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Nutterbuster Spreads(sheets) It Wide Open

sureshot said:
I'd argue you're better off looking at hunting population vs total state population. WI has so many bucks because they have so many hunters. Here's what it looks like when you replace population with hunters: https://www.fws.gov/wsfrprograms/subpages/licenseinfo/Natl Hunting License Report 2020.pdf
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A few things. Populaton and hunting license sales are both imperfect. Population because obviously everybody doesn't hunt so it's not a perfect indicator of hunting pressure. But hunting license sales aren't perfect either because not everybody has a deer license (some may have waterfowl or small game) and the areas with higher out-of-state hunter numbers probably have them because the hunting is good.

Also, areas with high population density likely have less hunting land. If you can play the urban game, that's great. But most of us can't so I still think it's possible as valuable or more valuable than license sales. But both are valuable and should be considered since you've magnanimously added it to the hive mind.

For most people who aren't destination states, i don't think there's an issue making decisions on either number.
 
eddiegomes83 said:
When you got to drag these things out of the florida swamps you are glad that they are dog sized.
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I don’t know man. I’ve drug 250+ lbs hogs through the swamp all the way back to the truck or boat because it got too dark to process… I think I could live with my deer weight 150 or better lol this 95 -110 lbs ain’t cutting it for bucket contests lol
 
@Nutterbuster I know the only numbers you have to work with are the ones released by each state. Do you really think Alabama has more deer and one third the hunters but less bucks? We’re not that far apart. I wouldn’t think the soil would be that much different.
 
EricS said:
@Nutterbuster I know the only numbers you have to work with are the ones released by each state. Do you really think Alabama has more deer and one third the hunters but less bucks? We’re not that far apart. I wouldn’t think the soil would be that much different.
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3 words. Mississippi flood plain.

And yes. I've looked at Mississippi and Alabama very closely and have data from state-specific trophy record keeping organizations in each state. And I worked for 4 years with a Mississippi boy who grew up in Alabama and had decades of experience in both areas. Mississippi on average is better than Alabama on average, and if you isolate the top 10% areas in each state the difference becomes magnified.
 
He ca
EricS said:
@Nutterbuster I know the only numbers you have to work with are the ones released by each state. Do you really think Alabama has more deer and one third the hunters but less bucks? We’re not that far apart. I wouldn’t think the soil would be that much different.
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He can’t account for you poachers lol
I would think other large variables would actually be people who illegally hunt, deer hit on the road but never reported and also farmers who shoot them to keep them out of their crops… those would be factors that wild life management cannot truly account for
 
Nutterbuster said:
3 words. Mississippi flood plain.

And yes. I've looked at Mississippi and Alabama very closely and have data from state-specific trophy record keeping organizations in each state. And I worked for 4 years with a Mississippi boy who grew up in Alabama and had decades of experience in both areas. Mississippi on average is better than Alabama on average, and if you isolate the top 10% areas in each state the difference becomes magnified.
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I’m in Georgia
 
Nutterbuster said:
A few things. Populaton and hunting license sales are both imperfect. Population because obviously everybody doesn't hunt so it's not a perfect indicator of hunting pressure. But hunting license sales aren't perfect either because not everybody has a deer license (some may have waterfowl or small game) and the areas with higher out-of-state hunter numbers probably have them because the hunting is good.

Also, areas with high population density likely have less hunting land. If you can play the urban game, that's great. But most of us can't so I still think it's possible as valuable or more valuable than license sales. But both are valuable and should be considered since you've magnanimously added it to the hive mind.

For most people who aren't destination states, i don't think there's an issue making decisions on either number.
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I agree neither are perfect.

Here's another thought - how about adding public land available per state - https://www.nrcm.org/documents/publiclandownership.pdf
For instance Iowa has ~500,000 acres and WI has 35 million.
 
EricS said:
I’m in Georgia
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Sorry. Brain fart. Thought we were still talking about Mississippi.

Georgia is an interesting state. I know y'all were the first to start a WMA program...what's your buck limit and antler restrictions been historically? Alabama shot itself in the foot from a trophy perspective by allowing a buck a day for decades.

You're heavily populated at first glance but when you break it down county-by-county Atlanta and it's 1 million folks are skewing the crap out of that number. I've driven through a fair chunk of Georgia and it's very rural. Most of your bucks are coming from 20 of your 160 counties. A lot come from that suburb area in Atlanta.

If you dive into the nitty-gritty (which I have) I think y'all have a leg-up on us in some areas but it's not a wide lead and it's only in a few counties. I would rather hunt Georgia than Florida, but I'd hunt Tennessee and Mississippi before I hunted Georgia. Georgia to me is not worth an out-of-state license for public land unless I had a hook-up. I'd definitely capitalize on somebody who could put me on a parking lot buck.

It's important to note the data is extremely useful for getting a grasp of relative hunting quality across the country. But there's more value to be had looking county-by-county and then focusing in on specific areas in those counties. It's a starting line, not a finish line. But a lot of people are starting at the finish line, hence their low success rates.
 
sureshot said:
I agree neither are perfect.

Here's another thought - how about adding public land available per state - https://www.nrcm.org/documents/publiclandownership.pdf
For instance Iowa has ~500,000 acres and WI has 35 million.
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I think it's a good idea as long as people can realize that public land does not equal hunting land. Here in Alabama we can't really hunt any county or municipal properties and a lot of state and federal land is no-hunting.

I have very detailed info on public land for a few counties in Alabama. But I personally think that's data to dive into after you've picked a state and the top 10 or so counties.
 
Nutterbuster said:
For sure only a fraction of bucks actually get reported in any given state or county. But unless you can look me in the eye and tell me exactly why people in Wisconsin are 10 times more likely to report deer than people in Kentucky, they're useful for making comparisons between regions.

I know you're smarter than that, so I'm going to assume you just don't want people realizing Pennsylvania has a poper on record for every 24 square miles. Too late!! Secret's out! Pennsylvania is decent hunting! Party at elkyinzer's house!
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I live in Wisconsin. I know many people who’ve taken P&Y bucks but only know if one person that registered one for P&Y.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
sdoyle1 said:
I live in Wisconsin. I know many people who’ve taken P&Y bucks but only know if one person that registered one for P&Y.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Yeah but I would think that you can apply that same logic to all states. So assume all states have roughly the same percentage of people that don't register their py after they kill one. Should be a wash for the most part.
 
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