Are you planning to deer hunt out of state next fall? As leasing prices soar in Midwestern states, you may want to look at other parts of the country, like Rhode Island or Oklahoma?
Lindsay Thomas, of the National Deer Association, keeps 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. Once again, the average percentage of yearling bucks in the national buck harvest has fallen to a new record low of 23%, down from the previous floor of 26% set the prior season. That means the percentage of older bucks climbed: Mature bucks, or all those 3½ or older, made up an estimated 46% of the 2024 buck harvest, up from 43%, and a new record.
Could we see mature bucks representing half of the national buck harvest in the near future? Since I didn’t think we’d get to 46%, I won’t make a prediction. The amazing thing to remember about this figure is that it is not just a percentage. The total buck harvest remains at an all-time high of over 3 million, only the third time this century (26 years) it’s been at this level. So, in actual numbers of deer, hunters are taking more mature bucks than at any time in history.
How Does Your State Stack Up?
This NDA report shows the states with the most mature buck harvests as well as the states with the most 1/1/2- year-old harvests, and I’m not proud to say that Maryland leads the region in that latter category. “Hunting where big bucks thrive” is a major component of any big buck strategy, and this report shows where they live and, in some cases, why that exists. For the complete details, click here.
