Never weighed them..

 

Don’t have a clue, but not nearly as much as people claim. Every single year, I hear about the 200 lb. doe, or 300 lb. buck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Those numbers are usually a dead giveaway for someone that weighs deer with their eye instead of a scale. However the largest doe my family got was a 190lb doe a long time ago, mature does usually average out at 145lbs here.

 

Around here (central PA) 150 pound is a norm for a 2 1/2 year old deer. I weigh all mine and have seen little variation (among like age groups). The largest deer I've hung was a doe my daughter shot that tipped the scales at just over 160 pound dressed. I'd calculate that at dang near 200 on the hoof.

 

I haven't weighed a deer in years but back around 2009-2010 I weighed every doe we shot at the start of a controlled hunt we had in an area over-populated with deer.The heaviest mature doe that we ever weighed was around 85lbs dressed.Since that time,I haven't weighed any but the doe we're killing on public land are way bigger now than at any other time.

 

Whatever that last buck weighed was enough. I could barely get to my feet with a full pack.

 

There are freak deer anywhere, but generally they fit within the parameters of their respective sub-species. I've read there some 40ish different sub-species in the world, 16 of them in the USA. Here in this part of TN in the 1950's, deer were reintroduced because they were virtually extinct in the area. I've heard they came from south TX. And that would explain why a mature buck typically weighs 120-130lbs and has chocolate colored antlers. Getting out away from here any direction, the deer characteristics change. AL, which is about half an hour south of here, has several different subspecies as a result of reintroduction, so they have half a dozen or more different rut zones and times. They claim you can come hunt the rut there all fall & winter long, and offer a rut map showing which subspecies is rutting at which time in a given geographical pocket or region. It really is a mixed bag of nuts.

My buck in Ohio this season wasn't weighed. I rarely ever weigh my deer. But I did weigh he meat after butchering, and the brute gave me right at 100lbs of TRIMMED boneless meat. Given the average for beef meat to live weight yield is 60%, that would put my deer really close to 200lbs. Considering all the meat was boneless, it puts him likely a little over 200lbs. Not an exact science but pretty dang good estimate, IMO. Folks shooting 300lb deer should be getting 150lbs+ of packaged, boneless meat. If they aren't then their deer wasn't actually 300lbs.

 

Here in central NC the deer are definitely smaller in body. Field dressed I'm guessing by the "hand scale" as I drug it out and lifted it into the truck, the 3-year old buck I shot was at 100-125lbs.

Processors here will straight up tell you that they won't do rib meat or brisket as there just isn't enough there to make it worth the effort. Around me they do the four quarters, backstraps, and a little into the neck but that's pretty much it.

 

Last buck field dressed around 115, last doe 90. East TN seem smaller or I’m not a very-good hunter 😂. (probably both)

 

Our MI bucks that are 1.5 year old weigh 110-125 usually (gutted)
2.5 year Olds 120-145 ( gutted) also a 2 year old in Southern MI can get to maybe 125".

3-4 southern deer can get good body weight 150-200 gutted and score in a large range area

But MI upper part of the lower or the UP they don't usually get nearly as big as, the deer in Southern MI

 

Our MI bucks that are 1.5 year old weigh 110-125 usually (gutted)
2.5 year Olds 120-145 ( gutted) also a 2 year old in Southern MI can get to maybe 125".

3-4 southern deer can get good body weight 150-200 gutted and score in a large range area

But MI upper part of the lower or the UP they don't usually get nearly as big as, the deer in Southern MI

Successfully harvested my first doe (opening day of bow season) and she was 91lbs after field dressing. Harvested my first buck (8 point) the first week of November and he was 102lbs after field dressing. Learned a lot and your post confirms what the people behind me at the processor stated when I asked the "Why does your 8 point have a much larger rack than mine? Yeah, genetics, but is that drastic of a difference?" They had just been discussing it themselves and said that my deer was about a year and a half old. Made me a little bit sad since had I known he was younger, I'd like to think I'd have let him keep walking. Hindsight and all that and a learning experience for sure. I had mistakenly thought that points would determine age. Oh, and their deer didn't weigh much more than mine at around 120 if I remember correctly.

