Buck weight (field dressed) - what's a "big one" in NY

[2012_taco]

Cheap scales are just that, cheap. But it's still better than guessing! I cut up a small doe for a friend last year and He guessed the weight at 80-90 lbs. I asked if he wanted me to weigh it, he said no don;t bother. Well i threw it on the scale after he left it weighed 55 lbs! Yes it was a small doe. 

[jjb4900]

I would think around 165ish and up is a big deer.......you start hitting 200lbs+ and that's a huge deer for NY, and that's dressed.

Edited September 20, 2016 by jjb4900

[Lawdwaz]

13 hours ago, jjb4900 said:

do it anyway.......

Seems to me that the average dressed weight of bucks in WNY (according to my success) are increasing.  I've killed a few over 160lbs and two over 200lbs in the past 8 years or so.  It makes dragging and butchering more work.....

204lbs last fall......

217lbs in 2009.....

182lbs in 2012......

 

Edited September 20, 2016 by Lawdwaz

[nyantler]

A late season 200 lb. buck in NY is an absolute giant... those of you that have actually seen a 200 pounder or above know what I'm talking about, but many of the big racker's can be 150 and up depending on what part of the season it is. A 165 lb buck in late Nov. or Dec. could have been 200 when the season started. I'm sure some of you have seen a late season buck that you have a hard time hanging in the garage without his nose still rubbing the concrete floor, yet he only weighs in at 160. Probably a buck that lost much of his body weigh chasing the ladies the last few months.

[phade]

I've only ever shot one over 200lbs dressed.

I find most 2.5 and 3.5 tend to be in that 160-185 range in bow. The bucks that weigh over 185 after the rut are usually older class bucks who were not super active in the rut.

[bugsNbows]

The biggest I have ever personally seen was a 210# 10pt. taken near Prattsburg in Steuben. The lucky hunter was on a drive, and he jumped the buck and shot it. My own best weighed about 165 on a hanging spring scale. 

[Doewhacker]

12 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I did not have a scale up there, but I am 5'-11" tall and weight 200 lbs.  With a rope thru a pulley, I was able to lift my feet off the ground while this 8-point's rear-end was still planted on the ground in the shed.    We had to hook my father-in-law's 4-wheeler on the rope to pull him up.  I killed him 2 years ago, midway thru rifle season, on private land just off the NW edge of the Adirondack park.   Assuming a bit for friction on the pulley, I would guess his dressed weight at around 210 lbs.   He had to be considerably heavier than the heaviest one I ever killed in the southern zone (weighed 178 lbs on the scale), based on the amount of freezer space the boned out meat took up.      

150ish pound 2.5 yr old all day long. Enough with the happy age and weight estimates. We weigh every deer we take and have for years, I can say with no uncertainty that ain't a 210 pound deer. 

[Lawdwaz]

48 minutes ago, Doewhacker said:

150ish pound 2.5 yr old all day long. Enough with the happy age and weight estimates. We weigh every deer we take and have for years, I can say with no uncertainty that ain't a 210 pound deer. 

You CAN'T guess on these deer..........you must use a scale.

Like 2012_taco said, a cheap scale isn't good.  My uncle had a Cabela's brand scale that was consistently 5-10 pounds higher than our other older scale.  We hung a guy from a strap and checked both........(not gutted)

Edited September 20, 2016 by Lawdwaz

[The_Real_TCIII]

I bought a cheap scale last year, my rifle buck weighed 182
If I remember correctly. However I hung a three year old tom from that scale and it read 9lbs so I don't know what's going on with it


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[moog5050]

25 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

I bought a cheap scale last year, my rifle buck weighed 182
If I remember correctly. However I hung a three year old tom from that scale and it read 9lbs so I don't know what's going on with it


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Never mind

Edited September 20, 2016 by moog5050

[covert]

My heaviest was 175lb scaled from 5H, next was 165 scaled from 6p.  Most have been 120 - 135 lb.

[Fletch]

We use a scale on all our deer. It is not an expensive one and we calibrate it before and after to make sure the readings are pretty accurate. I like to figure out what age classes average in the areas we hunt. How the averages change over time and what may be the cause......It also makes you a lot better judge of what deer weigh by looking at them. And you can figure out what you should yield in meat.

