
What you say?
What you say?
This post was edited on 12/7/17 at 3:00 pm
9
Posted on 12/7/17 at 2:52 pm to Jack Daniel
Most deer that get to 4 1/2 end up dying of old age and are never seen by humans in the daylight.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 2:54 pm to Jack Daniel
Most people in South LA and MS have never seen a "deer on the decline" 
Posted on 12/7/17 at 2:55 pm to Jack Daniel
That and "cull buck"
The word cull buck should not be in most people's vocabulary
The word cull buck should not be in most people's vocabulary
Posted on 12/7/17 at 2:59 pm to Jack Daniel
quote:
Considering a healthy deer in a supportive habitat continues to increase in size until 7 yrs old.
quote:
Most hunting leases in fairly high pressured areas of Louisiana and Mississippi
So how many of these areas are capable of seeing a deer reach it's maximum growth potential? Piney woods aren't exactly good deer habitat in terms of those deer reaching big sizes, so a 3-4 year old deer may be close to it's maximum growth potential.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:02 pm to Cowboyfan89
I agree that piney woods are poor for development but a buck will still increase in size until 6 or 7 yrs old. The difference is a Midwest buck at 6 yrs old may be 180” where a piney woods 6 yr old may be 130”.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:10 pm to Cowboyfan89
I hunt NWFL and we have the worst deer management in the country (2 bucks/day for 90 days) where people shoot pretty much anything. They then tell me we can’t grow good deer here bc we don’t have the genetics.
I then go to the state park by the gulf and see a 5 yr old buck that’s eaten nothing but sand spurs his whole life walk up to me sporting a 140” rack.
No we don’t have the argriculture to grow mid west giants but people would be shocked what they’d see if they let them get to 4.5 before killing them.
Age over everything. Agriculture helps, genetics helps, food plots help, but the most important factor is age.
I then go to the state park by the gulf and see a 5 yr old buck that’s eaten nothing but sand spurs his whole life walk up to me sporting a 140” rack.
No we don’t have the argriculture to grow mid west giants but people would be shocked what they’d see if they let them get to 4.5 before killing them.
Age over everything. Agriculture helps, genetics helps, food plots help, but the most important factor is age.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:13 pm to PT24-7
quote:
Age over everything.
Yep. Too bad 80% of hunters have no idea what they are looking for when aging.
ETA- not saying im great at it.
This post was edited on 12/7/17 at 3:14 pm
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:24 pm to Jack Daniel
We've always tried to strive for 5 and a half year old bucks. The few we've shot that were 6 and a half on up, with the exception of one buck, were in really bad shape. They all seem to go from very healthy at 5 to considerably declined at 6+ in our area in Woodville, MS.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:30 pm to PT24-7
quote:
Age over everything. Agriculture helps, genetics helps, food plots help, but the most important factor is age.
Preach.
Culls and "declines" are excuses for an itchy trigger finger.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:30 pm to drbaseball
Hell, i'm just trying to get people to wait til 3.5 even 2.5 for some family members 
even 2.5 for some family members 
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:31 pm to Jack Daniel
quote:I never hear it much less think it gets thrown around too often.
What you say?
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:32 pm to drbaseball
I would be surprised if most hunters have even seen a wild deer over 5 years majority of deer killed are under 3 yrs old
This post was edited on 12/7/17 at 3:34 pm
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:36 pm to drbaseball
So y’all consistently kill 5 yr old deer? That’s impressive
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:49 pm to Jack Daniel
Ah, so this is just about antler growth then.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 3:53 pm to Jack Daniel
quote:
So y’all consistently kill 5 yr old deer? That’s impressive
No doubt. That takes a bunch of VERY knowledgeable hunters.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 4:02 pm to PT24-7
We took over a place in southwest Mississippi and immediately stipulated that bucks need to be at least 3.5 to be shot. We shot zero bucks last year. This year, we've seen ten times the number of shooter bucks on camera before December than we did all of last year. A little bit of discipline goes a long way when developing mature bucks. Plus we're using the does to get our early sausage, so the B/D ratio is getting closer to even. It's amazing to me that hunters don't realize this and don't practice it.
On another note - A few years ago a buddy of mine was driving out of a place in North Mississippi when he and his Uncle saw a buck standing in the woods just off the road (on their place). The deer looked mature, so his Uncle got out and shot it. Turns out the deer was over six years old. It had a long but diminished looking rack and was definitely categorized as a deer on the decline. The funny thing was that it was standing there as if it was a senile old buck that just wanted to be shot. My Dad used to think that at a certain age deer don't really rut hardly at all and move very little. Kinda like old humans.
On another note - A few years ago a buddy of mine was driving out of a place in North Mississippi when he and his Uncle saw a buck standing in the woods just off the road (on their place). The deer looked mature, so his Uncle got out and shot it. Turns out the deer was over six years old. It had a long but diminished looking rack and was definitely categorized as a deer on the decline. The funny thing was that it was standing there as if it was a senile old buck that just wanted to be shot. My Dad used to think that at a certain age deer don't really rut hardly at all and move very little. Kinda like old humans.
This post was edited on 12/7/17 at 4:09 pm
Posted on 12/7/17 at 4:04 pm to Cowboyfan89
quote:
So how many of these areas are capable of seeing a deer reach it's maximum growth potential? Piney woods aren't exactly good deer habitat in terms of those deer reaching big sizes, so a 3-4 year old deer may be close to it's maximum growth potential.
Piney woods surrounded by thousands of acres of agriculture is a totally different thing.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 4:06 pm to SportTiger1
We don’t shoot deer until 5.5 and try and wait till 6.5.
Posted on 12/7/17 at 4:09 pm to Ron Cheramie
Cull is the biggest BS term in deer hunting. As soon as I hear it I know that person has done very little to educate themselves about deer.
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