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Nutterbuster Spreads(sheets) It Wide Open

Nutterbuster

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
10,062
Location
Where the skys are so blue!
Let me see if I can get this right.

Population is human population and based on USDA 2019 population estimation. Square mileage is also based on current USDA info. P&Y numbers all obviously pulled from their database. The P&Y number reflects every typical whitetail recorded in that state from last year back to 1908. The mean, median, and mode are all based on the most recent 100 animals harvested in each state except in cases where there were less than 100 deer (looking at you, Vermont). In that case I used all of them. I didn't calculate those figures based on the full data set because holy-crap-are-you-kidding-me-that's-a-lot-of-deer-Wisconsin.


P&Y, Population, Land Area Data for Every State Bordering or East of the Mississippi

REGIONAL EXAMPLES (population and land area data pulled from 2014 American Community Survey. easier for me to pull)

Iowa County-By-County Analysis (Midwestern Region Example)

New Hampshire County-By-County Analysis (Northeastern Region Example)

North Carolina County-By-County Analysis (Southern Region Example)

New York County-By-County Analysis (Middle-Atlantic Region Example)
 
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So butt nuster does that mean infalt has more exposure on how mature bucks behave? Haha just a jest...but does show why the Midwest gets flooded from fellas from the east and south!
 
This is great thanks for taking the time. I'm thinking KY and NY are rising stars as there is a mass exodus of people leaving NY. I didn't see Kansas, Nebraska or Texas on there????
NY is big country. Big bucks bucks, but you cant take on the "sit and wait" tactic. You hike, and hike, and hike some more....like 15 miles a day. Then you drag them out, cause you have to check in the entire deer....
 
Mississippi is right there with AL so I feel your pain. I’ve always said if people from the “big buck” states moved down to one of these southern states they would quit hunting all together.

THP also made one trip to MS couple years ago deer hunting and struggled to even see a deer. Needless to say they haven’t been back since, and they were actually in one of the better public areas in the state.
 
This is great thanks for taking the time. I'm thinking KY and NY are rising stars as there is a mass exodus of people leaving NY. I didn't see Kansas, Nebraska or Texas on there????
I'll try to refrain from saying what I think are sleeper states for fear of people finding out where I live and lynching me when out-of-state trucks show up at the local WMA.

Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas aren't on the list because I pulled data on every state east of or bordering the Mississippi. Had to draw the line somewhere.

@MSbowhunter48 don't be coy with me sir. Mississippi has 300% more bucks on record and 33% fewer hunters. Plus a pretty significant difference between average trophy sizes in the state. All us Alabama boys are about to come shoot y'all's deer!!

For real though, I've done county-by-county analyses of each state. There's a huge variance between the best and worst counties, and honestly most counties in each state are dismal. 0 popers on record. Maybe 10% of each state has decent to very-good hunting. The best Mississippi county is, by the numbers, something like 10 times better than the best Alabama county.

This is the case for a lot of middle-of-the-road or poor states. One area makes the area look better than it is, or a guy with a lease in one county is practically hunting a different world when it comes to opportunity.

Anybody interested in seeing county-by-county breakdowns of a couple states? Maybe one each from the southeast, midwest, east coast, and northeast?

Fair warning before you get in the bus with the "Free Kandy" graffitti. I'm generously sharing this data to hammer home my theory that the difference between smart deer and dumb deer, or good hunters and bad hunters, pales in comparison to the difference between good hunting grounds and bad hunting grounds.
 
I would love to see % of actual book bucks entered. Judging by the people I know around my region, it's very low, I'm guessing single digit % of qualifying bucks make it into books. Does everyone in wisco get their bone measured? Such potential regional difference in booking rates renders these statistics invalid.
 
I would love to see % of actual book bucks entered. Judging by the people I know around my region, it's very low, I'm guessing single digit % of qualifying bucks make it into books. Does everyone in wisco get their bone measured? Such a regional difference in booking rates renders these statistics invalid.
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!
 
I would love to see % of actual book bucks entered. Judging by the people I know around my region, it's very low, I'm guessing single digit % of qualifying bucks make it into books. Does everyone in wisco get their bone measured? Such potential regional difference in booking rates renders these statistics invalid.
I agree with this statement. I've got only two bookers maybe three didn't have one scored officially and I never entered them. I know a lot of guys don't. Still, something like this is a great guide and useful tool.
 
For sure I'd love to see the county by county breakdown for NY, PA, KY, OH. These are my primary areas of interest.
 
I agree with this statement. I've got only two bookers maybe three didn't have one scored officially and I never entered them. I know a lot of guys don't. Still, something like this is a great guide and useful tool.

Heck, Rompola didn't even bother entering his big buck.

But we do with the data we have.
 
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!

We have the best hunting anyone here has ever experienced but it's no Iowa. You can overlay the P&Y maps over soil fertility and it's darned near a perfect match.
 
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