U.S. whitetail hunters are taking more mature bucks than 1½-year-old or “yearling” bucks for the first time in modern history, according to data compiled by the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) for its 2016 Whitetail Report, now available online. In the 2014-15 hunting season, the most recent season with complete deer harvest data available from every whitetail state, the percentage of yearling bucks in the national buck harvest dropped to a new record low of 33 percent, falling below the harvest rate for 3½-year-old and older bucks – 34 percent – for the first time since whitetail populations were restored in the mid-1900s.
“Since QDMA was founded in 1988, we’ve watched the harvest pressure on yearling bucks decline steadily from the extremes seen after restoration, and this resulted in climbing rates of mature-buck harvest as more older bucks became available,” said Kip Adams, QDMA’s Director of Education & Outreach, who compiles the annual Whitetail Report. “However, the 2014-15 season will be remembered as the first where the two trends intersected and hunters took more mature bucks than yearlings.” Continue reading – https://www.qdma.com/news/u.s.-hunters-now-taking-more-mature-bucks-than-yearlings