Who has killed a 4 year old or older deer on public land?

I have on semi public land....a couple of them

4 1/2. 8 point

yep

I've killed several, but I've also learned that 4 or 5+ yr old deer in most areas are still not going to score more than the mid 120's or so....many won't even hit 120.

Never deer hunted public land.

x2

I have

On oakmulgee I killed a 4 1/2 year old 9 that might go 110" gross. I was happy to kill a deer that old on public land.

Glad somebody understands that.

Matt, do you think this is because of the soil or is it caused by something else?

Yep, that I have.

Poor land plus little or no agriculture. Large number of hunter hours and no restrictions on buck size for many yrs.

Not 100% but I think that the deer I shot at Campbell will be at least 4.5 if not older.

Are you asking why so many bucks score 120" or less at maturity?

That is the case just about anywhere you go. Gross B&C scores have been taken all over the country at managed farms and properties, showing similar results. The average mature buck, even on some of the best properties in the best soils, is still in the 120s. It's like a bell curve. The majority of deer are going to fall in the 110-130" category at maturity. The farther you get away from the 120s the fewer number of deer make up that score class. Only 2 out of every 100 bucks born even have the genetic material to produce a 150"+ rack at maturity. The odds of those two surviving long enough to express that potential is very low. I have tried for years to get people to realize that there are a lot of mature AL bucks running around with 100-115" of antler that NEVER get killed because they don't meet criteria on the property they are on. It's unfortunate, because they need killing. Lot of people aren't going to do it because they assume they are young deer, when in fact, they are not. I've taken 7 years of data from the same property, and dozens of bucks, most of which were 4 or older (very few 3 year olds), and the average score is less than 120". The range is like 87"-149". That's on a well-managed property.

Blue Spring....4.5 yr old 8.

Matt. Has there ever been any studies done on reclaimed strip mined land? I've noticed that there are a lot of large(>130") bucks killed on reclaimed strip mined land. More than the average piece of unmined land. Could minerals deep under the soil be brought to the top where plants that deer feed on pass those minerals on to the deer?

I've often wondered that. One would assume that those lands are not productive, but the proof is in the pudding. Good grief at the quality of bucks that come out of some of the Walker/Jefferson strip mines. It's mind-blowing.

Son and I killed two last year that were 5+ for age. Both were brutes and were killed on a very small tract that others don't trespass on. Both sides of the property are hunted HARD every day and the deer find a safe refuge in this flooded swamp on the high ground we hunt. Not another deer was killed on either side of us that had a rack.

I killed a huge bodied 8pt about 12 years ago on the national forest beside Oakmulgee! It was a very old buck with a swayed back and the deepest chest I have ever seen personally. This is the only deer that I had to call a friend to help drag out of the woods because of its size and I have dragged alot of good deer out alone:)