Deer age poll

[Roon]

8 hours ago, JHbowhunter said:

Given that we have had a consecutive run of very mild winters with no real "winter kill" conditions, I would have expected 2023 deer season which is still ongoing, to have had record showings of mature age class bucks (I will define, in NJ as bucks estimated at age 4 and older....).   For me personally, I knew it was going to be slim pickings in my zones 5 and 2 areas based on low inventory by end of January of any bucks even over age 1.5).  Everyone I talk to is saying the same - plenty of does, decent supply of very young bucks but just no mature bucks.   I am talking what you see with your own two eyes and what you have scouted on cams. 

My theory is this is the after-effects of a very long pandemic that not only gave existing hunters a lot more time to hunt due to lost of job or just working from home and not having to commute, plus a high level of new-hunter recruitment. I also think that shooting does has lost some of it's luster, and the sad fact remains that with NJ still offering 6 buck tags in spite of wanting more does shot, the average hunter still prefers to shoot a young buck over a doe, any day of the week any day of the season. 

Me personally - by far the lowest inventory (there is 0 inventory) I have seen in 10 years. Not even a close second. Had I not been fortunate to get a good one right out of the gate very early, the season would have been an epic disaster and most of my friends are in the same boat.  I will go on some doe patrol at some point but I have not even hunted in weeks, just lost all motivation. (that is saying a LOT, for those that know me). 

 

 

See and after shooting the white deer this year I passed more bucks than I have in years, I blame it on too many dog chews lol and Bugs getting her license, goal next year is for me not to shoot a single deer.

Sports will get in the way and doubt it will happen lol

So does look out

[3Blade]

Definitely the worse for me. As you know I’ve been chasing only one mature buck on all my spots. It’s like all the up and comers I’ve been passing all these years have fallen into a black hole somewhere 

Edited December 27, 2023 by 3Blade

[electric10162]

1 hour ago, 3Blade said:

 It’s like all the up and comers I’ve been passing all these years have fallen into a black hole some where 

I wonder the same thing

Edited December 27, 2023 by electric10162

[tcook8296]

It gets worse every season that goes by now. 

I can count the times I hunted NJ this year on one hand. 

I said it a few weeks ago, guys are not shooting does. they are filling those buck tags with immature bucks. 

[JHbowhunter]

35 minutes ago, tcook8296 said:

It gets worse every season that goes by now. 

I can count the times I hunted NJ this year on one hand. 

I said it a few weeks ago, guys are not shooting does. they are filling those buck tags with immature bucks. 

Bingo.  State proved  that to me in person in a meeting. The stats simply prove more hunters will shoot a dink over a doe every day all day long. Meat is meat.  So why is that?  The state says we need to shoot more does but are pondering an additional 7th buck tag???   Why?  Where is the logic?  We are so obsessed over  10”-110” bucks we will pay for another buck tag and give NJ more money over shooting a free doe????  

Edited December 27, 2023 by JHbowhunter

[FDhunt1213]

6 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

Bingo.  State proved  that to me in person in a meeting. The stats simply prove more hunters will shoot a dink over a doe every day all day long. Meat is meat.  So why is that?  The state says we need to shoot more does but are pondering an additional 7th buck tag???   Why?  Where is the logic?  We are so obsessed over  10”-110” bucks we will pay for another buck tag and give NJ more money over shooting a free doe????  

Can’t argue with that

[Roon]

13 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

Bingo.  State proved  that to me in person in a meeting. The stats simply prove more hunters will shoot a dink over a doe every day all day long. Meat is meat.  So why is that?  The state says we need to shoot more does but are pondering an additional 7th buck tag???   Why?  Where is the logic?  We are so obsessed over  10”-110” bucks we will pay for another buck tag and give NJ more money over shooting a free doe????  

Because of YouTube and tictoc heros,

We have all shot little bucks. I get it every deer is a trophy however if filling the freezer as I do I will or do not shoot 1.5 year old bucks heck I don't even feel good shooting 2.5 year old bucks 

However each is own and if state can make money it doesn't matter the outcome of our herd as long as it can justify an appointed salary 

[nmc02]

I try and kill button bucks...I save there buttons like a coin collection. 

[Roon]

2 minutes ago, nmc02 said:

I try and kill button bucks...I save there buttons like a coin collection. 

Had a neighbor that would only shoot buttons, he felt it helped the herd to not shoot does.

It's amazing how angry stupidity can make someone, thankfully he moved lol

[nmc02]

Though some will disagree, I shoot 8s or bigger (even 100 inch) and does. Not purely a trophy hunter, happy with most average 8s or bigger. If I had more time, maybe I would be more selective. Definitely more selective in Midwest, but for now it's NJ & PA.

[Roon]

14 minutes ago, nmc02 said:

Though some will disagree, I shoot 8s or bigger (even 100 inch) and does. Not purely a trophy hunter, happy with most average 8s or bigger. If I had more time, maybe I would be more selective. Definitely more selective in Midwest, but for now it's NJ & PA.

That's why every deer is a trophy and at the point it's shot is the biggest it will ever be.

 

[KBfishing]

I had lots of big bucks (4yr olds) on camera early season. They have disappeared though. My biggest fear is that they died from EHD. Unfortunately, I think this is our biggest mature buck killer in this state. To grow a deer to 4 or 5 without it getting EHD is a challenge when you live next to a body of water that is prone to flooding. 

Edited December 27, 2023 by KBfishing

[Rusty]

Is it possible that the big bucks are out there,  but do to an abundance of acorns and a very mild winter the deer just aren't hitting the bait in front of our cameras, making it look like there are less big bucks than there really are?

Asking for a friend  (in zone 5).  

[Pathman]

30 minutes ago, Rusty said:

Is it possible that the big bucks are out there,  but do to an abundance of acorns and a very mild winter the deer just aren't hitting the bait in front of our cameras, making it look like there are less big bucks than there really are?

Asking for a friend  (in zone 5).  

Finally a voice of reason!

[DV1]

I had 27 cameras, spread out on 9 different pieces of public land, in 3 counties in NJ and did not have one buck over 3.5 yrs old, as best as I could tell, but no cams were on bait, most on scrapes. Had maybe 3 or 4 in all that area that were 3.5, a bunch of 2.5 yr old's, but it was pretty sad overall. Maybe in a few years, if some of the 80-90 inch 2.5 yr old's survive, it will get better, but with the amount of pressure I see on WMA's, and the new game code proposals only increasing pressure, specifically by adding several weeks of permit shotgun in these areas, I don't see it getting better, only worse.

EHD did a lot of damage last year and, without scaling back some season/bag limits at least on WMA's, it is going to be hard to recover to even the mediocre hunting that existed before last years EHD.

Edited December 27, 2023 by DV1