mature bucks

What Makes Deer Grow Larger in Some Areas?

Apr 15, 2026 Mark Turner

Most deer hunters learn early in their hunting career that some locations produce larger deer than others. Hunters in Iowa and Kansas, for example, have a much different impression of what constitutes a big buck…

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Shoot or Pass This Buck? New Wisconsin Study Paints a Portrait of the Picky Deer Hunter

Mar 25, 2026 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Between the sound of the alarm clock and the punching of a buck tag, there’s a series of decisions for every deer hunter. Do I go hunting today? Yes. Is that a deer I see?…

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New States Climb into the Top-10 in Mature Buck Harvest

Mar 11, 2026 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

I keep thinking whitetail hunters can’t get any more selective when it comes to buck harvest, and then every year when NDA’s Deer Report compiles all the data from around the nation – we do….

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Deer Report: Doe Harvest Jumps, Mature Buck Harvest Sets Another Record

Jan 9, 2026 NDA Staff

U.S. deer hunters gave the antlerless deer harvest a much-needed boost in the 2024-25 season, putting the total back above 3 million for only the third time in 11 years and ahead of the antlered…

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Don’t Be Afraid to Call an Audible When Hunting Mature Bucks

Nov 12, 2025 Cole Gander

For many hunters across the whitetail’s range, the rut represents the best time to be in the deer woods and provides the best opportunity all season to fill a tag on a mature buck. Buck…

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3 Habitat Strategies That Produced 3 Mature Bucks in One Season

Sep 24, 2025 Kip Adams

The number 16 conjures positive images and memories for nearly everyone. However, in this case I’m not referring to a special birthday party or select round of hoops during March Madness. Rather, 16 is a…

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The 10 Best States for Mature Buck Harvest Have a New Leader

Aug 27, 2025 Kip Adams

Deer hunters are taking historically high numbers of bucks in recent years, but amazingly the age structure of those bucks just keeps getting older. In the 2023 season, the most recent with complete harvest data…

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The Most Important Building Blocks of Big Whitetail Bucks

Aug 20, 2025 Matt Ross

Despite the fact today’s hunters pursue some of the highest densities of mature bucks in history, big whitetail bucks are still an uncommon sight. Specimens of male deer with above-average antlers are not the norm, which is just…

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4 Reasons Mature Bucks Are Critical to Deer Herd Health and Hunting

Jan 8, 2025 Kip Adams

Mature bucks can take your breath away. Whether it’s a frosty fall morning in the woods or a summer evening in an alfalfa field, the mere glimpse of a mature buck will make your heart…

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Why Bucks “Vanish” When They Are Tending Does, and How to Find Them

Nov 6, 2024 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

I’ve been hunting deer for 40 years, and I’ve never seen it. Only a few of the veteran deer hunters I know have seen it, and even those encounters were fleeting glimpses. Many wildlife biologists…

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