Come on, do you really expect us to believe that B.S. ?!!

Luckily, I am fairly sure that this exaggeration doesn't apply to most members here

Probably 8 out of 10 times that I get into a discussion with someone at a gun store, hunting club etc. I always hear how they shot their monster animal that weighs more than the largest ever recorded weight for that species...and then some!

What stories have you heard?
What would you feel are realistic weights for some of our big game in your area?

Here is a brief list of live animal weights that I know from personal experience to be pretty accurate:

Canadian Moose: sm. 600 lbs, med. 800 lbs, lg. 1000 lb, xl. over 1000 up to about 1400 lbs. (Yet, we hear only of 1200+ lb Moose being shot )

Quebec-Labrador Caribou: sm. 125 lbs, med. 175 lbs, lg. 225 lbs, xl. 300 up to about 375 lbs. (Yet, to many, there is not a Q-L Caribou under 400 lbs!B.S. I have shot and seen taken and helped butcher and process, then weigh over 200 animals.)

Rocky Mountain Elk (in Canada): sm. 300 lbs, med. 450 lbs, lg. 700 lbs, xl. 850 to about 1000 lbs. (I regularly hunted Colorado a few years back, nobody would second guess someone who said that they shot 1000 lb elk every season)

Canadian Whitetailed Deer: sm. 125 lbs, med. 175 lbs, lg. 225 lbs, xl. 250 to about 350 (Seems everyone's 10 pointer is a 300 pounder! Heck, in one of the hunting brochure that I received at SCI, they mentioned "400 plus pounds live weight regularly taken!" - sure anything is possible, but come on!!

All I can say is that I'd like to see some of those Canadian Whitetails! I think the average of the deer I've shot in Maryland and Pennsylvania is probably around 140 lbs... (Bucks and Does) I guess it's not hard to hit a 400 pounder, though!

I do know packing out a BG critter adds 50%.

There are a number of subspecies of deer .In PA/MD they have the Virginia White tail and the average buck in PA is 150 lbs. In Canada they have the Northern White tail which has a maximum weight of 400 lbs.It's always amusing to watch at a weigh station when the real numbers are shown - the hunters often say, with long face, 'is that all, I thought it was much more than that '!!

We occasionally get a deer that might weigh 300 lbs., but on average our mature Whitetails and Muleys are probably closer to 225-240. I've shot quite a few elk and been there for others, and I've only seen 2 that I thought would go 1,000. The big Bous I've seen have been no bigger than the big deer; these are the most exaggerated in size of any animal.

Actually where I hunt in Saskatchewan,hunting pressure is very light and many bucks live to maturity.As such 300lb bucks are not at all uncommon.My heaviest whitetail weighed 330lbs on the hoof on a verified scale and I have personally witnessed some that were heavier.However in areas where hunting pressure is heavier,mature bucks of any decent size are much rarer.My heaviest elk was a 9-1/2 year old herd bull that weighed right around 900lbs and my heaviest moose weighed right around 1200lbs.

I weighed a lot of deer and black bears, The adv. whitetail in NMN was130-140 lbs. dressed and hanging. The big shocker for people was the bears. Most were in the same class as the deer.the biggest I saw was just about 300lbs. and we had several in the 200-300 range. I always told them they awould have a better story if we didn't put it on the scale.

What's interesting is these same guys I know that talk about the 275+ pound deer and 1000 pound elk they routinely take, all seem to have rifles that shoot 1/2" groups. Except for the days I'm on the range with them. On those days the rifles seem to only deliver 1 3/4" inch groups.

My largest whitetail gutted, skinned, legs cut off and head and neck cut off close to the body was 136# hanging and it looked deep thru the briskit compared to the others in the locker
and he was a 5 year old in his prime 5x5 according to the fish and game.My brother shot one that weighed in at 153#.Elk on the other hand my largest is a 6x6 7 years estimated by fish and game was 516# hanging as I got him out whole (never been able to do it again though).Same field dressing as described above.

The largest whitetail I have taken was in St. Louis County in Northern Minnesota aboutr 60 miles south of International Falls. This one field cleaned at 265 lbs.

The largest whitetail on record was shot in Stearns County Minnesota, and it weighed at 425 lbs, but that was taken back in the 1890s I believe.

I have seen some monster deer taken in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but for everyone I have seen, I bet hunters have taken a lot that were in the 150 to 200 lbs range. Remember the deer are bigger up there than a lot of other places.! So you are hunting in a place that the environment produces some big ones. The ones here in Oregon are good enough to make Deer McNuggets out of at best.... I did take on decent Mulie/Blacktail cross that hung at the butchers at 135lbs, after it had been caped and the head and antlers were off. Just like the large one in MN, I was at the right place at the right time. But I have also had a lot of deer seasons like everyone that all I bought home was some dirty clothes that needed washed....

cheers
seafire

Seems to me like most average whitetail excluding Seafires big Minnesotas are the size of our fallow.