 

I killed this old fellow a few days after this picture was taken. Live weight was 200.3 lbs

Our does usually weigh about 80lbs or so after being gutted. Saw one yesterday that was huge but she was probably about 140 on the hoof.

 

my decent size 8 pointer field dressed at 142 this year...…Largest in my life was my 10 I shot about decade ago, it was 173.....I almost couldn't believe it was that big! Does we harvest usually around 100-110 for good side does.

 

Most of the doe around me are around 110-135 and the mature bucks usually run between 160-175 field dressed. 20 miles south of me there are large crops and more fields and I've taken deer there well over 200. The habitat and food choices can play a large role in deer size.

 

It's similar here in NH, and as I understand it much of the northeast. People count points, yes, but weight is also usually discussed when talking about the "quality" of a buck. Last year's buck was 189lb (field dressed), guessing 5+ year old. 9 points and looks like it would score somewhere around 126" by my measurements (~130+ if one of the 5-6" brow tines was not broken off).
This year I shot a much smaller buck - sort of a weird rack, not really a fork but not really a basket either. Either way, it was 127lbs. There are some decent racked bucks here but we don't have a lot of crop fields compared to other areas so I don't think they grow to be as impressive as other areas.

 

That's interesting. Bergmann's Rule ( Bergmann's rule - Wikipedia ) basically states mammals get larger as you move away from the equator. I would think food source and stress also has a lot to do with antler versus body size. There are a few "deer farms" near where I live and the 2.5 year old deer in the pen are the same size as the 4.5 year old wild deer we'll see in the woods/fields.

I have never weighed one of our deer, but my section of the US has a crap ton of ag land. Based on photos of harvested deer across the US & Canada, I am lucky to hunt some big ol' bodied deer to fill the freezer. Lots of food and decent cover.

 

That's interesting. Bergmann's Rule ( Bergmann's rule - Wikipedia ) basically states mammals get larger as you move away from the equator. I would think food source and stress also has a lot to do with antler versus body size. There are a few "deer farms" near where I live and the 2.5 year old deer in the pen are the same size as the 4.5 year old wild deer we'll see in the woods/fields.

I have never weighed one of our deer, but my section of the US has a crap ton of ag land. Based on photos of harvested deer across the US & Canada, I am lucky to hunt some big ol' bodied deer to fill the freezer. Lots of food and decent cover.

I'd think that has to be it. Saskatchewan is known for giants, but has a lot of ag & alfalfa. Ontario is brush country. New England area is farther north than a lot of the mid-west big buck states. Washington & Oregon are as well. I've heard one theory that major river valleys hold the biggest bucks because of the rich silt dumped over millennia. That rich soil creates nutritious plant life, which result in larger deer. And it makes sense because the majority of the biggest bucks come from the states where the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers flow and flood.

 

Here in the ozarks our deer don’t get huge like the surrounding areas with bountiful crops. Up here they just munch acorns and all the corn we put out!

Took this old guy and he was pretty stout for around here. No clue on what he weighed but was happy to get a mature deer with a smaller rack. This is my first year on this property and we are trying to manage the herd.

The second picture is what the deer look like a few hours away in the more agricultural areas of the state.

 

Almost every Wisconsin buck I've shot around 3.5yrs old has weighed 175-185 field dressed and legs cutoff at the knees. This years 10pt I shot might have broken 200, but I never weighed it.

 

I’m in Va, my 9 point this year weighed 155 dressed which is fairly good for this area. I shot a doe in Illinois a few years back and she dressed 156. Biggest bucks was 232 dressed from Illinois.

 

It's a known fact (or should be) that deer body sizes vary depending on where you live. In general the further north the bigger the body. In Texas the body size isn't real heavy but the racks are still big...….in Minnesota there have been 300 lb deer documented but you will NEVER see one like that in Florida.