[Buckmaster7600]

We weigh every buck we shoot, at my house in NZ the average 3 1/2, 4 1/2 yr old bucks weigh 165-190. I haven't shot a buck that weighed under 165 in a bunch of years and only 1 weighed over 200 and that was shot on the last day of NZ rifle and was only a 5pt


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[dbHunterNY]

I agree with others that you have to weigh the deer on a scale.  that scale also has to be verified accurate.  I use free weight plates to check my Moultie big game scale in the range a deer would be.  I've shot two doe the same weekend.  one well over 8.5 years old and the other 3.5 yrs old.  the older one looked the size of a horse.  just a large frame though with not much else.  the older one weighed 95lbs dressed and the younger one much smaller in frame weighed 133lbs dressed.  bucks change a lot depending on when their harvested in the season (how much fat they've burned off).  right around the beginning of gun season anything over 175lbs dressed is a likely to be a nice buck weight wise.

[Lawdwaz]

2 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

I've shot two doe the same weekend.  one well over 8.5 years old and the other 3.5 yrs old.  the older one looked the size of a horse.  just a large frame though with not much else.  the older one weighed 95lbs dressed and the younger one much smaller in frame weighed 133lbs dressed. 

Wow!

Who aged those doe for you?

[Steuben Jerry]

230+ lbs dressed in 2015.

I've been working pretty hard since then and am about 188 just out of the shower.

Do I have the right thread?

[dbHunterNY]

32 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Wow!

Who aged those doe for you?

myself and 2nd opinion from a whitetail biologist who has a lot of verified experience doing it.  those specifically weren't sent into the lab for cementum annuli analysis but we randomly send some in to back check the methods to the madness.  which reminds me I was going to start up a thread and post one every so often.  anything from fawn to well the 13.5 yr old I just got a CA report back on.

....to clarify the older doe was a guess.  why I said 8.5 yr old.  anything 5.5-6.5+ is worn to the point where most of the hard portions of the teeth aren't worn right down so it might vary a bit.  we'd send teeth to the lab at that point if we really wanted to pin down an exact age.  for management purposes knowing a doe is 4.5+ though is good enough for us.  anything thought to be at least 3.5 yr old for bucks we're going to try to send in.  in can get expensive though.

Edited September 20, 2016 by dbHunterNY

[The_Real_TCIII]

Never mind

?

[moog5050]

2 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

?

Thought is was a 3 year old buck that weighed 9lbs but reread it and the joke wasn't near as funny with a turkey if it was even funny in the first place. 

[nyslowhand]

Oh yeah, the further you drag them, the more weight they gain!

[Buckmaster7600]

Oh yeah, the further you drag them, the more weight they gain!

That's a fact my adk buck from last year I would have put my savings account on it breaking 200 after dragging for a couple miles. Ended up only being a little over 170 after hanging for 3 days.


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[The_Real_TCIII]

Thought is was a 3 year old buck that weighed 9lbs but reread it and the joke wasn't near as funny with a turkey if it was even funny in the first place. 

Wasn't a joke at all, just pointing out that my new cheap scale is faulty or I killed a three year old tom that only weighed nine pounds. I'm thinking it's the former


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[moog5050]

5 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Wasn't a joke at all, just pointing out that my new cheap scale is faulty or I killed a three year old tom that only weighed nine pounds. I'm thinking it's the former


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No no, I made a joke and then edited it by deleting it and adding never mind.  Sorry for the confusion.  Just ignore it. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Lol no worries. The point is my turkey obviously weighed 34lbs and the buck 275lbs


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[TreeGuy]

myself and 2nd opinion from a whitetail biologist who has a lot of verified experience doing it.  those specifically weren't sent into the lab for cementum annuli analysis but we randomly send some in to back check the methods to the madness.  which reminds me I was going to start up a thread and post one every so often.  anything from fawn to well the 13.5 yr old I just got a CA report back on.

....to clarify the older doe was a guess.  why I said 8.5 yr old.  anything 5.5-6.5+ is worn to the point where most of the hard portions of the teeth aren't worn right down so it might vary a bit.  we'd send teeth to the lab at that point if we really wanted to pin down an exact age.  for management purposes knowing a doe is 4.5+ though is good enough for us.  anything thought to be at least 3.5 yr old for bucks we're going to try to send in.  in can get expensive though.

13.5 !!!??? Come on ! I almost don't believe it !