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Your Biggest Tennessee Buck ?

Not the Biggest
But a the time it meant a lot to me
First Bow kill Of any size back in 1984
Plus I was going thru an emotional divorce

This proud of him


 
Poser":1w0nv2qd said:
Every so often one of these threads pops up and we see a lot of big deer from every part of the state.
What kind of sampling are we looking at here? Are these pics representative of a tiny fraction of elite hunters who have killed some of the best deer the state has to offer, or are these pics representative of slightly above average bucks killed by an average sampling of TN hunters?

For example, if TWRA asked to see pics of your best TN buck on the official FB page, would we see a sampling of deer similar to this thread from a larger pool of TN hunters? Is this thread alone, sufficient proof to tell anyone who complains about lack of big deer in TN to shut up?
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I really think there are thousands and thousands of Tennessee hunters that have taken at least 1 Buck over 130 inches in Tennessee. I know in a lot of west TN counties 120 to 130 inch Bucks are not really that rare if they can grow old and have proper nutrition. I know people in some of the counties along the TN River that see 130 to 140 inch bucks fairly regularly each season, and they have taken Bucks over 140 inches off those same farms.

Where I work for the Forest Service I see a good amount of Bucks that would go 125 to 140 inches fairly regularly off the roads in the TN portion of the Forest Service Property I work for. And over the years I have honestly seen Bucks that would go over 160 inches in the same places.

I really think parts of TN have a lot more potential than people think, the bucks just need good nutrition and age in my opinion.
 
Poser":19v2zl2t said:
Every so often one of these threads pops up and we see a lot of big deer from every part of the state.
What kind of sampling are we looking at here? Are these pics representative of a tiny fraction of elite hunters who have killed some of the best deer the state has to offer, or are these pics representative of slightly above average bucks killed by an average sampling of TN hunters?

For example, if TWRA asked to see pics of your best TN buck on the official FB page, would we see a sampling of deer similar to this thread from a larger pool of TN hunters? Is this thread alone, sufficient proof to tell anyone who complains about lack of big deer in TN to shut up?
Click to expand...

There are a lot of big bucks killed every year and it's easy to think they are behind every tree when you look at pictures like these but you have to keep numbers in mind. We are looking at a dozen hunters who take deer hunting way more seriously than the average guy does and these are the BEST they have killed over 10 - 20 - 30 years of hunting. Hardly evidence that this is normal. Consider the numbers TWRA posts every year showing that less than 50% of hunters even kill any kind of deer. Killing a buck like this is still special when you consider the state as a whole and not just focusing on some of the hot spots and highly skilled and motivated hunters. Also just because you see a buck of this caliber in a field somewhere, doesn't mean every hunter in that area has a realistic chance of killing the deer. Many hunters are also probably watching "your" deer and it can only die once then it's unavailable to everybody else.
 
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Hunter 257W":1ns8ulnk said:
Poser":1ns8ulnk said:
Every so often one of these threads pops up and we see a lot of big deer from every part of the state.
What kind of sampling are we looking at here? Are these pics representative of a tiny fraction of elite hunters who have killed some of the best deer the state has to offer, or are these pics representative of slightly above average bucks killed by an average sampling of TN hunters?

For example, if TWRA asked to see pics of your best TN buck on the official FB page, would we see a sampling of deer similar to this thread from a larger pool of TN hunters? Is this thread alone, sufficient proof to tell anyone who complains about lack of big deer in TN to shut up?
Click to expand...

There are a lot of big bucks killed every year and it's easy to think they are behind every tree when you look at pictures like these but you have to keep numbers in mind. We are looking at a dozen hunters who take deer hunting way more seriously than the average guy does and these are the BEST they have killed over 10 - 20 - 30 years of hunting. Hardly evidence that this is normal. Consider the numbers TWRA posts every year showing that less than 50% of hunters even kill any kind of deer. Killing a buck like this is still special when you consider the state as a whole and not just focusing on some of the hot spots and highly skilled and motivated hunters. Also just because you see a buck of this caliber in a field somewhere, doesn't mean every hunter in that area has a realistic chance of killing the deer. Many hunters are also probably watching "your" deer and it can only die once then it's unavailable to everybody else.
Click to expand...

