Mature buck opportunities in a season?

[ozzz]

A few 3.5 and maybe one or two 4.5 + if I'm lucky.

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[whitetailassasin]

Depends on how many I know of. If I know of a buck(s), I will have an encounter, or two a season with said buck(s). Not always a kill opportunity but I lay daylight eyes on him and see what he's doing and where he's going. Since finding the beast my success rate on encounters and the number of encounters has improved exponentially.

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[Stanley]

Maybe 2 bucks a year, that are 4.5 or older. The one I have my radar out for has not shown this year yet. He will be 7.5 this year. We will see what happens. I'm actually surprised he has not been killed by other hunters.

[muddy]

Depends on how you define a mature buck. For me that's a 5+ year old buck, and I am lucky to see one a year. I see, and pass, many 3 or 4 year olds but that next age structure is hard to get on. This year is already a success as I have 1 5.5 year old buck in trail cam... whether he walks by is another story.

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[BassBoysLLP]

My main areas near home I see on average 2-3 truly mature bucks per season on stand but not all of them are in shooting range so I suppose not always really considered an "opportunity". My best years by far were 2008-2012 and my opportunities on stand were at least double my average. That was the result of EAB and the age structure being older due to bucks being passed. I hated having to shoot does to get a sticker but can't argue with the resulting buck quality then.

Up in far Northern WI and UP of MI I have only seen maybe 5-6 fully mature bucks in over 20 years of hunting up there. Much different world in the northwoods especially in recent years. Seen a good number of 3 year olds but beyond that gets really tough.

My northern WI/UP numbers arent much better. It's difficult to get on a legit mature. Very few make it past 3.5.

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[mainebowhunter]

My main areas near home I see on average 2-3 truly mature bucks per season on stand but not all of them are in shooting range so I suppose not always really considered an "opportunity". My best years by far were 2008-2012 and my opportunities on stand were at least double my average. That was the result of EAB and the age structure being older due to bucks being passed. I hated having to shoot does to get a sticker but can't argue with the resulting buck quality then.

Up in far Northern WI and UP of MI I have only seen maybe 5-6 fully mature bucks in over 20 years of hunting up there. Much different world in the northwoods especially in recent years. Seen a good number of 3 year olds but beyond that gets really tough.

My northern WI/UP numbers arent much better. It's difficult to get on a legit mature. Very few make it past 3.5.

[ Post made via Android ]

You guys are way ahead of me in Maine!

[Edcyclopedia]

1 about every 2-3 years I'll go Wow!

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[mheichelbech]

It sounds like I am in the majority so far. Makes me feel better.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[rbuckleyjr1]

Still waiting on a mature buck opportunity on MI public land. I think i'm getting close though...

[vtbuck]

Probably 3 a season. Gotta be a 3 year old or older.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[tgreeno]

May be one or two a year if I'm lucky! In my option if you shoot a 115-130 class on public land in Wisconsin you're doing well. I did see the biggest buck of my life last season he was probably mid 140's.

[Jackson Marsh]

Not many, I'm still learning this game. Maybe this year will be my year

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[whitetailassasin]

Not many, I'm still learning this game. Maybe this year will be my year

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Who you think your fooling?

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[DaveT1963]

I'm still waiting for the JM podcast!

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[JoeRE]

Location is a huge factor. I know the age structure of the deer herd I hunt is good. I don't get very many opportunities at MATURE bucks either, just the defintion of mature is different here due to age structure...last year I had three encounters with bucks that I knew were 4+ years old in 20 bow hunts. I had half a dozen more encounters with what I think were 2 and 3 year olds, there are a lot of 2 and 3 year olds around here with the good age structure. If I had a big exclusive access hunting estate, I would be talking about targeting 5 year olds, maybe older...its all relative.

In higher pressure areas, a person might try to succeed with 3 year old bucks and IMO they should be darn proud of that. Heck some places 2 year olds are top end. The reason more big bucks get shot in Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio is NOT that we are better hunters than guys in Michigan, PA, Maine!