Why???????

[Tigerpaw]

Why do I read time and again about our friends to the south seeing more deer in a two day hunt then I may see up here in a season??
Is it the cold winters? I know that it is not lack of habitat so what gives??? Why the large difference in deer numbers?

[JR]

I'm not sure if this is the reason, but, have you ever seen the size of the deer douth of the border? Some of their "big" bucks are the size of the does up here, ~130-160 lbs. At least from the ones I've seen in Ney York's southern tier.

-Jason

[TYE]

I'm not sure if this is the reason, but, have you ever seen the size of the deer douth of the border? Some of their "big" bucks are the size of the does up here, ~130-160 lbs. At least from the ones I've seen in Ney York's southern tier.

-Jason

True.

[Digger]

Maybe thats also the reason that in some states they can takemany more deer in a season than we can.

[peter p]

I hunted in New york outside Buffalo and there are lots of deer. We (non resident) were allowed 3 deer per person. The deer there are the same size as here in Southern Ontario.
There are way more deer than here and the farmlands are the same as here.
The season opens for three weeks there and it's shotgun only with slugs, no buck shot (ssg) or rifles.
I don't know why they have way more deer than us but they do.

[Partikle]

Mild winters, abundant food, lack of predators, etc. I hunt in the west end of town in the suburbs around a farming community and I see deer almost every time I go out. Either on my walk to or from my stand or across the field while in my stand. I've seen lots of does and little bucks under my stand but yet to see a boomer. However I know they exist from the sheds we find and the bucks we see in the fields in the summer. When I gun hunt in the forest 2 hours west of town where there is much fewer farms, lots of wolves, coyotes, and more snow, I can go all week and only see 1 deer. Even then, the deer we see are not nearly as large at the big ones in town.

[crazyfarmer]

its funny, most of us want to go to canada to hunt for big bucks:)

But a good decent buck out here in Va weighs 160-210pounds on average..

I just got back and saw 12 deer today lol, but no bucks. Im hunting corn fields we farm though so deer are moving right now before this front comes through tomorrow

[WRC]

I don't know about the size of the deer down in the SE U.S., but up here in WA. I don't think i have seen a Mulie Buck under 200 in many a year, i will grant you that our Blacktails run a bit smaller, but not a heck of alot.
And then again most of our interest is in our Big Roosevelt Elk.
Roy

[pdislow]

there are lots of deer down here in N.C. we can kill up to 6
in S.C. "a deer a day" not many very big though.

[Skeeter]

A very large buck was hit on the road a few years back and we took it for the freezer...waste not, want not! I still can't get over the tiny rack on such a huge bodied deer! We ate peperoni and sausage for EVER!
The "deer hoist" in the background was from my ex's shop. I teased him because I had used it for more deer than he had for engines!
Well I guess i wont attach pic as I can't seem to figure this out

[stonegoat]

I live in British Columbia, but grew-up in Northern Alberta, Canada....cold with lots of snow...also lots of deer. Some days we would see 150 including 10-20 "trophy" bucks. I also had 5 years in a row without seeing another hunter. I have also hunted in Georgia and Alabama ( I spent 4 years in the south) and had some success, but never saw more than 6 deer in a day and all tiny. I would choose the north over the south for hunting anyday.

[vapredhunter]

Our top twenty countys in Virginia have ten year avg. of 4 bucks per sq mile and more then 20 deer per sq mile.

[SOUP]

FOLKS ,
I beleive food source'-genetics- are the top leaders in the size deer. I live in New Jersey & have a place up in the mountains of NE Pennsylvania.
I have hunted both for most the last 36 years. In many sections of South Jersey we have what we call German Shepard deer . They avg about 110 lbs. I hunt a farm in Salem county NJ & we shoot a lot of deer in the 160 lb class & bigger. The four of us that hunt this farm set an 8 pt.restriction about 8/10 years ago & we now see some nice bucks . I've taken 8 pt bucks dressed @ 181lb. My buddy shot an 11 pointer last year in Cumberland county-about 12 miles away that was over 200.But we are a farm area & between our farm-80 acres & the 2 next door 170 acres each -there are about 8 hunters-behind is is 180 acres 3/4 hunters.
So the deer have a chance to grow & a great food supply.
Up in my area of PA av size is about 150 lb. Again the more farms & less pressure the better the chances are for a nice size deer. If you hunt on State Game land & there is a lot of pressurre your chances of a bigger buck deminish-but now with the antler restriction in PA we are seeing larger bucks harvested-and more does !!
I don't care to get into the controversy over the doe seasons. But in the SE part of PA in the counties surrounding Philadelphia & Pittsburg they harvest some really BIG bucks. The pressure is low -the deer are overly abundant-and finding a place to hunt ( restricted to bow-crossbow-shotgun-muzzleloader ) is EXTREMELY difficult. Some townships even bring in pros. to shoot deer at night -only with game comm. approval .
So I guess if you look hard at the geography you'll find with the right food & low pressure the bucks get bigger -but sometimes the herd gets out of manage -then you could lose it all ! Proper use of a renewable resouce is the key.
All this is only MY opinion & I'd like to hear wht the other guy has to say.
SOUP

[kendo kid]

It is a fact for all species, the further North you go the larger the animal. This has to do with surface area to mass ratio. The larger animals have a lower heat loss due to the favorable (lower) surface area to mass ratio. Rabbits, Polar Bear, partridge, it is all the same. Florida and warmer areas favor smaller animals as the surface area is larger as the surface area to mass ratio allows for better cooling.

I have hunted Tenn. for 8 years and though they have some dandy racks they can not compare in size to the SK, Alberta or Manitoba deer. I can not even imagine pulling a 10 or 12 point buck out of the SK woods where as a deer from the Deep South with similar age would be a Skippy by comparison. Yes, feed can impact on size of rack and animal. But geography and exposure to cold is the largest factor by far when it comes to size. The deep cold has an impact on growing season and available feed during the protracted winter months in SK, AB and MB. Thus the deer per square mile is very different then in Tenn.

Ontario may be the best bet with great agriculture fields for feed, cold winters, yet limited snow cover to help get most of the deer through the winter.