The chances of killing a B&C buck...

[PoisonSnake]

I have some clippers and I use them between trips. But, my neck gets hairy and I have a hard time using a handheld mirror to shave/trim it. That is where the barber comes in.

[Rafe Hollister]

One of the many reasons to get married, PS. When you & Mrs. PoisonSnake are in the shower together, have her shave the back of your neck. That is, if you would dare turn your back to her when she has a razor in her hands.

[Bandito]

Rafe Hollister said:
When you & Mrs. PoisonSnake are in the shower together, have her shave the back of your neck.

I usually have her shave my back.

[RB]

Rafe is right PS. That is one of the services you should expect from Mrs. PS. After all don't you take care of her

[Warmouth]

Right on Rafe, those are the duties to expect from your wife.



PS, have your wife call mine, we'll get you set up with a kick afro, and then you'll be groovin'.

[Warmouth]

It could be great for PS, just think of it as suburban ear camo, and pass him a pick.

[Rafe Hollister]

dave-t.,

You've been speaking up a little too much lately. I suggest you ease into the smart-alecky jive. Baby steps, Dave. Baby steps.

[Warmouth]

Rafe, I've posted more today than I have all week, I'm just trying to catch up, and meet my posting quota.





Getting back to the B&C bucks. I believe its all about hunting an area with the potential to grow one of these monsters. There is the odd big buck killed out of only fair habitat or shabby hunting grounds, but the more I study up on big bucks and why/where they grow, it is pretty clear that you need exceptional habitat, short gun season, secluded or managed terrain (managing ammount of hunters and pressure)and an pile of luck.



Those Drury boys and big ranch TX guys have manipulated the system for the movies or paying customers, and causes some folks to believe that deer of that class should be expected to be all across the country. The chances of seeing a booner in an unmanipulated area are truly astronomical.



Better Rafe?

[counts]

I see a B&C every year. I must be real lucky.

[Limbshot]

Anywho, back to the topic. Those numbers don't really surprise me all that much. Just think about all of the hunting videos you have ever seen in your life. Think about the places these guys hunt, and just how intensely most of these places are managed for trophy deer. Now think of how many of these deer actually score in the B & C range. Very few, and these guys are hunting land that is strictly managed for huge whitetails. Now think about your average hunter, hunting on public or even private land that he'she has access to. I have got to think that the odds for that guy are even less than the guys hunting on the managed farm, and even the managed guys don't do it very often! A deer that big is a true rarity, they just aren't seen very often, much less harvested. I have seen one deer in my life that I think may have been big enough to go B&C and that was on the way back from a hunt at Ft. Wood one evening. This dude was in an off limits area and was doggin a group of 8-10 does. We kept the headlights on him, and drooled as we watched him chasing those does. He was a very typical 12 pointer that looked to be about 19-20 inches inside, and had not tine shorter than 6 inches, with G-2's, 3's and 4's likely between 10-14 inches. This dude was an absolute pig, and by far the biggest racked buck I have ever seen! Another interesting question, how many of those B&C bucks taken are actually hunted by the people killing them, and how many are killed by guys that had never seen the deer before, and didn't even know there was one that big in the area?

[Warmouth]

Are you possitive, or maybe over-estimating?

[counts]

No, I am not over estimating. I hunt in St. Louis County. This year is the first year that I didn't see two different monsters. In '02 the 9 pt I took that I thought was an okay buck when I shot it, scored 155 2/8, 150 even after deductions. I would have guessed that deer about 130 when I shot. This season I saw a deer at 35 yrds. with a doe for about 10 min. That deer easily went 170. And yes, I about fell out of the tree.

[PoisonSnake]

Anymore, I'm not too dang sure I can judge them at all. I did see a 10 pointer that I think would go around 130" and an 8 pointer that would go close to 140" this year, but who in the heck knows. Also, I was able to hold Terry Drury's rack in my hand and it is an absolute monster. Grosses nearly 180", but will not score B&C. But, it is a phenomenal rack. Then, that buck killed by Jared Lurk in January looks to be 180" for sure, but only scores 160". That dude looks magnificent. See the Drury webpage to look at these bucks. The buck I got with a rifle looks 10 times better than he scores. Grosses 147 5/8 and nets only 137 5/8. 10 inches in deductions (8.5" of asymmetry and a 1.5" kicker) all on the left mainbeam. That deer would be high 150s if he were perfect. In fact, I think I will start calling him "Should have been 160". Dang the luck.

[Triton X2]

Okay, now here is my take on this since PS has busted my bubble on killing a 170 booner; I am going to do the 'how will it look on my wall criteria'. If the stats that PS are true, and I have no reason to doubt it, you could go out for a lot of years and never kill a class deer.

[PoisonSnake]

Triton: The article said a guys chances of getting struck by lightning were better. Here is another one I have read. TwoTall, I think, wrote the article. Each year in MO, only 1% of the deer killed score 140" or better. Like I have stated, I hunt what I consider to be a very good area for killing big bucks. I see a 140-150" deer every 4-5 years. Luckily, I have killed 3 such deer. One of those was pure luck when I was 18 years old. I hadn't hunted a spot in a year, and missed the place I was gonna hunt by about 80 yards. I could see the tree and was walking to it. I heard some dogs barking and they chased 2 monsters by me at mere feet away. I shot the biggest of the two.