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Food, water, naturally occurring minerals and genetics. I call them the big four.
As far as food goes, the area I hunt is farm country with endless corn and bean fields. Some years the corn and beans are out of the fields early and the surrounding woods are full of deer. Some years corn and beans are still on the ground when the heavy snow flies. The woods are full of oaks and as a rule the oaks out-do themselves in acorn production every year so the deer can feast on them well but they do share with an abundant turkey population. While SE Minnesota can get some super sized snowfalls and deep snow for ground cover, the deer seldom are stressed. I've seen deer standing INSIDE, eaten out roll bales that didn't make it out of the field or to a feedlot before the big snows came. Farmers with rows of roll bales next to feed lots lose tons of hay to deer during hard winters. Our deer in Souther Minnesota eat well all year really so food or winter stress is seldom an issue with healthy animals.
Where I hunt the nearest naturally occurring water is about a half mile away. However, the land owner is an archery hunter and long ago placed a large koi pond tub in the ground and keeps it topped off with well water all season long. There's also an area about ten foot around that once had a salt/mineral block placed in the center each year in the spring. We haven't put anything there for maybe 15 years now and that has turned into a pit about four feet deep that the deer will literally come to eat the dirt since its saturated from long ago salt and mineral blocks that dissolved into the ground from rainwater. Rain will fill that pit and if dry in any year gets a boost from the landowner. This is the only water for quite a way around and every deer knows exactly where it's at, so....
SE Minnesota is limestone rich, which goes a super long way towards antler and bone development and our deer show it. As mentioned, the pit that had the salt and mineral licks also does a lot to enhance the natural mineral load from the corn, beans and grasses the deer eat. Quite frankly, minerals are unsung heroes when it comes to antler development, falling only behind genetics.
If the genetics for big deer and/or big antlers is missing from an area, the only way one will see large antlered of big bodied deer is if one is passing thru, generally during the rut. Big heads are common here and big bodied deer are common here. In 1973 on my birthday I shot an 11 pointer that was built like a moose. I wasn't feeling well when I left to hunt that morning and after getting that animal home and hung it was late afternoon and I was major-league sick. The wife took me to the ER and from there I did 9 days in the hospital with pneumonia. When I got out the first thing I did was call the dnr and explain that I'd fallen ill and was unable to register the deer and had a doctors explanation to show and wanted to bring the deer to register. I got the deer there and the CO about crapped at the size of it and wanted it weighed. The deer broke the legs of the scale at 273 DRESSED pounds, 10 days after it was shot. The antlers looked like they were made of fence posts. Somewhere I have a few old Polaroid pics of the beast and if I can still find them I want to have the converted to digital pics to show. Deer from the same exact area have produced outlandish bucks yet to this day. I lost my ground there or I'd still be collecting the heads. I guess the point is that any area can get genetically strong and last for decades, literally. My second largest deer has come from the area I currently hunt and was a heavy antlered nine point with five ticker tines that are over an inch each. It dressed at 247. I've taken numerous 8, 9, and 10 points there that have weighed in at or near 225 to 240 pounds, dressed. Again, this area has a strong genetic backbone. That young buck in the picture has his chin resting on my right knee and is sort of angled down to the left and looks somewhat larger than it is but I weigh in at 250 and the deer wasn't a slouch give its year and a half age. Year and a half old deer on that hill, male and female, will look like this one unless the deer was a really late fawn at birth. Every year some deer are taken from the surrounding area that are 12 to 16 points and have cow-like dressed weights. Food and water and minerals cannot account for such big animals alone, the genetics have to be there to finish the deal. Some areas of the country simply don't carry the genetic load to grow the big guys.
If any one of these are missing or are there but in a diminished way, I would expect to see that show up in the deer herd for that specific area.
I also think that geographic areas on the country come into play with having big animals as well as hunter load, local deer regulations and limits. One aspect that has to be mentioned in having a healthy herd and seldom is, is hunter ethics. I think we all have shot a deer that ran and got hard to find, maybe never was found. It's unfortunate but it happens. I think every year I find a doe that's been shot on neighboring land and not recovered. Two years ago I found one that had been gut shot and partially gutted and left. I suppose whoever thought the deer was too much a mess and left for the crows. The crows led me to it. Candy bar wrappers were there so I know the cut in the belly was intentional, clearly a lack of ethic. Areas where the deer load is high generally have an abundance of the smaller deer and when the load gets too high, its entirely ethical to take some of the smaller deer out of the load to help prevent disease distribution throughout the entire herd. I've shot and tagged a couple smaller deer to donate.
I'm fortunate that I can hunt at what is usually the height of the rut and see a lot of deer movement even without hunter pressure during the week days. The chance of a shooter happening along are high if whoever puts the time in. Snapbang, I admire your tenacity. It sounds like you have an abundance of deer but simply been in the woods when larger buck deer are likely to be moving. If you were not hunting during some part of the rut, your chances of bagging that shooter are diminished, especially if there had been a season ahead of you, then too the smaller parcel you hunt sort of limits you too. Like I said, I admire your tenacity. And your steadfast desire to pop a big one. I know you'll get the job done. I've really enjoyed reading your saga. Thanks for sharing.
