Even though Don said is article was not about growing big antlered bucks I think a lot of the "pro-shorten the season" guys (who for the most part want the bow season to remain in tact) see it that way.
Off track or not we will continue...
This is something I researched and gathered back about 4 or 5 years ago. There is probably some minor movement since then, but all in all it hasn’t changed much.
Indiana as compared to “Trophy States”..Anyone who knows anything about comparing one thing to another knows that you need to factor in
ALL variables when comparing. You just don’t look at one number and say “That’s it”. There are lots of other factors to consider in this debate including genetics, habitat, population of the deer herd and last but not least the number of hunters out there hunting the deer. Genetics and habitat are debatable, but to compare our genetics of our deer herd against the Northern subspecies is not quite fair. We also know that God did not create all deer habitat alike.
Throw in the types of soils found in the different state’s whitetail habitats and you have a multitude of variables.
Now a few of the factors that are verifiable are number of entries in the B & C and P & Y books, the number of hunters in a given state, and the estimated population of the deer herds in those states. You have to get inside those numbers to have any semblance of comparison.
In other words, the larger the deer herd with the more hunters after them the greater the chance of killing a record book buck, if all other things were equal.
Here is a comparison of all record book bucks as opposed by the number of hunters and estimated populations. All hunter and population numbers were acquired from an ESPN Deer website at
espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/s/h_hunting_forecast_launch_page_03.html. The B & C and P & Y entry numbers were acquired at -
www.remington.com/magazine/consv/2002_0502a.htm#state (WW - NOTE – since 4 or 5 years have passed, these reference sites are now defunct)
NUMBER OF DEER HUNTERS AND DEER POPULATIONWISCONSIN – 3,398 entries. 427,871 deer hunters for a rate of .0079416 record book buck per hunter (Rank 1). Deer population – 1,600,000 with rate of .00212237 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 4)
ILLINOIS – 2,641 entries. 334,230 deer hunters for a rate of 0079017 record book buck per hunter (Rank 2). Deer population – 700,000 with rate of .0037728 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 2)
IOWA – 1,586 entries. 314,454 deer hunters for a rate of .0050436 record book buck per hunter (Rank 4). Deer population – 250,000 with rate of .0063440 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 1)
OHIO – 1,077 entries. 660,000 deer hunters for a rate of .0016318 record book buck per hunter (Rank 6). Deer population – 575,000 with rate of .0018730 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 5)
MINNESOTA – 875 entries. 570,000 deer hunters for a rate of .0015350 record book buck per hunter (Rank 7). Deer population – 1,140,000 with rate of .0007675 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 7)
KANSAS - 781 entries. 104,658 deer hunters for a rate of .0074624 record book buck per hunter (Rank 3). Deer population – 320,000 with rate of .0024406 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 3)
TEXAS – 739 entries. 619,784 deer hunters for a rate of .0011923 record book buck per hunter (Rank 9). Deer population – 3,826,146 with rate of .0001931 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 10)
MISSOURI – 718 entries. 525,000 deer hunters for a rate of .0013676 record book buck per hunter (Rank 8). Deer population – 1,000,000 with rate of .0007180 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 8)
MICHIGAN – 636 entries. 1,076,745 deer hunters for a rate of .0005906 record book buck per hunter (Rank 10). Deer population – 1,900,000 with rate of .0003347 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 9)
INDIANA – 587 entries. 270,700 deer hunters for a rate of .0021684 record book buck per hunter (Rank 5). Deer population – 450,000 with rate of .0013044 record book buck percentage of the population. (Rank 6)
RANKINGS Percentage of record book bucks by number of hunters: 1) Wisconsin
2) Illinois
3) Kansas
4) Iowa
5) Indiana
6) Ohio
7) Minnesota
8) Missouri
9) Texas
10) Michigan
Percentage of record book bucks by deer population: 1)Iowa
2)Illinois
3)Kansas
4)Wisconsin
5)Ohio
6)Indiana
7)Minnesota
8)Missouri
9)Michigan
10)Texas
NUMBER OF ENTRIES BY HARVESTI looked at it this way also. Number of entries per harvest. Since I do not have harvest figures for the last ten years I just multiplied the harvest number given by the ESPN page by ten.
I’m sure there were some ups and downs, but this should give a good idea. The "rate" would mean for Illinois every 577.38 deer killed a record book deer was taken AND registered. Of course we all know that not every record class animal is registered for various reasons, but
NO ONE has a handle on that one.
ILLINOIS – 2,641 entries. 1,524,870 harvest for a rate of 577.38 (Rank 1)
IOWA – 1,586 entries. 1,366,550 harvest for a rate of 861.63 (Rank 2)
KANSAS - 781 entries. 870,000 harvest for a rate of 1113.96 (Rank 3)
WISCONSIN – 3,398 entries. 3,862,770 harvest for a rate of 1136.78. (Rank 4)
OHIO – 1,077 entries. 1,651,240 harvest for a rate of 1533.18 (Rank 5)
INDIANA – 587 entries. 1,031,630 harvest for a rate of 1757.46 (Rank 6)
MINNESOTA – 875 entries. 2,220,500 harvest for a rate of 2537.71 (Rank 7)
MISSOURI – 718 entries. 2,633,280 harvest for a rate of 3667.52 (Rank 8)
TEXAS – 739 entries.4,369,490 harvest for a rate of 5912.71 (Rank 9)
MICHIGAN – 636 entries. 4,637,060 harvest for a rate of 7290.98 (Rank 10)
NUMBER OF ENTRIES BY SQUARE MILESI pulled up square miles per state and ran the numbers through that way too. Guess what? We ended up 7th.A couple of small states (Maryland and New Jersey) snuck in on us.
The top states by B & C and P & Y for the last 10 years by SQUARE MILES IS: 1) Wisconsin
2) Illinois
3) Maryland
4) Iowa
5) Ohio
6) New Jersey
7) Indiana
8) Connecticut
9) Delaware
10) Kentucky
11) Michigan
12) Minnesota
13) Missouri
14) Kansas
15) New York
16) Massachusetts
17) Pennsylvania
18) West Virginia
19) Rhode Island