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Gant wrote:Natty, our club is right at 10,000 acres. We usually kill around 50 bucks and 150-200 does, and those numbers really dont put much of a dent in the herd. I would say this is about as good as it has ever been on the MS River. Some true giants have gone down on several clubs. I heard of a slick 8pt that grossed over 170 killed on Caulk island and several other really big deer on other clubs. It seems like a 150 class deer isnt that big of a deal now bc there are so many 160-180 class deer being killed. I guess all of the years of intense management has really paid off on the river.

Here's the caulk island buck. 171 and change.

That is a BEAST. How long is his right main beam?

ShotgunSP wrote:That is a BEAST. How long is his right main beam?

29 inches I think

Holy cheese Batman!

Holy hell!!!!

We had a terrible season in 2011 after the flood. Deer antler quality was noticeably down.

this season we missed the flood, had great rainfall during the summer for browse growth....our deer herd (judging by what has been killed and the game cam pics) is better than its ever been. Antler quality is at its highest level ever given age class. Body weights are impressive as well. The deer had a great year of food and weather conditions to reach their potential for the hunting season. We have killed a 140 class and 160 class buck this year so far. And the trail cam pics that I have seen show 2 more over 160 easy.

I can definitely tell the difference when it floods and when it doesn't. Too bad i never get to hunt anymore.

This flood is proving what age does for a whitetail. A lot of 2.5 - 4.5 year old bucks were given a pass last year, a lot were displaced and many hunters were being conservative and/or were more concerned with rebuilding post-flood. With this example, imagine what could happen if enough hunters were educated to kill on age and not antler criteria...

DanP wrote:This flood is proving what age does for a whitetail. A lot of 2.5 - 4.5 year old bucks were given a pass last year, a lot were displaced and many hunters were being conservative and/or were more concerned with rebuilding post-flood. With this example, imagine what could happen if enough hunters were educated to kill on age and not antler criteria...

^^this is what I was thinking. Mississippi can produce deer right up there with the best trophy states. We are just now starting to get away from the brown and it's down attitude.

DanP wrote:This flood is proving what age does for a whitetail. A lot of 2.5 - 4.5 year old bucks were given a pass last year, a lot were displaced and many hunters were being conservative and/or were more concerned with rebuilding post-flood. With this example, imagine what could happen if enough hunters were educated to kill on age and not antler criteria...

agree 100%.

Trail cameras have educated me even more that AGE is probably the most important factor in growing big bucks. If you shoot all the 4.5yr olds...you will never have an 5, 6, 7, etc.. And the people that think a deer reached its peak at 5 or 6 need to reevaluate their thinking. I can disprove that theory any day of the week.

Do they still hunt safari style at caulk? I remember seeing some jeeps with the front windshields down, spotting scopes, and sandbags on the hood. Looked like fun.

sunnylab wrote: And the people that think a deer reached its peak at 5 or 6 need to reevaluate their thinking. I can disprove that theory any day of the week.

Please prove it because I think you are wrong. I have never seen a deer that was 7 years old score more than it would at 5 or 6. I have seen deer at seven years old have more mass or be taller than they were at 5 and 6 but not score more overall. If they are any bigger at 7 it would have to be a very very minimal difference.

Look at this buck that was taken by a buddy in Holmes county. It was jaw aged as 7. This deer was on his way down.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20 ... man-s-hunt

it weighed 280

mshunter77 wrote:

sunnylab wrote: And the people that think a deer reached its peak at 5 or 6 need to reevaluate their thinking. I can disprove that theory any day of the week.

Please prove it because I think you are wrong. I have never seen a deer that was 7 years old score more than it would at 5 or 6. I have seen deer at seven years old have more mass or be taller than they were at 5 and 6 but not score more overall. If they are any bigger at 7 it would have to be a very very minimal difference.

My thought about this...assume deer does peak beyond 5 years old, or assume at least a high % of them do...even if that's the case, the deer that is going to "peak" as a trophy class deer at 7 is going to still be trophy class at 5 and at 6, and he's gonna be really nice even at 4. In other scenarios, he's gonna be poor horned deer and never be trophy class animal and that will be noticed by 3, or at least definitely by 4.

SO...with all that said...without any data I would venture to guess the avg lifespan of deer in most of our areas doesn't lend itself to allowing trophy class animals 4-6 years old just die elsewhere in hopes he gains 10-15 inches and beats the vehicle traffic, hunters, predators, mother nature, etc and lives to be 7-8 years old and gives you another shot at him. Risk/Reward...i don't see it personally.

I know I've personally killed two deer that I believe to be older than 5...one deer that was almost certainly 7 and maybe 8 had lost at least 10" or maybe 15" of horn since we had his pics at 4 or 5 and every year leading up watching him decline...the other, while still very large appeared to have stunted tine growth and other signs of decline that cost him scoring inches, he had the frame to be more than he was and he was obviously older than 5, but no pics of him throughout his year to know for sure.

Trail cameras have educated me even more that AGE is probably the most important factor in growing big bucks. If you shoot all the 4.5yr olds...you will never have an 5, 6, 7, etc.. And the people that think a deer reached its peak at 5 or 6 need to reevaluate their thinking. I can disprove that theory any day of the week.

Would love for you to prove this theory. I can show you hundreds of pictures of different bucks that are 140 to 150" at 4yrs old an turn down to 130" when they reach 6 an 7. Deer deffenitly start going down hill after 5 or 6. But I am talking about mostly 8 pts.

generally a deer's biggest jump is between 4.5 and 5.5. I'm not saying they go downhill after 5.5, but it's not too far after that before they start going down (or at least stop going up)