Its much improved but still not as good as zone 3

I feel the same. I might feel different if I was sure it was a mature BB but seeing as the deer I have on cam might have legit 1" antlers I fear he may be a bit tough should he get shot.

 

There could be a mini competition until the most dominant buck secures her. In that case the remaining bucks then don't have to worry about him interfering with their opportunities for the next 36-48 hours while he's with her.

Or more likely he's a half mile away and doesn't have any clue of who's breeding who off in the distance. Even in a deer herd with a great buck age structure a lot of breeding is done by young bucks, as a dominant buck can only be in one place at a time.

Whitetail deer breeding is much less dominance based than many hunters perceive it to be and buck dominance within the social structure of the herd is usually a reflection of age and temperament.

 

Now is a different diet and nutrition vs a richer era following logging.

White cedar yarding areas were not "protected" till it was so obvious that migrating herds wellbeings /numbers were very dependent on the thermal cover..
But ,what browse exists in such stands?
Now we're back to winter severity depending where in the U.P. we consider.
Time and again , back to back severe winters knock multiple year classes for a loop.
In an already lower numbered herd (vs the U.P.'s heydays) those fewer surviving age classes of bucks will be thin.

A friend recently sold his holdings near White Pine.
Not because the U.P. sucks , or that location. Rather his holdings out of state he's living nearer now.
But , my question to him after he'd update me on year class findings of targetable bucks (they were eights and up hunters on the property and adjacent properties) was , "how's the fawn crop?"

Yes older deer can perish in severe winters. But two-three years out it's this years fawns that offer some hope for years outs hunting. Though plenty of them are dead before four years of age..

The back to back severe winters my friend followed in hunting saw reduction in "shooter" bucks dramatically.
Then a mild winter would let more of a year class prosper. And in following years IF winter severity was not steep...Shooter bucks again.
It was a whipsaw over few year long trends.

Of surviving bucks , following severe or just long winters , they were not optimum racks.
A three year old was bigger than a two year old on average of course.
But a buck shot years earlier the same age had more mass and length.
Backtrack the bucks previous winter , nutrition in rut recovery time , and in early spring.
Then question genetics and age.

 

This makes no sense


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Yeah. Backtrack those bucks. I'm not going to check winter severities the past five winters from 17 on back. Would need to know their range year round too.

My buddy was in the same region. And there was a lot of corn grown close.
Severe winters and reduced age classes still created swings. There were years a given age class was rare. His killing a nice specimen did not mean anyone else did.
Not uncommon for one or two hunters to score a good buck. Out of many acres including adjoining tracts.
Other years one might be the sum. Not sure if there were none years , but it's possible.
One year there was only one buck at a contest pole some distance away. And another winter snow reduced the entire firearm season for access for some.
He went out , but it is not recalled as productive. I don't think. Deer probably boogied South.

Some relatives moved back to Southern Mi. from near the Keweenaw last spring(?).
Snow was crazy deep the previous winter in some pics.
No deer there then....Unless under many feet of snow.
Just seeing one was a success as far as survival of older animals if previously an age class (or two)took a hit from winter.

Both pics show high stem counts.
They don't tell us of browse tonnage beyond the pics , deer numbers IF they winter there , and where those bucks hole up when the snow piles up.

 

Thank God, for guys like you and me, that there aren't enough NFL caliber athletes to cover all the woman!

 

How so.
I am seeing 20 to 30 deer a day.
To the south is a thick low branch pine planting full of autumn olive and grasses.All of the doe's end up in it mostly by noon the latest.Good bedding area.I have had two sightings of a giant buck on the fringes.I am pretty sure the same one.I'd guess around 250# pound deer.We have recognized the fact that not one of the small bucks have come from or gone in there.I have been out every day at least 8 hrs observing this pattern.
He has control over the bedding area and the deer quantity within it.When a doe goes into heat he is there.All of the doe's go there so satelite bucks lose out and can't follow them in there. A herd of 13 went in there then a 6 pt came behind them then watched and turned off a different direction.Similar to elk breeding with a herd of cow elk.
We have harvested 5 big bucks off this spot since 2011 If memory serves me well. (Hubbard lake)Always heading to it or coming from it.He turned a doe back in Saturday when I saw him the second time.She in comparison to him looked like a fawn next to a big doe.First time he was standing on the fringes staring our way maybe 10 feet back from the property line.
I know it is not a 100 percent but he is breeding more than any other buck around here.
Here is a picture. The two on the right are an incredibly close match.The left one looks like his father.lol.I should have gave him another year.The third one is tipped down farthest left.I can't seem to get into my Verizon cloud for better pictures.
The hanging deer my friend took here and he has one more lost in my cloud also.The buck I had seen looks similar to his which was the last one taken.
Children do look like there parents!

 

You responded to the post that 1.5 year old deer have the same genetics no matter how old they are. You then said that every human therefore has the genetics to be an nfl player... that makes no sense. Your genetics when you are born are the hand you are delt no matter how old you are....


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No I didn't I was being facetious about the NFL statement.
Dominate bucks are fact.
Culling bucks is a proven strategy

 

Awesome!!! I've read a couple gps studies that have shown approximately 30% of mature bucks will go to a doe bedding area and wait for a doe to go into estrus. Never seen it myself but sounds like what u have going on. Good stuff, thanks 4 sharing

 

Winter in zone 1 is measured in 1/2 year periods.
Winter in zone 2 is measure in months.
Winter in zone 3 is measure in weeks.

When the DNR published the winter severity indexes zone 3 barely even registered anything.

These images tell the story, note the date at the top.

 

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