Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Actual weighed deer weight

roundoak,

Was it you who sent me a Pennsylvania deer-tape about a decade ago? I believe it was, but my memory isn't what it used to be.

We just happened to kill several whitetails here in Montana that fall, three does and two bucks, from late October to late November, including one of the biggest bucks Eileen has killed--and she's killed some big ones. We used the tape on all of 'em--and weighed the field-dressed deer on the 800-pound freight scale which Eileen bought a decade or so earlier at a local garage sale--which we'd checked with various weights and proved to be accurate.

Here are the results, which I published in the February 2012 edition of Rifle Loony News:

Doe #1: Tape 129 pounds, scale 84 pounds.
Doe #2: Tape 120 pounds, scale 90 pounds.
Doe #3: Tape 129 pounds, scale 105 pounds.
Buck #1: Tape 194 pounds, scale 154 pounds.
Buck #2: Tape 160 pounds, scale 133 pounds.

My conclusion was that since the tape only measures chest circumference, then something else was making the difference. I had also recorded the body length of each deer, from the front of the middle of the chest the rear of the middle of the rump, and they varied considerably, even when the chest circumference was very similar. So concluded that info would make the tape far more accurate.

John

I've seen the same thing with weigh tapes on cattle. The scale tells no tales.

GA deer numbers were quite low in the early part of the 20th century and existed mostly in isolated pockets in the mountains, S GA swamps and coastal islands. After WW2 the Game & Fish Dept embarked on a statewide restocking effort under the direction of newly hired wildlife biologist Jack Crockford. Jack was a wildlife biologist from Michigan and a WW2 Army Air Corps Pilot. Jack and his associates obtained Whitetail Deer from wherever they could to restock the state. At the time most of the state was converting back to forest land from the agricultural/cotton fields as people in the state migrated from rural areas to the cities so millions of acres of newly growing forest land was available and this proved to be perfect habitat for a growing a whitetail herd. A small number Michigan Deer (as well as Kentucky and some other states) were stocked however the majority of deer were obtained from Babcock, Wisconsin area & Texas. Jack Crockford went on to be the Director of the GA Game & Fish. He also was a master knife maker and builder of high grade muzzleloaders. He also annually grouse hunted with his friends in his beloved MI Upper Peninsula woods near Watersmeet / Paulding area. He was a friend of mine who reinforced your belief in all that is good in the human race. He made several knives for my Dad & I. I looked up to Jack ( and of course my Dad) as a mentor. The WI, TX and other genetics restocked in the state is one reason why GA produces so many nice antlers compared to other southern states. I believe GA at one time was tied with Maine for the heaviest Whitetail at 455 pounds but that was long ago in the 1960’s. Also of note: Jack is credited with developing the Cap-Chur dart gun which shot a tranquilizer dart device to catch deer and other critters.

Hello John,

Yes, I recall sending you a deer tape.

Wayne

The biggest whitetail I have been able to weigh is 210lb dressed. Which is an anomaly for Black Hills deer. Most of them are in the 165-180lb range dressed.

Have shot some bigger deer out on the plains, but never weighed them.

I have shot some mule deer that were definitely bigger, but never weighed them.

over many years of weighing bucks and some does yes i have shot bucks that weighed over 200 lbs. dressed but the biggest body buck i ever shot was with a bow and arrow dressed weight was 197 lbs. shot December 27th , that old buck had a monster body with no fat left on him with 2 tines broke . it was my last drawn bow kill because of my shoulder problems and it was with my old favorite broadhead Zwickey Eskimo.

I would agree with that. The BH deer seem to run a bit smallish. I shot a WR buck a few years back that I wish we could have weighed. He had a big body on him. My pack seemed to be 180 pounds when we got to the truck and I only had part of him in it.

Damn, that's quite a specimen – gotta be around 200"?

Yes sir. Will be flexing the Molson Muscle in Ontario later next week.

No idea the weight. Dad got this one in KS. DNR guy would only estimate the age at "over 8" and he had almost no teeth left.

Girthy SOB.

Molson Muscle.

Let me know when you & your Dad are up Scott, I'll buy beers & supper !

He's from WI - beer IS supper.

Lol
Depending on where and how far of a pack job can certainly make some deer unusually heavy!

Friends daughter filled her doe tag last year in the river breaks. She was upset that she shot a small one. He let her drag for awhile. For some reason she was pretty happy that she shot a small one.

LOL.

👍

We don't weight them, but this was a tank !

I find most 3 yr old bucks weigh around 180 pounds dressed in their prime (mid October).

Bucks over 200 pounds dressed are typically 4 yrs old or older. Beyond that is all genes I think. We had a buck this year dress over 270 that was probably 5-6 yrs old, but thats extremely huge and we dont see many like that. Most bucks whether 4 or 6,7,8.... are all in that 200-225 class. Above that and its just a genetically BIG deer i think.

Rack wise... i think most of our 3 yr olds are in that 125" class. Some are under 100", and some are over 150", but those are more the rarity. Ive seen several 4 yr olds score over 170.