Honor Roll of Whitetail deer

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
I recently spent some time with the "Honor Roll of Whitetail Deer" found on an earlier thread on this forum. I was a little surprised by the numbers. I looked at the state as 2 different regions and 2 different time periods. The first numbers I pulled were for the area that went to the 2 buck limit back in 2001. If you look at the number of bucks killed after 2001 (16 years) and then look at the previous 16 years ('86-'01) I was a little surprised there was not more of an increase. Prior to 2001 there were 81 typicals and 9 non typicals for a total of 90 killed in these counties. Then for the period from 2002-2017 there were 94 typical and 15 nontypical for a total of 109. So the total recorded for this time was 199 with 55% coming after and 45% before. I really thought there would have been a much higher percentage killed after the change in regs. I actually would have thought with more folks managing by choice there would have been a greater increase than that. That is roughly 1 more buck per year.

I then compared the eastern region under the same criteria (86-01) before the western part of the state went to the 2 buck limit and (02-17) afterwards just to look for general trends. Though the overall numbers were lower in the east, the percentages were suprisingly really close. For the 02-17 period there were 52 total with 46 typcials and 6 nontypicals. For the period 86-01 there were 43 typical and 4 non typical for a total of 47.

So in the 2 buck area 55% were killed after the change and 45% before. The area that stayed a 4 buck limit was 53% after and 47% before. I really thought with the increase in management practices in general that there would have been a much larger percentage killed in the later period even without the 2 buck limit.

Thoughts......?
 
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shotgunner

Ten Pointer
I guess that is sort of what I was thinking. Hunting philosophy started changing in a lot of areas during the mid to late 90's. That is when more hunters started letting more and more deer walk. There are many more hunters implementing year around nutrition with food plots and feeders along with mineral supplements now than in the late 80's and early 90's. It does not appear regs had a lot to do with helping to increase the % of trophy bucks killed. I just really thought there would have been more killed since 2001, not because of regs but the reasons listed above. I was just wondering if anyone else was surprised by the numbers?
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
There are hunters out there, and probably more than you think, that kill all they want no matter the regs....was back then and is today. I know that is a fact.....many fill there freezers and there friends too. Plus, more hunters hunting tighter places, less land, no increase in game wardens to check all hunters.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I recently spent some time with the "Honor Roll of Whitetail Deer" found on an earlier thread on this forum. I was a little surprised by the numbers. I looked at the state as 2 different regions and 2 different time periods. The first numbers I pulled were for the area that went to the 2 buck limit back in 2001. If you look at the number of bucks killed after 2001 (16 years) and then look at the previous 16 years ('86-'01) I was a little surprised there was not more of an increase. Prior to 2001 there were 81 typicals and 9 non typicals for a total of 90 killed in these counties. Then for the period from 2002-2017 there were 94 typical and 15 nontypical for a total of 109. So the total recorded for this time was 199 with 55% coming after and 45% before. I really thought there would have been a much higher percentage killed after the change in regs. I actually would have thought with more folks managing by choice there would have been a greater increase than that. That is roughly 1 more buck per year.

I then compared the eastern region under the same criteria (86-01) before the western part of the state went to the 2 buck limit and (02-17) afterwards just to look for general trends. Though the overall numbers were lower in the east, the percentages were suprisingly really close. For the 02-17 period there were 52 total with 46 typcials and 6 nontypicals. For the period 86-01 there were 43 typical and 4 non typical for a total of 47.

So in the 2 buck area 55% were killed after the change and 45% before. The area that stayed a 4 buck limit was 53% after and 47% before. I really thought with the increase in management practices in general that there would have been a much larger percentage killed in the later period even without the 2 buck limit.

Thoughts......?

Thoughts are exactly what I said when we had so many arguments about going from 4 possible bucks to 2..... and that is that it wouldn’t make more than a marginal difference.


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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I will say it is because the regulation does not increase the numbers of older bucks to a significant level that hunters are able to tell a difference. Add that to the fact, that mature bucks are different and to consistently kill them, you have to know how to and be able to kill them. Some research has been done where antler restrictions protected younger age class bucks (1.5 year olds). In these studies the kill of 2.5 year old bucks was still less than the previous years total kill of both 1.5 and 2.5 year classes, leaving more bucks to reach 3.5 years old. However, the harvest never reflected an increase of bucks 3.5 years old or older. We will see what happens, but IMO it was just a feel good regulation that affected us all.
 

Johnnie

Ten Pointer
Pretty much the same as others, never really thought the 2 buck limit would make a measurable difference. But also keep in mind, just because they reach 3.5 or more, doesn't mean they will get a trip to the DDC for measuring. Age is not a guarantee for big antlers. I am a firm believer that changing season dates and going to a one buck limit would make those looking to see more and bigger bucks, happier.
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
There are hunters out there, and probably more than you think, that kill all they want no matter the regs....was back then and is today. I know that is a fact.....many fill there freezers and there friends too. Plus, more hunters hunting tighter places, less land, no increase in game wardens to check all hunters.
Nope, those are poachers
 
Look at Rockingham County. Perfect example of two-buck rule. Before the rule took effect, 1 Boone & Crockett buck. Since the rule took effect, more than any other county. Look next door at Stokes. Same deal. Before two-buck rule, nothing. Since two-buck rule, lots of huge bucks -- the two best at the Dixie Deer Classic this year were from Stokes. And know that the farther west you get from Raleigh, the lower chance that somebody is going to carry a 140-inch deer to the Dixie Deer Classic to get scored, compared to all the Halifax and Johnston and Person County deer that show up. If I remember Scott Osborne's prediction correctly, he said the two-buck rule would result in about a 10-percent drop in the number of antlered bucks killed. Seems to me like for the first three or four years after he rule took effect, he was dead on. So you save one out of ever 10 bucks every year that would otherwise be killed with a 4-buck rule? One or two of those suckers grows up and winds up a 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 year old deer that's a trophy. You can't argue otherwise. So give it a couple of years and see if more really big bucks start showing up at the DDC from Person, Granville, Warren, Northampton, Halifax, etc.
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
The thing that surprised me was that the eastern region saw almost the same thing with no change in regs. It just appears that the general trend of more hunters letting younger deer go had way more to do with the increase than regs. One would think that with the general shift and a 2 buck reg. would have had more of an impact. The east showed just as much growth with just a shift in general hunter attitude as did the rest of the state. Time will tell.
 
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