How do you get big deer.
 

As a joke I asked my dad why the hell cant our deer look like the ones in all the TV shows in Texas, Nebraska, and Kansas. Is it possible to get deer on your land to be that big regardless of where you live? Do I need to plant food plots year round? What else can I do to grow trophy deer other than the obvious, which is let anything under 8 points walk. Im just sick of killing 130-140 pound deer with small racks. But if I dont kill those then I wouldnt kill anything cause thats all there is. Should I just shoot nothing but does and cow horns for the next few years?

There are so many factors involved in creating big bucks where none exist would be very costly and unless you can control a large property you will simply waste a ton of money. Low antler quality usually results from over population and low nutrition. Based upon the above, unless you can travel/hunt where trophy bucks are naturally found, then I'd be content shooting whatever is available in your area. Trophy hunting is for trophy hunters, 95% of hunters are tag fillers. Take a look at some of the guys planting for deer and look at the equipment they are running, pretty good investments involved. Can you sink that kind of money into your property?

Your location says South Carolina... typically the further south you go, the smaller the deer are. TYPICALLY. It seems like the only way to get those monster these days is to allow those 3 1/2 y/o 8's to walk and have enough land to keep them interested and coming back.

I'd suggest taking HM's advice. Any deer I shoot is a trophy to me!

Good Luck and post up some pics of your harvests, we'd love to see them...

As already mentioned, not all places have huge trophy potential and lots of huge bucks walking about. Please take this next statement for what it's worth and it's not meant to be rude whatsoever. I personally think that the state of S.C. does not do it's hunters any good, when talking big deer, in the way it runs your seasons.

I've only hunted hogs in S.C., not deer, but from what I know your season is about the longest in the nation (starting in August?) and continuing non-stop until December or January(?). And this is your gun season! Throughout the entire season both bucks and does are available to harvest and there is no maximum on how many bucks total a hunter can take.(my understanding) Now that's some serious detriment to trophy potential there!

It's a fact that many deer shot as "does" end up being button bucks; zero potential there! Also, many hunters still, today, prefer to shoot only bucks. And when one hunter can legally shoot 15-20-30 bucks in a season....OUCH!! :shocking:

I'm simply voicing an opinion here and by no means demeaning your state or it's hunting; simply explaining that I do not believe that the way they run your seasons helps at all in trophy deer potential. Best of luck through the remainder of the season and I do hope you find yourself a fine trophy animal! :thumbup:

I wish the deer we have were as big as the turkeys. Had 25-30 come out behind my stand the other night. Had one massive gobbler come out last night. Beard was easily 18 inches and the damn thing had the body of an ostrich.

But back to the topic. Money is a non issue. My dad's family were old tobacco farmers so theres more than enough of it to put into hunting. Problem is only recently have we started deer hunting so neither of us really know what to do. Just tell me what to do and it will get done.

We have access to anytype of farming equipment there is because we rotate so many different crops: corn,wheat,cotton,soybeans,peanuts. Also does what we plant for harvest have an impact on making deer larger? I assume soybeans and corn would be the best crops for that.

Also another odd thing is what my dad told me last week. He hunted every single day during highschool and when he was home from college. But it was all birds (quail, doves, ducks). I asked him why he never hunted deer and he said we never had any. Could that be a factor as to why they are so small?

Couple of pics. 2 are deer my trial cam picked up and the other 2 are obviously ones I have shot. Also yes that one is in the trunk of my Cadillac. truck was in the shop. Deer im my trunk was 142 pound 8 point and the one on the 4 wheeler was a 153 pound 7 point.

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First off... I want to see that pic of a gobbler with an 18inch beard! I'm guessing this is an extreme exaggeration?

Secondly, deer love beans big time in the summer and early fall months. They love corn in late fall and all winter. Now, granted, they'll eat either one year round, I'm just going by Missouri deer and what they prefer. Also, they love wheat, they love chickory, they love clover. Just about anything like that they'll eat. Oats is another thing. I'm sure you'll find guys on here that prefer one over all the rest for each of these. Personally, I don't have the time/money/resources to plant food plots so I have to rely on farmers who lease our land to plant the beans and corn each year. I typically hunt over these crops until they are harvested, then I back off and watch from a distance more. This year, they went ahead and did early tilling so pretty much all the corn that was spilt on the ground from combining is GONE.

Nope. Have seen 3-4 this year with at least 15 inch beards. Game cam took a few picks and showed them to a guy who has been turkey hunting for like 15-20 years. All he could say was "Holy $*!%!" Moved my cam to where i been seeing them hope that one from last night comes out again.

SWEET- so that means you can upload them onto here! I want to see! All you have to do is select New Reply! and then hit the attach button.

Thanks!