As far as food goes, the area I hunt is farm country with endless corn and bean fields. Some years the corn and beans are out of the fields early and the surrounding woods are full of deer. Some years corn and beans are still on the ground when the heavy snow flies. The woods are full of oaks and as a rule the oaks out-do themselves in acorn production every year so the deer can feast on them well but they do share with an abundant turkey population. While SE Minnesota can get some super sized snowfalls and deep snow for ground cover, the deer seldom are stressed. I've seen deer standing INSIDE, eaten out roll bales that didn't make it out of the field or to a feedlot before the big snows came. Farmers with rows of roll bales next to feed lots lose tons of hay to deer during hard winters. Our deer in Souther Minnesota eat well all year really so food or winter stress is seldom an issue with healthy animals.
Where I hunt the nearest naturally occurring water is about a half mile away. However, the land owner is an archery hunter and long ago placed a large koi pond tub in the ground and keeps it topped off with well water all season long. There's also an area about ten foot around that once had a salt/mineral block placed in the center each year in the spring. We haven't put anything there for maybe 15 years now and that has turned into a pit about four feet deep that the deer will literally come to eat the dirt since its saturated from long ago salt and mineral blocks that dissolved into the ground from rainwater. Rain will fill that pit and if dry in any year gets a boost from the landowner. This is the only water for quite a way around and every deer knows exactly where it's at, so....
SE Minnesota is limestone rich, which goes a super long way towards antler and bone development and our deer show it. As mentioned, the pit that had the salt and mineral licks also does a lot to enhance the natural mineral load from the corn, beans and grasses the deer eat. Quite frankly, minerals are unsung heroes when it comes to antler development, falling only behind genetics.
If the genetics for big deer and/or big antlers is missing from an area, the only way one will see large antlered of big bodied deer is if one is passing thru, generally during the rut. Big heads are common here and big bodied deer are common here. In 1973 on my birthday I shot an 11 pointer that was built like a moose. I wasn't feeling well when I left to hunt that morning and after getting that animal home and hung it was late afternoon and I was major-league sick. The wife took me to the ER and from there I did 9 days in the hospital with pneumonia. When I got out the first thing I did was call the dnr and explain that I'd fallen ill and was unable to register the deer and had a doctors explanation to show and wanted to bring the deer to register. I got the deer there and the CO about crapped at the size of it and wanted it weighed. The deer broke the legs of the scale at 273 DRESSED pounds, 10 days after it was shot. The antlers looked like they were made of fence posts. Somewhere I have a few old Polaroid pics of the beast and if I can still find them I want to have the converted to digital pics to show. Deer from the same exact area have produced outlandish bucks yet to this day. I lost my ground there or I'd still be collecting the heads. I guess the point is that any area can get genetically strong and last for decades, literally. My second largest deer has come from the area I currently hunt and was a heavy antlered nine point with five ticker tines that are over an inch each. It dressed at 247. I've taken numerous 8, 9, and 10 points there that have weighed in at or near 225 to 240 pounds, dressed. Again, this area has a strong genetic backbone. That young buck in the picture has his chin resting on my right knee and is sort of angled down to the left and looks somewhat larger than it is but I weigh in at 250 and the deer wasn't a slouch give its year and a half age. Year and a half old deer on that hill, male and female, will look like this one unless the deer was a really late fawn at birth. Every year some deer are taken from the surrounding area that are 12 to 16 points and have cow-like dressed weights. Food and water and minerals cannot account for such big animals alone, the genetics have to be there to finish the deal. Some areas of the country simply don't carry the genetic load to grow the big guys.
If any one of these are missing or are there but in a diminished way, I would expect to see that show up in the deer herd for that specific area.
I also think that geographic areas on the country come into play with having big animals as well as hunter load, local deer regulations and limits. One aspect that has to be mentioned in having a healthy herd and seldom is, is hunter ethics. I think we all have shot a deer that ran and got hard to find, maybe never was found. It's unfortunate but it happens. I think every year I find a doe that's been shot on neighboring land and not recovered. Two years ago I found one that had been gut shot and partially gutted and left. I suppose whoever thought the deer was too much a mess and left for the crows. The crows led me to it. Candy bar wrappers were there so I know the cut in the belly was intentional, clearly a lack of ethic. Areas where the deer load is high generally have an abundance of the smaller deer and when the load gets too high, its entirely ethical to take some of the smaller deer out of the load to help prevent disease distribution throughout the entire herd. I've shot and tagged a couple smaller deer to donate.
I'm fortunate that I can hunt at what is usually the height of the rut and see a lot of deer movement even without hunter pressure during the week days. The chance of a shooter happening along are high if whoever puts the time in. Snapbang, I admire your tenacity. It sounds like you have an abundance of deer but simply been in the woods when larger buck deer are likely to be moving. If you were not hunting during some part of the rut, your chances of bagging that shooter are diminished, especially if there had been a season ahead of you, then too the smaller parcel you hunt sort of limits you too. Like I said, I admire your tenacity. And your steadfast desire to pop a big one. I know you'll get the job done. I've really enjoyed reading your saga. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds like something I would have to try. I worked with a fellow who couldnt resist the temptation. He set up an archery stand and arrowed a nice buck. As expected it did a 100 yard death run and did it into the neighbors aluminum double garage door. Caved the door in and died but not before bleeding profusely all over the concrete for the whole neighborhood to see. Then the only person home (15 year old daughter) came out to see what all the commotion was about. Not good.
