I probably would have let it walk and grow another year.

I’ve always said I’d trade a 150” whitetail for a 2yr old turkey. But a rack like that would make me miss a turkey hunt! That’s a heck of a find. The fact both sheds were lying there isn’t that common, for me anyways, lol. Awesome buck.

Thanks for posting

Very true, hunters do a poor job managing the herds, the draw of antlers is too strong for most to resist.

I prefer the non-typical bucks but that one is a terrific deer.

I agree that it's hunters that pull the trigger but the game departments can influence how many bucks reach old age by educating people. Antler point restrictions and such things can help but in the end, if you want real change you have to change the attitudes of the hunters and that means education not rules. Not many game departments understand that and Minnesota may never figure that out. The have a "Shut up and do what we say" attitude.

The only people willing to listen and change the way they hunt to grow older, more mature age class deer are the ones that are likely already doing it through QDMA or their own landowner agreements. I'd say at least half of hunters are meat hunters who would love to shoot a big buck but would be almost as happy to shoot a small buck or a doe. The "opening weekend warriors" aren't likely to pass small bucks to let them grow, and that likelihood drops even more for hunters on public land. It's nearly impossible for a state agency or even a group like QDMA to convince enough people to change the way they hunt and view meat procurement to make a noticeable difference in an area as large as a state. That's why QDMA has been successful in smaller, more easily managed areas with landowner agreement on chunks of private land.

Change the attitude of hunters lol. I don't give two shakes of a rats behind about antlers. I don't want point restrictions nor money spent on "educating" hunters on which buck I can or should harvest. I want a huge healthy deer herd, where hunters have a good chance at putting meat in the freezer.

“Where hunters have a good chance of putting meat in the freezer”? I’m not familiar with the rest of the country but are there actually places where you could get a tag and not harvest a deer because the opportunity was not there?

Yes, on public land.

Okay then prove it. If you ever see a really big buck you pass on it and shoot a doe.

If you saw a doe and a really big buck standing side by side you would shoot the dang buck absolutely guaranteed, which means you are a liar when you say you don't give two shakes of a rat's behind about antlers. Happens every time. Guys say they are meat hunters until a buck walks by then suddenly they aren't meat hunters any more.

Which has more meat, a mature buck or a mature doe? I shot a doe this last season that I thought looked huge, had a big ol' horse head on her. She only weighed 165# live weight. Any respectable 2.5 year old buck had more meat than that doe did, and a 3.5 even more meat, and a 4.5 even more meat.

Let's clarify something. MOST state Fish & Game dept's don't care about managing the deer herd for hunter benefit. I grew up in NYS and have been living in Illinois for 15 deer seasons. Both states manage it's deer herd related to the number of VEHICLE collisions with deer. Illinois even states that in it's regulations. In NY, in my locale, we had great deer hunting until 1985. Bucks of all ages and reasonable buck/doe ratio. Too many collisions on the 4 lane caused the DNR to initiated doe permits. Once the damage was done in about 5 years (removing as many does as possible), it has taken until the last 3 years or so for hunting to get back to the ok level. Not where it was. Permits are still issued to anyone that applies.
I have an old bowhunting buddy that has been making an annual trip to Ohio for the last 15+ years to bow hunt. He stay about 5 weeks each time. 2-3 years ago Ohio issued thousands of early season muzzle loader tags to be used BEFORE the archery season. There are noticeably fewer deer both road kill and when hunting than years ago.
Just like politics and big pharma, it's all about the money.

This is absolutely false.

Thought maybe you boys were talking about this one.
https://www.wbwn.com/2019/01/16/new-world-record-pending-with-massive-score-on-illinois-buck/

ADC will love it.

At least in Wisconsin, people love to say the hunting isnt what it used to be like back in the 80s. Except people dont remember unsuccessful hunts from 40 years ago. The harvest numbers dont lie, I believe in the late 80s the harvest took an upward trend and harvest records were broken nearly every year for about 15 years into the early 2000s. Even after the harvest dropped slightly into the 2010s, the harvest was well above that of the 80s and earlier.

I'd be interested to hear how harvest numbers in NY compare between the mid-80s and the last 10 years.

Tell my friends that hunt there every year that it's false.

Bernie, your missing the point. Your advocating for DOW to educate people on the way YOU want to hunt, the way YOU want to manage deer, and have antler restrictions. I have a buddy that only hunts the big bucks, that's his personal thing and he's good at it. He doesn't care what everyone else does. Most guys just want a good healthy deer population so when they go hunting on public land they might actually see deer. I don't care about shooting a big buck and posting it to say hey, look at me. If that's your thing then have at it, just don't ruin it for the rest of us anymore than "trophy hunters" already have. Manage your trophies on private land all ya want. As far as being a liar, I think not. If that buck had a huge body compared to the doe, yes, I'd drop him. Not because of the rack, it's all about the meat. If that doe was bigger, I'd drop the doe, every time.

No sure on NY harvest numbers, Illinois for entire state are up. Some counties are down. But remember, they count ALL deer taken, including those button bucks that get counted as a doe.

There was early muzzle loader seasons, but it wasn't before archery, it was during. Oct I believe.