Which makes me gawp in wonderment that people use things like 7mm RM, 300WM on them.....

quote:

Originally posted by 1894mk2:
Seems to me like most average whitetail excluding Seafires big Minnesotas are the size of our fallow.

Which makes me gawp in wonderment that people use things like 7mm RM, 300WM on them.....

Dead is dead

Seriously, the calibers used in a particular location has much to do with what is legal, as well as tradition in that particular location. As an example, take NZ. They have never had much in terms of restrictions on hunting their big game animals (considered vermin by the political correct, and thus to be exterminated at any cost and by any means). In addition, a lot of their hunting tradition grew out of a culling past - and it shows at times. The cullers used pretty small calibers, much smaller than we'd consider normal or even legal in most European or North American countries. So, calibers like .222 Rem or .243 are commonly used on red deer. Given that tradition, the Kiwis often shake their heads when they hear of the calibers we use (e.g. .30-06 for almost everything).

This not to point any fingers at our Kiwi friends, but to illustrate that calibers used varies from country to country, and the reasons are legal, traditional and historical. Naturally, we all know that in US everything is bigger and faster, which I guess explains their affection for magnum boomers
- mike

I would love to see a 400 lbs deer

The last muley I shot was 227 lbs, skinned and gutted. He was a young 4 point, probably a 3 year old. FWIW, Dutch.

We took several does this year that were in the 260# range. The biggest deer I have ever seen personally, was an eleven pointer shot by a 17 year old kid that was hunting with us about four years ago, it field dressed at 273# We threw it in the back of his uncle's ranger pick up and it's head was against the front of the box, and his feet were hanging out the end of the bed, with the gate down. we get some big deer in our area every year.
I have never had the chance to weigh and elk, but I would have to agree with the post above, that they do grow depending on how far from the truck you shoot 'em

DGK

quote:

The largest whitetail on record was shot in Stearns County Minnesota, and it weighed at 425 lbs, but that was taken back in the 1890s I believe.

:

Nope.

The largest whitetail ever taken and recorded in the USA was a minnesota buck. 500 pounds!!! Now you guys can really have something to not believe!

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/deer/index.html

I've killed several whitetail over 300 pounds (on the hoof). In our local contest, many deer over 300 pounds on the hoof, and over 250 (field dressed) are entered.

Yea, this weight thing is really out of control. By the way how much does it say you weigh on your drivers license? Your spouses?? Seems like we can underestimate things just as well!!

quote:

Originally posted by keithv35:
Yea, this weight thing is really out of control. By the way how much does it say you weigh on your drivers license? Your spouses?? Seems like we can underestimate things just as well!!

6-foot 4 inches, 230 pounds. Spot on! Why?

quote:

Originally posted by boreal:
6-foot 4 inches, 230 pounds. Spot on! Why?

That's a good sized Black Bear! Congrats.

Hey C-Lefty,

What choke and shot size would you recommend for pass shooting pigs?

quote:

Originally posted by CanadianLefty:

quote:

Originally posted by boreal:
6-foot 4 inches, 230 pounds. Spot on! Why?

That's a good sized Black Bear! Congrats.

That's my wife's drivers license. You should see mine!

Maine, they have "big doe" contests. It is not at all unusual to see does over 300 lbs!!! My Maineiac friends father took a huge whitetail back in the '60s. I think he told me is was like the 2nd or 3rd heaviest ever taken in the state. If memory serves me right,it was 420 lbs or thereabouts. His dad was a big man, 6'4" and I saw a picture of them together. They had the deer hung with its nose down to the ground. He was standing next to it with his arm raised and the deers hooves were still over a foot above his hand !!! Next time I go up there, I'll get a copy of the picture so I can post it here. Oh yeah, I actually killed one of those 1100 lb elk. A 100lb winch couldn't even move it. It took 5 of us 8 hours to pack it 1/2 mile down the mountain. I weigh 275 and it's head (not counting antlers) dwarfs my body. It's just plain huge!!! They grow some huge bodied elk in Arizona.

hmmmm 1400 lb moose. I shot one and the carcass weighed 850 lbs. Thats, head off, skinned, gutted and legs off just above the knee joints. Thats measured on a butchers hanging scale. Now a buddy shot the third biggest moose in Alberta about 1/2 mile from where I shot mine sooo maybe we're in a good "gene pocket" The southern moose around calgary etc. are a lot smaller and I'd be surprised if anyone would get a 1000 lb animal around here.

