How to get off the 160" class treadmill??

[Doe Nob]

I don't have a bunch of big heads on my wall, but have shot a few. I just spent 5 days hunting an AZ otc tag with a young but experienced guide from an outfit that has a PILE of 200+ deer and learned a lot. Just a couple things:

1) not every area produces big deer. Some places you hunt the deer top out at 160-170 or 180. We saw a 160-170 inch deer on this hunt and he commented "Seeing that deer here is like seeing a 210 on the strip". Location and genetics absolutely matter and this changes with weather year to year. Some areas like the strip and Alberta produce slammers year after year but most don't.

2) Big deer are different. As has been mentioned, when spooked they are gone, you don't get too many second chances on them.

3) Deer act different at different times of the year. If you can hunt early while they have their velvet on you can pattern them and that ups your odds a lot. After the velvet is gone, some go nocturnal, or go into places that they are very very hard to find. Early is the easiest, second is the rut. Not all states offer rut hunts, and some are archery only. It is much harder to kill a hard horned buck after he's stripped his velvet and before the rut.

4) I still dont' know if the moon phase matters. I know it matters for elk hunting, I used to think it did for deer, now I'm not so sure.

5) Always be glassing all day long if you are not stalking or moving from one location to another. And you need top notch glass, anything less and you don't have any idea how many animals you are missing. I have 20x nikon spotter and was literally blind compared to a couple different sets of Kowa's.

 

[Montana]

Pretty legit

 

[mt-mike]

Thanks, UH for posting this constructive thread. This is the kind of thread and discussion that keeps me enthused with this talk forum. I'm trying to figure out an intelligent post that might be helpful without being repetitive. No easy answer to the question you pose. One thing I'm reasonably sure of is the importance of location, which Packmule mentioned. If you lived in Wyoming or Colorado, with your experience and capabilities, you wouldn't even pose this question because you would have already taken a number of bucks over 180" and most likely a 190" or maybe 200".

 

[bigmoose]

I agree with mt-mike and packmule. I think location is the main thing you made need to change. There are a lot of hunting spots that do not produce bucks any bigger than the 160's.

I remember my first 160 type buck. It was the biggest buck I'd ever killed up till then. I had no idea they got that big. We were hunting Montana and that buck was the biggest one taken in the 15 years we hunted there. After getting him, I really got into deer hunting and started doing research and found out they got a whole lot bigger. I killed two more 160 type bucks the following years and came to the conclusion that I needed to go where the big ones live... off to Colorado, land of the monster bucks ! In the first three years I had 213 and a 175. I've taken several more over the years and passed a lot of smaller bucks. Since then, I only put in for areas that I have a chance at a big buck.

I also think that now days, those bigger, older bucks are hunted more and are tougher to get. Back when I started hunting for those older class bucks, everyone was elk hunting and could care less about the deer. Now there are lots of guys looking for those 170+ bucks.

I know Oregon has some great deer areas but getting a tag is pretty tough. If you're getting 160 type bucks in Oregon, you are doing well!

Got any points for Colorado?

 

[mallardsx2]

If there is one thing I have taken away from this post it that a guy can waste a lot of time hunting in places where big bucks just dont exist.

Having said that,

I bet the happiest hunters in the entire woods are the guys who shoot forkies, sleep in wall tents, and drink a case of beer with their buddies every night...... just saying.

 

[mnhoundman]

If there is one thing I have taken away from this post it that a guy can waste a lot of time hunting in places where big bucks just dont exist.

Having said that,

I bet the happiest hunters in the entire woods are the guys who shoot forkies, sleep in wall tents, and drink a case of beer with their buddies every night...... just saying.

I agree, I would love to shoot a big bruiser in the mountains. But just being there is a blessing, love every minute of it and I'm sure it's not the same for the people who get to experience it every day and live there.

 

[hoshour]

There's a saying here about consistently killing quality animals...... "location, location, location."

It might just be, find an area that produces bucks over 170 and then "know your location, know your location, know your location."

To do that you've got to hunt fairly easy to draw units in good trophy counties. They are out there.

 

[packmule]

Most areas can produce that quality, just a matter of whether or not it's being managed for it. I start looking at tag allotments and usually the tags harder to get are that way for a reason. Could be reputation, could be production. There's a lot of truth in "know the location", folks figure out even Henry & the Strip aren't slam dunks.

 

[mooretitan]

Great info. I feel like I am in the same boat. I need to start hunting that next class of deer. When you see a 160 deer are impressed it means you are not seeing many in the 160 class and probably none in the 180 plus class. Like many have said you have to hunt areas that produce the deer you are looking for. If you are looking to a true trophy then then I would assume that you would be passing on lots of 150-160 class deer. Also a true 180 deer are not around every corner. If I was hunting a general zone then passing on a 170 class deer would be hard unless I knew for a fact I had something bigger spotted. Now if it's something you have built points for you have to be willing to go home eating a tag in order to kill a big one.

 

[Spirit of a Hunter]

This is a great topic you brought up. I have drawn 2 very good mule deer tags in the last 25 years. The first was The Granite Mountains in Nevada where I was able to kill my best buck ever. He was pictured in EHJ. Old, heavy and gnarly, but he'd not go over 160 so I guess inches aren't everything. I burned 18 points in Colorado the following year and hunted unit 21 which was at the time, considered to be having a problem as a result of a recent bad winter. I found the hunt to be excellent and got about 12" of snow at the end of the first week of the season. Conditions couldn't be better. My problem? I passed better bucks than the one I took after about 9 days. Seems that's always been my problem. I'm 65 now, but with a passion not unlike most of you younger guys. If you are taking a lot of 160's on public land, I say you're a pretty darn good hunter. I'ts only a matter of time for you my friend. Send the 160's my way!