Check out this article about trophy density in different areas of North America. You will see that Minnesota not only keeps up with other hotspots but leads the way.
http://www.huntingnet.com/articles/articles.aspx?articles_id=393
If deer that big were easy, all the taxidermists would be out of business. No there is not one that big on every farm or woodlot, but they are out there! Thats why I’m out there every chance I get. You just have to put in youre time, and keep and working at it.
Hopefuly our day will come too. 
And yes that Buck is awesome; CONGRATS 
If deer that big were easy, all the taxidermists would be out of business. No there is not one that big on every farm or woodlot, but they are out there! Thats why I’m out there every chance I get. You just have to put in youre time, and keep and working at it.
Hopefuly our day will come too. And yes that Buck is awesome; CONGRATS
Lip and G
What are you guy’s talking about ? We have NO big bucks in MN (just nubs) 
I’m with you guy’s 100 % on this, I have some spots that I hunt and I have never seen a big one from stand but see many small bucks and does ! Will I say NO BIG BUCKS in that area ? Hell no . We don’t shoot any small bucks and over the last 5 years we have really seen some great bucks running around ! Put the time in and let them grow your time WILL come !
Lip and G
What are you guy’s talking about ? We have NO big bucks in MN (just nubs)
I’m with you guy’s 100 % on this, I have some spots that I hunt and I have never seen a big one from stand but see many small bucks and does ! Will I say NO BIG BUCKS in that area ? Hell no . We don’t shoot any small bucks and over the last 5 years we have really seen some great bucks running around ! Put the time in and let them grow your time WILL come !
jtimm, put out a few cameras, you will be suprised at the monsters cruising your property 
jtimm, put out a few cameras, you will be suprised at the monsters cruising your property
Taken from Gators article he attached.
Quote:
While all these numbers are impressive, any of the top states or provinces has the potential of producing a record book head. A determining factor in choosing an area to hunt should be the number of trophies per square mile in recent years. The hotspots of both Minnesota and Wisconsin are different in size but the trophy density per square mile in Minnesota is one for every 120 square miles. In Wisconsin it is one for every 280 square miles. The chances of taking a trophy buck are twice as good in Minnesota’s hotspot as in Wisconsin’s.
Monster Bucks (160″ Plus)just don’t grow on trees. 
I hunt them hard for 4 months a year for the last 9 years. I hunt land that does hold them usually 1 maybe 2 a year. Just because they are there does not mean you will harvest one. They are that big because they are very smart and I truly believe to get that big that buck gets lucky himself a few times. A lot of hard work, plannning and some luck is needed to harvest one of these mature bruisers. Yes you can get lucky and get one, but I rather have worked hard for him, put my time in and have a plan come together. I have yet to harvest one over that nets over the Famed B&C 170″ but to say MN does not have any or just the SE Corner has them is a very FALSE statement. Just my $.02
Taken from Gators article he attached.
Quote:
While all these numbers are impressive, any of the top states or provinces has the potential of producing a record book head. A determining factor in choosing an area to hunt should be the number of trophies per square mile in recent years. The hotspots of both Minnesota and Wisconsin are different in size but the trophy density per square mile in Minnesota is one for every 120 square miles. In Wisconsin it is one for every 280 square miles. The chances of taking a trophy buck are twice as good in Minnesota’s hotspot as in Wisconsin’s.
Monster Bucks (160″ Plus)just don’t grow on trees. I hunt them hard for 4 months a year for the last 9 years. I hunt land that does hold them usually 1 maybe 2 a year. Just because they are there does not mean you will harvest one. They are that big because they are very smart and I truly believe to get that big that buck gets lucky himself a few times. A lot of hard work, plannning and some luck is needed to harvest one of these mature bruisers. Yes you can get lucky and get one, but I rather have worked hard for him, put my time in and have a plan come together. I have yet to harvest one over that nets over the Famed B&C 170″ but to say MN does not have any or just the SE Corner has them is a very FALSE statement. Just my $.02
I have definately been putting my time in, now if I just got to see a shooter buck I’d be HAPPY! The harvest of the shooter would be great also, but to keep a positive attitude about the area I’d like to see the Big ‘un
I have definately been putting my time in, now if I just got to see a shooter buck I’d be HAPPY! The harvest of the shooter would be great also, but to keep a positive attitude about the area I’d like to see the Big ‘un
Very Understandable.