My guess is it's about the heat and the cold. Here is SC the average is probably 100 -120 for a mature doe and 150 -200 for a buck. Like others have said I have personally seen bucks in the 230 range but they aren't average.

 

Here’s a legit 304lb whitetail hanging on a 2500 lifted on 35s. The guy in camo is 6’6 255lbs without that jumpsuit on. Deer has his nose touching the ground still.

 

Jesus what a monster. I really hope you at least had a sled to drag him out lol. What did his rack score?

 

I killed this guy a couple years ago in Missouri. I took him to the meat processor and he weighed 202 gutted and head cut off.

 

In Mississippi:
1.5 yo buck 110-130lbs, 2.5 yo buck 130-155lbs, 3.5 yo buck 160-180lbs, 4.5+ yo buck 180-210. Some areas, like along Big Black and Mississippi Rivers can be up to 300 lbs, although rare.
1.5 yo doe with fawn 90-110lbs, Mature doe with fawn, up to 120 lbs, 1.5 you doe without fawn up to 120 lbs, Mature doe without fawn up to 140 lbs. On very rare occasions, we see does 150lbs. As mentioned above, they can range a little higher in the river deltas.

I remember in the 80's, when we first started reducing doe numbers, all weights were significantly lower. I saw a very nice 10 point in 1988 that weighed 110 lbs. on the hoof. He was aged by a biologist at 4.5.

 

When I first got into hunting as a kid I was always more concerned with rack size, but always heard guys saying they shot a 250lb buck, etc. Never really had a good setup at my parents house so when I moved out after a few years I finally got a scale and started weighing all the deer my dad and I harvested. I grew up hunting South Central PA, but now I hunt North Central Maryland and the deer are primarily farm feed with small blocks of woods. I've heard of local guys that say they shot a 250-300lb deer, but I think they are full of it. All of the deer listed below were able to be recovered and brought back to the house and weighed ungutted.

BB - 95 lbs - Dec
Half rack 2 pt - 110 lbs - Oct
4 pt - 115 lbs - Oct
5 pt - 120 lbs - Oct
4 pt - 130 lbs - Oct
6 pt - 140 lbs - Oct
4 pt - 150 lbs - Nov
Half rack 3 pt - 155 lbs - Nov
3 pt - 170 lbs - Dec
6 pt - 175 lbs - Dec
7 pt - 165 lbs - Dec(atleast 3 1/2)
8 pt - 170 lbs - Oct (atleast 3 1/2)
5 pt - 165 lbs - Oct

Most what I'd consider 1 1/2 yr old bucks weigh 115-130lbs, 2 1/2 yr olds are 140-150lbs and 3 1/2 yr olds+ are 160lbs+. Time of year when they are harvest makes a different too. The last 5 pt on the list was by far the fattest buck I ever shot. The 8 pt didn't have a oz of fat on him. We've shot a few does in those years and most are 90-120. I'm really trying to get a 200+lb deer but not sure if they exist in my area. Pretty rare for a buck to make it to a nice mature age around here.

 

Most of the bucks I kill are right around 200lbs. field dressed, plus or minus 10lbs. This one was a wee bit more...

The one on the right was right around 190 if I remember correctly. That seemed right. Scale said 220 I think on the big guy, I think something was not right about that....

I really wanted to find out how much this guy weighed but he was MIA this year...

 

The first one if shot in Va would be a 400 lb no doubt!

 

SE Pa a big doe is about 100# and a decent average buck is 125-130#

 

The buck I killed in Indiana this year field dressed between 235 and 240 pounds. See attached photo. The yellow line is the actual weight. It had to be 237 or 238 pounds, field dressed. I shot him on October 25th so he hadn't lost a lot of weight from rutting...

 

Shot two does this year, one weighed 107#, the other 108# at the processor. This was field dressed and the legs from the knee down removed.
Biggest doe I ever shot was 115#.

Got this buck last year. No idea on the score but he weighed 180# at the processors. This was field dressed and the legs from the knee down removed.

A friend gave me his buck last year.

He weighed 200# at the processor. This was field dressed, head/rack cut off, and the legs from the knee down removed.