Yep. Most hunters around here have probably never seen a deer over 130" on the hoof. Those that have and those that have killed 130+ class deer are probably in the elite few and not the "average hunter". This area should have all the ingredients for nice bucks, ag crops, rich river bottom soil, and cover.

Interesting how some areas of the state see evidence of larger subspecies of deer. Maybe the dispersal of subspecies may be a factor/influence in the way of genetics and even size of bodies, there have been some good articles about the reintroduction of deer into the state that tell about the subspecies brought in and where they were distributed.
 
Nice Bucks.



Keep in mind that most trophy Bucks you see in pictures from the Midwest are not common either. I used to live in the Midwest and probably over 90% of hunters have never taken a Buck over 160 inches Net, and out of the ones that have, they've only taken 1 or 2 in their lifetime. The vast majority of hunting shows are filmed in the Midwest on highly managed outfitter land or well managed farms. Those places are far better than most places.


I think one factor that really influences the size of deer in TN is the vast amount of forested land in TN. A lot of places in TN are mostly big forest and ridges. Those areas typically don't support high deer densities and they also typically do not have very much bedding cover, or nutrient rich vegetation. Now other areas of TN have a lot of farmland and/or a good mix of forest and farmland. The Bucks in those areas simply have access to far more food so they are more likely to have larger bodies and grow larger racks.
 
Land Between the Lakes":419chnen said:
Nice Bucks.



Keep in mind that most trophy Bucks you see in pictures from the Midwest are not common either. I used to live in the Midwest and probably over 90% of hunters have never taken a Buck over 160 inches Net, and out of the ones that have, they've only taken 1 or 2 in their lifetime. The vast majority of hunting shows are filmed in the Midwest on highly managed outfitter land or well managed farms. Those places are far better than most places.


I think one factor that really influences the size of deer in TN is the vast amount of forested land in TN. A lot of places in TN are mostly big forest and ridges. Those areas typically don't support high deer densities and they also typically do not have very much bedding cover, or nutrient rich vegetation. Now other areas of TN have a lot of farmland and/or a good mix of forest and farmland. The Bucks in those areas simply have access to far more food so they are more likely to have larger bodies and grow larger racks.
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I would rather hunt the big forest areas in the mountains of eastern Tn. You never know what your going to see.
Most all my big deer came from the east mid-east tn mountains
 
These are some really nice bucks! One thing many hunters never mention is the weight and length of their biggest deer. To me body size is as impressive as a large set of antlers. I do not have pictures of my biggest available to post because I'm too low-tech and do not know how to post them and never have had a cell phone or digital camera.

I'll run down the list of my kills from largest to smallest of the ones that would be above average for my area.

1. 225 lbs dressed weight with 13 point rack.

2. 175 lbs dressed weight with a 9 point rack. This deer was nine feet long from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail.

3. 172 lbs dressed with a very nice, symmetrical, long tined eight point rack.

4. 167 lbs dressed with a thick, heavy eight point rack.

5. 155 lbs dressed with a very nice, almost perfectly balanced, eight point rack.

6. 165 lbs dressed with a seven point rack. This deer was very old and on the downhill slide. He had one tine broken off at the main beam.

I have never scored these deer. They were all mature bucks.
 
348Winchester":1it52qf2 said:
These are some really nice bucks! One thing many hunters never mention is the weight and length of their biggest deer. To me body size is as impressive as a large set of antlers. I do not have pictures of my biggest available to post because I'm too low-tech and do not know how to post them and never have had a cell phone or digital camera.

I'll run down the list of my kills from largest to smallest of the ones that would be above average for my area.

1. 225 lbs dressed weight with 13 point rack.

2. 175 lbs dressed weight with a 9 point rack. This deer was nine feet long from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail.

3. 172 lbs dressed with a very nice, symmetrical, long tined eight point rack.

4. 167 lbs dressed with a thick, heavy eight point rack.

5. 155 lbs dressed with a very nice, almost perfectly balanced, eight point rack.

6. 165 lbs dressed with a seven point rack. This deer was very old and on the downhill slide. He had one tine broken off at the main beam.

I have never scored these deer. They were all mature bucks.
Click to expand...
Those are some hogs for body weight.
My biggest body weight is 170 dressed.
I would love to kill one over the 200 dressed.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

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