Easy to get down on a spot! Been there! 
Very Understandable.
Easy to get down on a spot! Been there!
Don’t forget that most Northern Minnesotans don’t even mount monster bucks other than a rack mount. I bet there are over 100 B&C trophy deer in Northern Minnesota that are hanging on people’s wall that haven’t even considered submitting them to B&C. In fact I know of at least 5 that were shot in the last 10 years. Put your time in and find out just how many monsters are out there.
Don’t forget that most Northern Minnesotans don’t even mount monster bucks other than a rack mount. I bet there are over 100 B&C trophy deer in Northern Minnesota that are hanging on people’s wall that haven’t even considered submitting them to B&C. In fact I know of at least 5 that were shot in the last 10 years. Put your time in and find out just how many monsters are out there.
Couple of things…
One, that deer is a TROPHY period. In your post it says opening shotgun, but you aren’t wearing any orange(or maybe no orange is required in IL). I am curious as to if you meant to say bow, or if you just took the orange off for the pictures. Either way it is a TROPHY!!
Second- we’ll all know where the big bucks live, and that is in Iowa- right Rob????
Third, I don’t know if I trust the link- that is the same guy that was in question a few weeks back with the scent blocker/lok clothing thread…
Like I said…IOWA!!
Couple of things…
One, that deer is a TROPHY period. In your post it says opening shotgun, but you aren’t wearing any orange(or maybe no orange is required in IL). I am curious as to if you meant to say bow, or if you just took the orange off for the pictures. Either way it is a TROPHY!!
Second- we’ll all know where the big bucks live, and that is in Iowa- right Rob????
Third, I don’t know if I trust the link- that is the same guy that was in question a few weeks back with the scent blocker/lok clothing thread…
Like I said…IOWA!!
Hi everybody, thank you all for your nice comments! I’m still pretty much on cloud nine!
Per Luke’s question above and to clarify for Rob, I did not shoot this deer with my bow but rather with a shotgun. I was hunting on my brother’s property in NW Illinois (JoDaviess County); Illinois does require that you wear blaze orange but we took that pic the next morning and I’d taken off my orange vest and hat (I’ll attach another pic taken just prior to field dressing it).
The point I was trying to make regarding having seen no “shooter” bucks (we’re trying to target bucks only scoring 135 or better) during the previous 9 days of bowhunting was was you just have to keep the faith, you never know when that monster of a lifetime is going to come your way. Both of my brothers and my dad have seen “huge” bucks every year for the past four years but I hadn’t seen anything that would measure bigger than 140 or so in that same timeframe, and at some point I had to wonder if my time would ever come (or maybe I just smell really bad??? 
).
Surprisingly, he wasn’t very big body-wise as he only weighed 171#’s field dressed. I’d love to know how old this deer was given the relatively low body weight but heavy mass of the rack; my taxidermist is saving the lower jaw for me so I can have someone who knows how to age deer determine how old he actually was. I did arrow a 10 pointer on the same property two years ago that scored 134 and had no where near the mass of this buck but it field dressed 198 pounds… maybe this 8 point was fairly old but just had a small body? His teeth looked to be in pretty good shape to me but I’m far from an expert on aging deer by looking at their teeth.
Anyway, for those of you who mentioned what a difference it can make “letting the little guys go”, I cannot agree with you more. Over the past four years the four of us have been very disciplined in our efforts to try to manage for bigger bucks, and we are definitely seeing definitive results for our efforts as evidenced by trail cam pics and quite a few sightings (at least by everyone but me ) of increasing numbers of deer in the 160+ class and better. We also take as many does as possible (our goal is 25 per year per the recommendation of a DNR biologist) and as a result we’re actually seeing quite a few more bucks than does, and the rutting/chasing activity has been incredible. Perhaps most importantly we’re doing our best to educate the guys hunting on neighboring properties on what we are trying to accomplish by passing on the 1-1/2, 2-1/2 and smaller 3-1/2 year old bucks, and we’re sharing our trail cam pics with them as well to show them that there really are huge deer around. Our hope is that they’ll see the results of passing on the little guys and letting them grow up and perhaps refrain from shooting at every deer that walks by. So far everyone we have discussed this with has been very receptive and positive, and some have jumped head first on the “let ’em grow up to be big bandwagon” and have shared with us their stories of passing on bucks they previously wouuld have taken.
