Deer season

[atsah]

I think it is all about the food supply. Our forrest deer here in Southwest Missouri is fairly small as a rule while in upstate Missouri in Farm country where there are lots of corn crops to eat they are generally much larger.

That makes sense..

 

[ovrszd]

I think it is all about the food supply. Our forrest deer here in Southwest Missouri is fairly small as a rule while in upstate Missouri in Farm country where there are lots of corn crops to eat they are generally much larger.

Yep. The trail cam pic posted would be considered a malnutritioned deer up here.

 

[Shaneard]

More deer pics.

 

[Thomas]

More deer pics.

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He'll make you start day dreaming and drooling. :thumbsup:

 

[wwdiii]

I spent the better part of the day yesterday on my tractor planting a couple of plots. Planted shooting lanes, both of them 10-15 yards wide, 100 yards long give or take.

I planted part if Soy beans, the rest in cowpeas. I hope it rains. Never planted soy beans before.

I have another plot in our other section I planted in late May, Red Ripper Cowpeads, about an acre, maybe more all together. They came up good, but haven't check on them in a while. I will next weekend. They may be ate down and need to be replanted. I plan to buy more seeds, red ripper peas do well in Sandy soil, which we have in East Texas.

 

[3Ts]

Why are the deer in the south so small?

The deer here in Maine are big deer, if one had a rack like the pictures here it would be 275lbs.. It's a mystery to me why the deer aren't bigger in the south, you would think with easier winters they would be able to eat grass longer and keep summer weight longer into winter..IDK..

From: White-tailed deer - Wikipedia
The white-tailed deer is highly variable in size, generally following Bergmann's rule that the average size is larger farther away from the Equator. North American male deer (also known as a buck) usually weigh 68 to 136 kg (150 to 300 lb),[9] but mature bucks over 180 kg (400 lb) have been recorded in the northernmost reaches of their native range, specifically, Minnesota and Ontario.

The Florida Key deer are quite small. Also from wikipedia: Key deer - Wikipedia
This deer can be recognized by its characteristic size, smaller than all other white-tailed deer. Adult males (known as bucks) usually weigh 25-34 kg (55-75 lb) and stand about 76 cm (30 in) tall at the shoulder.

IDK, but I've heard that it has more to do with body heat. In cold climates stocky builds retain heat better than skinny ones, in hot climates, skinny ones can shed heat better than stocky ones.

 

[atsah]

From: White-tailed deer - Wikipedia
The white-tailed deer is highly variable in size, generally following Bergmann's rule that the average size is larger farther away from the Equator. North American male deer (also known as a buck) usually weigh 68 to 136 kg (150 to 300 lb),[9] but mature bucks over 180 kg (400 lb) have been recorded in the northernmost reaches of their native range, specifically, Minnesota and Ontario.

The Florida Key deer are quite small. Also from wikipedia: Key deer - Wikipedia
This deer can be recognized by its characteristic size, smaller than all other white-tailed deer. Adult males (known as bucks) usually weigh 25-34 kg (55-75 lb) and stand about 76 cm (30 in) tall at the shoulder.

IDK, but I've heard that it has more to do with body heat. In cold climates stocky builds retain heat better than skinny ones, in hot climates, skinny ones can shed heat better than stocky ones.

Sounds about right..

 

[EddieWalker]

Great pics of some really nice bucks. I've cut and sprayed my food plot, but wont do anything else until the heat breaks and we get some rain. It's a dust bowl right now and it's up to Mother Nature on when things get better.

 

[Shaneard]

I planted 50 lbs of buckwheat Saturday. Hope it does good, never tried it before.

 

[bunyip]

Oxymoron, we have several species of deer and they are considered vermin as they are an introduced species yet there is a hunting season for them and you need a licence to shoot them and a minimum size calibre to hunt them legally, .245 comes to mind but I am not a shooter before you shoot me down.
Smallest deer is the hog deer at about 18-24" high.