I'd probably be about the same as you 120-125+.

A trophy TN deer to me is the one I shoot after doing the following;

Spend all winter scouting public land that is very remote and has a relativelly small deer herd.

Run many, many miles all summer long, so I can be in the best shape I can be in too hunt the mountains that I enjoy.

Shoot my gun and bow regularly so I am proficient with my weapon.

Get up on opening morning before all the other yahoos and climb the mountain so I can be in my saddle when everyone else hits the woods.

Make a good shot on a nice buck and have it on the ground and gutted by 8:00 AM.





A trophy out-of-state (Ohio) buck for me is one with big antlers.



Let me rephase that. I meant to say HUGE antlers. I don't travel out of state to shoot mature deer. I go to shoot deer with big racks.

I would say a trophy deer in Tn is 150 or better.When you say the word trophy you think of a deer you don't get very often.100-125 class deer are good deer but not a trophy in my book.

But like I've said before its more about the hunt than how much the antlers score.I've shot some small deer that mean more to me than some of the bigger deer.

EVERY deer is a trophy to me.

I consider any deer I choose to kill a "trophy".
Some are better trophies than others.

Regarding "trophy" bucks, I'm looking first for age.
In most circumstances, I've been able to determine "mature" (or not) quicker than I could guess antler score. This is done quickly usually just by seeing a buck's neck. I love large antlers as much as anyone. That's part of why I focus on age first, as I want to particularly protect most those large-antlered young bucks so they can grow into larger-antlered older bucks.

Just for me personally,
"any" buck 3 1/2 or older is an acceptable trophy, anywhere in TN.
I specifically hunt for 4 1/2 or older bucks, partly so if I make a mistake, hopefully that mistake will still be at least a 3 1/2.

By focusing more on age, there's little chance I'll take out one of those top-end 2 1/2's, as for me personally, a large-antlered 2 1/2 is just the opposite of a "trophy" buck. And for you hunters who are really wanting larger antlers, those "nice" 2 1/2's are the best bucks NOT to kill.

But I'll tell you something many of you will not understand, and some will not believe.

I've come to consider a fully mature doe a better "trophy" than most bucks. Keep in mind that in the places I'm hunting, female deer are targeted as much or more as bucks, and the female deer are typically more hunter wary. This doesn't mean I'm not hunting for mature bucks, just that I'm finding more satisfaction in taking a mature doe over a younger buck, and more challenge in hunting a mature doe over a buck of any age.

Where do you hunt in Knoxville Tom?

I have a few small areas of land in south Knox co. and 1800 acres in Sevier co. (mountains)

your lucky to have them.I live here and drive several hours to hunt because i don't have any land to hunt here.kind of sucks to drive that far when we have good hunting here.

Well I tell you what, I'm not a greedy man and could maybe help you out with a local hunt here or there. I hunt mature bucks only here but don't care what you chose to shoot. It will have no affect on my deer hunting outcomes. This may be only a once or twice oppurtunity in knoxville area but Sevierville is different story. But it is diffulcult hunting terrain and that is putting it lightly. I mainly use that area for turkeys. Its full of turkeys. Deer become much more diffulcult to find. Normally I prefer to hunt low deer population areas as they can be the easiest to score on mature bucks (JMO). But the mountain area and its extreme terrain really put a whooping on you to just find those natural food sources that they use consistentily. There is so much browse that it becomes hard to find the area they are in. If your not where the deer are, well there always a chance you might see some turkeys! ....No shooting my knoxville does without "ok" first. Bucks are wide open shoot what you desire. But I can say that these are truly mature buck areas between Nov 3rd- 20th. Almost like clockwork. I will be in Illinois 13th-19th.

Don't rabbit hunt but we can certainly meet. Do you by chance play golf?

If you hunt the mountains of east TN where I do, and define your term of what a trophy is in a measurement of inches, then you are going to be disappionted. I just measured the 2 racks I have in my office here. The first one is a 3.5 year old buck I killed a couple years ago, It scores 74 and 4/8th inches. The other is a 4.5 year old that scores and even 89". Both of these are just as much a trophy to me as my 200" Ohio deer.

I have a few good friends who live near or in these "top-end" Counties. More than once they have requested a visit with me up North. My reply is that they are welcome but that they will gain NOTHING in antler size or age by leaving some of these top end Counties. Most Tn. hunters simply do not know how good (and different) it is in some of the (Nashville) Basin Counties.

If you can acquire good land in the Nashville Basin, there is no need to go to KY for antlers. The Nashville Basin produces bucks that can rival bucks from anywhere.

but those that cant need to figure out what the true top end bucks in the area they hunt in actually is,,and need to learn to be satisfied with anything that is say 75-80% of that top end,,if not they will only make themselves miserable,,

if you are fishing a lake that has a couple 10 pound fish,why would you expect to catch one that weighs 12 pounds,,you should be tickled with an 8 pounder,,IMO

If using score as a measuring stick for a TN trophy, I'd say it would be around 140 somewhere.