Life is good!
Hi everybody, thank you all for your nice comments! I’m still pretty much on cloud nine!
Per Luke’s question above and to clarify for Rob, I did not shoot this deer with my bow but rather with a shotgun. I was hunting on my brother’s property in NW Illinois (JoDaviess County); Illinois does require that you wear blaze orange but we took that pic the next morning and I’d taken off my orange vest and hat (I’ll attach another pic taken just prior to field dressing it).
The point I was trying to make regarding having seen no “shooter” bucks (we’re trying to target bucks only scoring 135 or better) during the previous 9 days of bowhunting was was you just have to keep the faith, you never know when that monster of a lifetime is going to come your way. Both of my brothers and my dad have seen “huge” bucks every year for the past four years but I hadn’t seen anything that would measure bigger than 140 or so in that same timeframe, and at some point I had to wonder if my time would ever come (or maybe I just smell really bad??? ).
Surprisingly, he wasn’t very big body-wise as he only weighed 171#’s field dressed. I’d love to know how old this deer was given the relatively low body weight but heavy mass of the rack; my taxidermist is saving the lower jaw for me so I can have someone who knows how to age deer determine how old he actually was. I did arrow a 10 pointer on the same property two years ago that scored 134 and had no where near the mass of this buck but it field dressed 198 pounds… maybe this 8 point was fairly old but just had a small body? His teeth looked to be in pretty good shape to me but I’m far from an expert on aging deer by looking at their teeth.
Anyway, for those of you who mentioned what a difference it can make “letting the little guys go”, I cannot agree with you more. Over the past four years the four of us have been very disciplined in our efforts to try to manage for bigger bucks, and we are definitely seeing definitive results for our efforts as evidenced by trail cam pics and quite a few sightings (at least by everyone but me ) of increasing numbers of deer in the 160+ class and better. We also take as many does as possible (our goal is 25 per year per the recommendation of a DNR biologist) and as a result we’re actually seeing quite a few more bucks than does, and the rutting/chasing activity has been incredible. Perhaps most importantly we’re doing our best to educate the guys hunting on neighboring properties on what we are trying to accomplish by passing on the 1-1/2, 2-1/2 and smaller 3-1/2 year old bucks, and we’re sharing our trail cam pics with them as well to show them that there really are huge deer around. Our hope is that they’ll see the results of passing on the little guys and letting them grow up and perhaps refrain from shooting at every deer that walks by. So far everyone we have discussed this with has been very receptive and positive, and some have jumped head first on the “let ’em grow up to be big bandwagon” and have shared with us their stories of passing on bucks they previously wouuld have taken.
Life is good!
I’ve taken almost 50 deer from Jo Daviess county, but none with as nice of a rack as that. I’ve taken some that were absolute cows though. Is your brother a local, or a transplant? I grew up in Elizabeth.
I’ve taken almost 50 deer from Jo Daviess county, but none with as nice of a rack as that. I’ve taken some that were absolute cows though. Is your brother a local, or a transplant? I grew up in Elizabeth.
THanks for clarifying. I just mis read your original post and not seeing orange made me think otherwise. My mistake.
On the other hand Steve. 
and Congrats again. 
THanks for clarifying. I just mis read your original post and not seeing orange made me think otherwise. My mistake.
On the other hand Steve. and Congrats again.
Congradulations love to troll, very nice buck, im still waiting for one like him and the lay of the land in Illinois is very much like Iowa. Minnesotas got big deer too, no doubt about it. Im curious about food supplys there and what guys are finding in thier stomachs. Here in Iowa the deer i’ve taken do eat alfalfa all year and then left over corn on the ground after the pickings done and snows on the ground. I know they prefer a green browse thats a little more tender than hard field corn. Im curious to what others are finding in thier stomachs because here i find alot of browse, small limbs off of bushes and trees and alfalfa. All of these states have alot of browse unlike maybe western n. and s. dakota and nebraska. I know the eastern parts of these states do have some browse just not sure about how much. Here the later the season gets the more browse you’ll find in thier stomachs. I’ve sat in my stand in august and watched the deer eat corn leaves and anything thats green, especially right after a rain washes everything off. Im pretty sure corn dosen’t end up much in thier diet until things turn brown and its unedible and snows starting to cover the ground and making things a little harder to find. I know they love the silk and the tip of the cob when its time for the ears to put on kernels. All the deer i’ve taken where mainly feeding on alfalfa and browse, what have you guys found. I looked back at him again and hes got an awsome 8 point rack, nice buck!
