A lot of us started out deer hunting that way decades ago, but those days are finally over.
According to the National Deer Association’s 2021 Whitetail Report, hunters killed more mature bucks in the 2019-20 season than ever reported. Out of a harvest of 2.9 million bucks, a record 39% of those animals were estimated to be 3½ years of age or older.
“Hunters now shoot far more bucks that are at least 3½ years old than 1½ years,” said Kip Adams, NDA’s Chief Conservation Officer. “That’s a monumental shift in attitude from two decades ago.
“Hunters are clearly reaping the benefits of more naturally balanced age structure in herds across the whitetail’s range.”
Interestingly, all top 5 states with the highest percentage of mature, big-racked bucks in the annual harvest are in the south-central region of the country:
Mississippi (74%), Louisiana (71%), Arkansas (70%), Texas (70%) and Oklahoma (64%).
The NDA’s 2021 Whitetail Report is chock full of cool data like this, click here to download your free copy.