EVERY deer is a trophy to me.

I agree with Winchester. For me, in West Tn. with a bow, any Pope and Young, 125 is a shooter. With a gun, I would set my goal at 140. A goal of 140 can be done, but private or public its still very tough. I believe any where in Tn. a large factor of taking one is luck. The bottom line, you've got to be where one is to begin with.

BSK, what year was your pic taken with the huge buck in it? Just wondering if anyone got him or is he still walking? He's defitnitly a hoss.

HAVING true trophy bucks in the area is one thing. Being able to kill them is a completely different story, especially if those bucks are 5 1/2 or older. Those are truly tough nuts to crack...

. . . . . we set our sights on huntable trophies, deer that can be killed using strategy and skill, with a little luck mixed in.

This formula points primarily to 3.5 yrs. old bucks--any older, and luck seems to be the biggest factor.

HAVING true trophy bucks in the area is one thing. Being able to kill them is a completely different story, especially if those bucks are 5 1/2 or older. Those are truly tough nuts to crack...

Totally agree.


TOTALLY DISAGREE.

If you want to kill a lot of 4 1/2 and older bucks,
the main aspect of that "formula" is as simple as passing up bucks that are 3 1/2 and younger. This is not so much a "luck" formula as it is a "mindset" formula. Nor does this really require some new "skill set" over regularly taking 3 1/2-yr-old bucks. It just takes the mindset to pass up the 3 1/2's you COULD take, but CHOOSE not to take.

The main reason so many people "think" so much luck is involved is mainly because they would never pass up a 3 1/2-yr-old buck (unless of course he had unusually small antlers). Yet only by regularly doing that can you come to see how those mature bucks so often are simply just back in the shadows, letting a younger 3 1/2-yr-old buck kinda "check things out" before the old man steps out. Not to mention, by passing up 3 1/2's, you help create more "huntable" populations of 4 1/2's.

Likewise, if you're not seeing a "huntable" number of 3 1/2's,
it could be as simple a solution as your doing nothing more than passing up more 2 1/2's. Not saying this is always the case, just that I've seen it be the #1 reason for most hunters not seeing more bucks in the next age class.


While I'm not totally disagreeing with you, I think the hunting skills necessary to consistently take mature bucks is being overstated.

Any hunter who is consistently having harvest opportunities at 3 1/2-yr-old bucks has the necessary hunting skills to be consistently having harvest opportunities at mature bucks. Granted, the older they are, generally the more elusive they are, but the difference is not as great as some are implying.

IMO, an analysis of the buck harvest (and that being "archery only") at President's Island proves my thinking. Not only is the hunter success rate exceptionally high there, but the average age of the harvested bucks is 4 1/2 and older.

No one should ever expect to see as many 4 1/2's as 3 1/2's, nor 5 1/2's as 4 1/2's, as we should never expect there to be as many another year older available, no matter what we do. But, BSK, if YOU really want to begin seeing more 5 1/2's, the best strategy is not luck, but rather simply YOUR deciding to pass on more 4 1/2's. You may not WANT to do that, but that's the best way to start seeing more 5 1/2's.

By not killing any 3.5 s in the past several years (not by passing up, but by failing to), we have not seen increasing numbers of 4.5 s. . . . . . bucks 4.5 and older seem to dissappear. Rarely do we get pictures of them . . . .

IMO, an analysis of the buck harvest (and that being "archery only") at President's Island proves my thinking. Not only is the hunter success rate exceptionally high there, but the average age of the harvested bucks is 4 1/2 and older.

In our observations, and I know this is anecdotal, bucks 4.5 and older seem to dissappear. Rarely do we get pictures of them, and very rarely do we see one while hunting. I think that at 4.5 and definitely any older than that, bucks in our area behave very differently and are absolutely intolerant of the same pressure that a 3.5 yrs. old might tolerate. Therefore, if our sole objective was to kill these truly older and more savvy bucks, then we would definitely have to alter our tactics.

A Trophy is in the eyes of the beholder .......

A Trophy is in the eyes of the beholder .......

I have a few small areas of land in south Knox co. and 1800 acres in Sevier co. (mountains)

In the 1940s, men were more than happy to get one of these:



Notice, though, the sophisticated clothing and scopes.

That's my Pappaw on the left, who shot this buck in Cement, MO in the late 1940s.

In the 1940s, men were more than happy to get one of these:



Notice, though, the sophisticated clothing and scopes.

That's my Pappaw on the left, who shot this buck in Cement, MO in the late 1940s.

Very cool picture!

That's funny because I didn't think you could kill a trophy buck without the new mossy oak camo, scent killer, a food plot, trail cams, a summit tree stand, muck boots, under armor, a new z-71, a new yamaha rhino, and browning white gold medallion 300 wsm with a swaravski scope! That's how you kill a deer!!!