Congradulations love to troll, very nice buck, im still waiting for one like him and the lay of the land in Illinois is very much like Iowa. Minnesotas got big deer too, no doubt about it. Im curious about food supplys there and what guys are finding in thier stomachs. Here in Iowa the deer i’ve taken do eat alfalfa all year and then left over corn on the ground after the pickings done and snows on the ground. I know they prefer a green browse thats a little more tender than hard field corn. Im curious to what others are finding in thier stomachs because here i find alot of browse, small limbs off of bushes and trees and alfalfa. All of these states have alot of browse unlike maybe western n. and s. dakota and nebraska. I know the eastern parts of these states do have some browse just not sure about how much. Here the later the season gets the more browse you’ll find in thier stomachs. I’ve sat in my stand in august and watched the deer eat corn leaves and anything thats green, especially right after a rain washes everything off. Im pretty sure corn dosen’t end up much in thier diet until things turn brown and its unedible and snows starting to cover the ground and making things a little harder to find. I know they love the silk and the tip of the cob when its time for the ears to put on kernels. All the deer i’ve taken where mainly feeding on alfalfa and browse, what have you guys found. I looked back at him again and hes got an awsome 8 point rack, nice buck!
Dan, I don’t do the plantings for our food plots so I can’t say exactly what we have where but we do have some corn plots (5) and everything else is blends of clover, chicory and alfalfa (clover being the majority with alfalfa coming in second). We did plant some of this stuff called “Alfa-Rack” this year (which was expensive as all heck, something like $300 for a 40 pound bag of seed 
) but the deer absolutely LOVE it. Most of the deer we’ve taken in October – mid November have have been absolutely filled up with green stuff/clover/alfalfa with a little corn mixed in. Given what I saw this year (often as many as 15-20 deer standing in one 5 acre plot at one time) I’d plant more of whatever the heck is in the Alfa-Rack stuff (an alfalfa/clover/chicory mix I think?). I have noticed that when a plot is freshly planted with a clover mix the deer hit it hard but as the clover matures and gets bigger/longer stems in subsquent years they don’t seem to like it as much. We’ll see how this new Alfa-Rack stuff comes back next year.
We work very closely with a biologist who tells exactly what to plant and where to plant it. We also have done a lot of habitat work, planting trees and especially a lot of native grasses, and burning the grass fields every third year to keep them super-thick so they provide good cover. The grass not only provides good cover for pheasants but for the deer as well… they really seem to like to bed in the grass year round.
Dan, I don’t do the plantings for our food plots so I can’t say exactly what we have where but we do have some corn plots (5) and everything else is blends of clover, chicory and alfalfa (clover being the majority with alfalfa coming in second). We did plant some of this stuff called “Alfa-Rack” this year (which was expensive as all heck, something like $300 for a 40 pound bag of seed ) but the deer absolutely LOVE it. Most of the deer we’ve taken in October – mid November have have been absolutely filled up with green stuff/clover/alfalfa with a little corn mixed in. Given what I saw this year (often as many as 15-20 deer standing in one 5 acre plot at one time) I’d plant more of whatever the heck is in the Alfa-Rack stuff (an alfalfa/clover/chicory mix I think?). I have noticed that when a plot is freshly planted with a clover mix the deer hit it hard but as the clover matures and gets bigger/longer stems in subsquent years they don’t seem to like it as much. We’ll see how this new Alfa-Rack stuff comes back next year.
We work very closely with a biologist who tells exactly what to plant and where to plant it. We also have done a lot of habitat work, planting trees and especially a lot of native grasses, and burning the grass fields every third year to keep them super-thick so they provide good cover. The grass not only provides good cover for pheasants but for the deer as well… they really seem to like to bed in the grass year round.
3 Letters WOW!!
3 Letters WOW!!
3 Letters WOW!!!
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