Poking fun at the always 2.5 crowd

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
Seems every deer is 2.5 or 3.5, LOL

Edit, Dang it. Having trouble loading pics today.
 

Jim Boyd

Senior Member
I hear you, Gr8, but most bucks in the SE really don’t make it to the 4+ range.

Long seasons, rifle use, heavy land pressure - all contribute to this, IMHO.

I probably get 3-4000 bucks pics in SC each year (admittedly many of these are the same buck over and over) and rare is the deer that I believe is 4+.

I also believe that if u look at some of the metro Atlanta counties, lack of rifle hunting is what drives the disproportionate amount of giant bucks. It sure is not agriculture!

Best of luck!
 

Long Cut

Senior Member
I hear you, Gr8, but most bucks in the SE really don’t make it to the 4+ range.

Long seasons, rifle use, heavy land pressure - all contribute to this, IMHO.

I probably get 3-4000 bucks pics in SC each year (admittedly many of these are the same buck over and over) and rare is the deer that I believe is 4+.

I also believe that if u look at some of the metro Atlanta counties, lack of rifle hunting is what drives the disproportionate amount of giant bucks. It sure is not agriculture!

Best of luck!

This^
 

ryanh487

Senior Member
Last study I saw for northwest ga said most bucks don't make it past 3.5. So yeah, 99% of the bucks you see on camera will be 3.5 or under. That's why 4.5-5.5 year old deer are such a big deal, they're rare.
 

six

Senior Member
Seems every deer is 2.5 or 3.5, LOL

Edit, Dang it. Having trouble loading pics today.

Probably need to get a 2 or 3 year old to show you how. I think my mentor was 6.
 

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
I can't load pics today. Anyone else having problems
 

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
I hear you, Gr8, but most bucks in the SE really don’t make it to the 4+ range.

Long seasons, rifle use, heavy land pressure - all contribute to this, IMHO.

I probably get 3-4000 bucks pics in SC each year (admittedly many of these are the same buck over and over) and rare is the deer that I believe is 4+.

I also believe that if u look at some of the metro Atlanta counties, lack of rifle hunting is what drives the disproportionate amount of giant bucks. It sure is not agriculture!

Best of luck!
I get about 40 known different bucks per year. Most over and over. They move occasionally. The good thing is they move to another corner of my property or to the neighbors in my friend group. We have about 3000 acres adjoining among friends with only a few losses due to perimeter property line hazards. So we get to watch them and if one disappears, he shows up elsewhere. We don't try to keep mental tags on everything, just the good ones and ones with potential.... and the culls. It has really helped having this big circle. Most times they stay in my cameras due to consistent feeding and low hunting pressure along with a non invasive hunting mindset. There are places we just don't go. We, my son and I, give them huge blocks and fight the urge to go into the heart of the land. This keeps them from noctournal. I have become a lazy hunter, but truth is, this non invasive mindset lets me see deer at the end of the season just like it was opening day. Mercy, I'm getting off topic
 

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
My poking fun is a pic of a very old deer. If I could just load it
 

across the river

Senior Member
Seems every deer is 2.5 or 3.5, LOL

Edit, Dang it. Having trouble loading pics today.

Honestly, I see more people on here call 3.5 year old deer 4.5 and 5 than I see people call older deer 2.5 or 3.5. Just based on statistics, most bucks in Georgia will be 2.5 or 3.5. Kind of like most kids in middle school will be 12-14. Granted, back when I was in school we had a kid that was 16 in 8th grade, but like the 5.5 or 6.5 buck in Georgia, he was the exception rather than the rule.
 

Buckstop

Senior Member
You could call them all 2.5 or 3.5 without even seeing the pics and be right the vast majority of the time. Simply because that age dominates the age structure in GA. Lots and lots of 2.5’s for every 3.5. Several 3.5’s for every 4.5.
 

Long Cut

Senior Member
One last thing I wanted to add...

This is why "big bucks" are truly trophies, because 5+YO bucks are hard to come by. Sure there's a 2-3YO outlier that could be huge, but most tend to be older. Hunters, cars, coyotes, disease etc all take a toll on these deer. I think maybe 10% of bucks make it to 5 years of age?

Don't believe me... Go to a WMA check station after a quota rifle or check-in hunt and tell me how many bucks taken are older than 3.5YO...
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
Don't believe me... Go to a WMA check station after a quota rifle or check-in hunt and tell me how many bucks taken are older than 3.5YO...

Based on the population distribution models there are plenty of 4.5 and older deer in GA. Not that many of them get killed because they are smart #1 and #2 most deer hunters are happy to settle for a handsome 2.5 or 3.5 year old deer.
 

Long Cut

Senior Member
Based on the population distribution models there are plenty of 4.5 and older deer in GA. Not that many of them get killed because they are smart #1 and #2 most deer hunters are happy to settle for a handsome 2.5 or 3.5 year old deer.

I agree that mature bucks are smart enough to avoid hunters but you just admitted that most hunters settle for younger deer. How is the population evenly distributed if most bucks harvested are 2-3YO?

There's mature bucks out there, just not very many. The trail cameras and harvest data (WMA's) coincide with this.
 

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
Trying again on this young deer :D
 

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Dirtroad Johnson

Senior Member
I hear you, Gr8, but most bucks in the SE really don’t make it to the 4+ range.

Long seasons, rifle use, heavy land pressure - all contribute to this, IMHO.

I probably get 3-4000 bucks pics in SC each year (admittedly many of these are the same buck over and over) and rare is the deer that I believe is 4+.

I also believe that if u look at some of the metro Atlanta counties, lack of rifle hunting is what drives the disproportionate amount of giant bucks. It sure is not agriculture!

Best of luck!

You nailed it. IMO
 
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