Tough Year. Still Managed Some Luck and Success

[PSEhunter]

I do not know any actual statistics, but just from hunting both my entire life, and from talking to buddies, hearsay, etc. As well as helping the local taxidermist in town.. I can sit in the woods in WV at most of my hunting spots and expect to see 15-25 deer if I sit daylight til dark. Of which, 3 may have horns, and the biggest will be a 4 or 5 point. Where I hunt at in Ohio, I am LUCKY to see 4-5 deer the whole weekend, but if I do, theres a good chance I see a shooter. Living on the border of WV, around the Parkersburg area, everyyybooddyyy is always trying to find land to lease, or opportunities to drive up north and hunt in Ohio. The 8 point this year I took was the first deer I've killed wider than 12" in WV.. Ive killed 4 bucks in Ohio, of which the smallest was 15" inside.. I'm sure some people reading this will argue facts, numbers of [I]reported[I] kills, etc. This is just my (the locals in this areas consensus) opinion, so take it for what its worth.

[mrbb]

well since i used to hunt WVm Ohio, and live in PA
pending how old you are, WV currently where I hunt, near Harrisonville, near SE ohio, its like again PA was in the boom of it deer herd like late 80's early 90's
when we had tons of deer, just very very few deer past the gae of 2.5, it was nothing to see deer just about any place you went
and in WV where I hunted(7-8 yrs, last time in 2010 ) about any place I sat in the weeds I seen deer, with most being doe or small bucks, and a decent 100+ inch buck being on the rarer side of things, due mostly I say because like in PA< folks just wanted to say they killed a buck, and not so much cared if it was a big one or not
the area I hunted was timbered all over and thus just had/has a ton of cover and great browse, fairly remote area, with a few farms here and there and not a ton of hunting pressure, I was on like a 1500 acre private tract, that maybe had 3 guys hunting it!
so deer numbers were very high, and all the borders of the land, was hunted very hard by neighbors, thus killing a lot of younger bucks, with every yr I hunted it bucks getting better and better
WV has a ton of deer, it it something like 10 times more likely to have a deer vehicle collision than any other state out there, which I bet helps keep numbers in check some(sadly), driving thru WV to Ohio, some yrs I have counted over a 100+ dead deer on the side of the road, in the few miles I ran thru it to get to Ohio, and many many close calls on hitting many too every yr!
PA glory yrs were like this to, but since the state and most private lands got so over browsed and lack of cover and thus food, the state started very liberal kills, and thus now here in PA< were getting closer to Ohio in quality(still far to go, but as close as ever)
PA and WV, have as TON less AG lands/farm lands, poorer soil quality on a whole, and as such, its also a reason we have smaller racked bucks in most places, it would more or less take a PA, WV deer more yrs to reach a same sized rack(some area's have better in both states) but on an average, soils add up to quality of deer too, something many hunters I feel miss understand
just food alone won't grow monster bucks, its a combo of good soil, food, age, and genitic's, when the srats align things can happen

so that's my opinion on why WV and Ohio are different places to hunt
its quality of soils, gens of deer, and food they get to eat
again on an average, as both Ohio and WV have area's of better and poorer soils and etc.

One other thing I think also that is HUGE deal to me, is the fact that MANY MANY MANY hunters in Ohio, know there are big bucks about, so,many are much more willing to leave smaller one's walk
in places like PA< and in WV where I hunted, like my hunting cabin for an example, its a 50+ yr hunting cabin, of 50+ yrs of deer hunting, with about starting of with about 10 guys and now about 40 in all
and in the first 30+ yrs no one ever even seen a buck in the 120's, simply cause thee just wasn't any or if any very very far and few
so no one would hold out for a big buck, cause they just didn't have any really to hold out for
and thus, you ended up with generations of hunters that just killed the first legal buck they seen
and that is still a huge problem in PA
still tons of generations of old time hunters that still feel that way, and that also is why many area in PA still suffer from few and far between big bucks
In Ohio, every area I have hunted, in the short period of time, say a week, or less, I have always seen 120+ class bucks in a hunt, may never have got one, but seen them
so I had less desire to kill a small buck, cause I knew bigger were about
hunt 15-20 yrs in pa and never even see a 120 class buck
and you lower your standards pretty fast LOL
you can poll hunters in PA< any one that has been at it for more than 20 yrs, and I would bet a ton of $$ that says if any have ever seen a 150 inch buck it has MAYBE been in the last 4-5 yrs, and any others before that were in other states LOL
not many folks in Ohio can say the same, I am willing to bet any hunter in ohio that has been hunting for more than 5 yrs can say they seen a 150 class buck, again, maybe not killed it, but you seen one, and know there about
PA's antler restrictions is the only reason we have started to get bigger bucks, had that not happened, we would still be killing 90% spiker's and 1.5 yr old bucks!

[PSEhunter]

mrbb your post hits the nail on the head, entirely. I just didnt go as in depth. Also, Ohios laws are much more strict. In WV, you get 3 bucks (legally), as a common hunter, assuming you dont even own any land. I can kill one with my buck, one wiht my rifle, and buy an additional stamp. Thus, compounding all factors such as less good soil, rack size, amount of deer, etc, any time a buck that even scores 70-80 walks in front of a hunter, he shoots it. The average middle class to old West Virginian just wants to be able to walk into work the following week, and brag about killing a buck, that may only be 11-12 inches wide. Why not shoot that buck an hour into opening morning? Go home, watch sports. and Go back out Tuesday morning and shoot another the same size!?!.. I am only 22, so I may have have the plethora of knowledge as an older "savvy" hunter. But as stated in my earlier post, everybodys goal is to cross the border and hunt for the big boys in Ohio.