No matter the timing and no matter the method of take, it all comes down to management decisions. If you have only limited and managed rut hunting, you can still have a lot of big bucks. Hell look at Antelope Island or any of the other very limited Rut hunts. It is matter of hunters vs. number of deer.
As some have mentioned we keep getting better at killing animals. With all the technology etc. we have to rely on management to set up the type of animals and age structure we seek. For comparison lets look at 3 states I am familiar with and 3 very different management types. This will be generalization based on my experience and realize that the entire state in eachcase difference etc.
Start with CO.
Limited License for deer statewide both Resident and NR. With very few exceptions 1 deer tag per hunter. the hunter must decided method of take and which season. Archery hunters have a month early in most of the state. Rifle Hunters typically get either 9 or 5 days based on season. A tpyical unit will see one group of hunters in September, A new group the last 1/2 of October for a week, A new croup the first of November and then one last group the middle of November. With the later seasons typically having fewer tags and fewer days. In Colorado they manage quality by limiting both the amount of time you get to hunt and the number of tags allocated.
Wyoming
Unlimited Resident General Tags. Totally Limited NR tags. Residents have a ton of options and on a general tag they can hunt from Sept. 1 into late October. So a 2 month long season is doable if they are willing to jump around the state into different units. The area we hunt as NR is easy to draw. There are tons of hunters on the rifle hunt. Truly a sea of orange experience. The difference is the time of the hunt. One area has a very short 4 day season early in Oct. the other area has a 12 day season. However almost all hunters and tag holders are done by Oct. 15th. in WY the areas we hunt are managed by length of hunt. The unit that is now down to 4 days was once a 10 day hunt, then excessive buck harvest moved it to 7 days and now down to 4. the quality of bucks is still low. Despite the 4 day rifle hunt.During those 4 days there is an ATV in every creek bottom on every ridge, and every place in between. There are huge groups of hunters who will claim every high spot spread over a several mile area looking with $3000 scopes and ready to jump into a $30,000 side by side and chase that one good buck down. In this area the limiting or controlling factor is time.
MT -
Unlimited OTC resident tags good through most of the state. In many areas the Hunter can start archery hunting in late august early Sept. And hunt almost nonstop until Dec. 1. Limited NR tags, however they are easy to get. That being said there are some good bucks in MT, but it is hard to believe that any good deer make it through year to year with such pressure and the idea of an unlimited rut hunt.
Having hunted all three, with out a doubt the quality in MT was by the worst of the 3 states mentioned. WY has some really great bucks, but the over all quality of the hunt is decreased because they cram all the hunters into certain areas for relatively short periods of time. However there is a very good chance a guy can find a mature buck in those general units simply because there is not enough time for those bucks to be found and killed every year.
Colorado really has the least amount of opportunity. Sure there are some units where a guy can hunt every single year, but with the current set up is is more likely every other for residents and every 4+ years for NR in a majority of units. Chances of killing a mature buck varies, but definitely seems more likely than either WY or MT, especially for a NR. For residents there is no doubt that WY is king for being able to kill mature bucks year in and year out due to the length of time and the ability for residents to hunt several areas through a relatively long season.
I have bee working on this summary for another project. But it seemed to add to this issue. I do not believe that a rut hunt inherently destroys quality unless it is like MT where there is no control of harvest.
Management decisions are by the most important factor when it comes to creating hunt quality. The number of tags, the method of take, the time of the hunt, etc. Should all be considered as the driving force behind quality.
As has been pointed technology is making us better killers. As a result the quality of deer will decrease unless we make management decisions to offset our increased ability to kill.