I do agree though that size tends to get embelished as does shot distance. We always measure our distances with a gps and it helps a lot.

the chef

quote:

Originally posted by bowhuntrrl:
Maine, they have "big doe" contests. It is not at all unusual to see does over 300 lbs!!! My Maineiac friends father took a huge whitetail back in the '60s. I think he told me is was like the 2nd or 3rd heaviest ever taken in the state. If memory serves me right,it was 420 lbs or thereabouts. .

300 pound does? I guess a link would help. Its my understanding that Maine's record doe was 255 pounds on the hoof. Even that could be a N. American record!

OK, I lied about my wife (I'm not married). Its my driver's license. But Maine is still SECOND place in North American whitetails.

http://www.sportingjournal.com/main9.shtml

"One such buck in Maine's rich deer-hunting history met and surpassed even the wildest dreams of a 59-year-old hunter back in 1955. Horace R. Hinckley did what no other hunter has been able to match since, by shooting the heaviest whitetail buck on record within the state of Maine. In fact, Hinckley's buck places second in all of North America, only to a Minnesota buck shot in 1926 by Carl Lenandor."

"Once this great buck was hoisted up in front of several witnesses, including state sealer of weights, Forrest Brown, the giant deer pulled the scales to a whopping 355 pounds. It was calculated that Hinckley's buck had an approximate live weight of 488 pounds. Several measurements were then taken which included: neck girth - 28 inches, body girth behind forelegs - 47 inches, greatest girth - 56 inches, and a total length from antler tip to rear hoof of 9 1/2 feet. "

quote:

We always measure our distances with a gps and it helps a lot.

I find that the use of a laser rangefinder has resulted in disproving many claims of long shot distances.Some claimed 600yard shots turned out to be less than 400 yards.

I think average Georgia deer run in the low to middle 100's but field weight bucks of 230-260 pounds are not uncommon in middle Georgia. The heaviest deer from Florida that I'm aware of was shot near Quincey about 8-10 years ago that tipped the scales at 240#, field weight(scales). 12 points on that old boy, his head on the wall of a private lodge in that area.

The heaviest elk I ran across down here was about 2200#, walked right up to me while I was still hunting in the front yard. Then my wife woke me up...

I have heard guys talk about 1200 pound elk. Yeah, right.

One time a guy told me that he shot a deer at 300 yards with his 45-70. I asked how high he aimed and he said "dead on". I asked what range the gun was sighted in for and he did not know.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
It's always amusing to watch at a weigh station when the real numbers are shown - the hunters often say, with long face, 'is that all, I thought it was much more than that '!!

I made it a practice to weigh all the deer taken on a ranch I hunted for several years. The scales I had were in kilos, not pounds. Know what you mean about the long face....sure had a lot of fun teasing youngsters who didn't know to multiply by 2.2.


Regards,
hm

A deer that field dresses at between 225 and 235 pounds has a live-weight in the 300 pound range. Every year, we hear of several deer in this weight class taken in any local big deer contest. I've seen 3 does I'd put in the 200 lb+ range, though I've never put them on a scale to test my estimate. Most does weigh in the 90-110 range which would probably put them in the 120 - 140 lb live-weight range.

I don't believe I've ever seen an eastern Canada moose that weighed over 1200 lbs, and one yearling bull probably went about 600 lbs. I don't know how many stories of 2000 lb moose I've heard - some from guys who should know better.

quote:

Originally posted by boreal:

quote:

The largest whitetail on record was shot in Stearns County Minnesota, and it weighed at 425 lbs, but that was taken back in the 1890s I believe.

:

Nope.

The largest whitetail ever taken and recorded in the USA was a minnesota buck. 500 pounds!!! Now you guys can really have something to not believe!

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/deer/index.html

I've killed several whitetail over 300 pounds (on the hoof). In our local contest, many deer over 300 pounds on the hoof, and over 250 (field dressed) are entered.

The guy who shot it was carrying a lever action rifle......

The largest buck I ever saw taken was taken in Northern Wisconsin, North of Tomahawk. I hate to tell this story, as it makes most of we hunters sick!

This deer was weighed at the Wisconsin DNR well in excess of 300 lbs. I helped the guys drag it out to their truck... or should I say, Eddie Bauer Edition Ford Explorer... and that what was why I hate to tell the story....

This two yahoos were from Chicago, never have been hunting in their whole lives.... Opening morning by 10 am, this huge buck comes walking by very close to where they are sitting... First shot of of the guys Browning 300 Win Mag BAR ( it was " bore sighted by the store") with his $600.00 plus European Scope ( he had not even shot it at the range... this was literally the first time he ever fired the rifle!)

Two; Six Figure Income Yuppies, totally deluxed out from head to toe in the most trendy expensive stuff the sporting goods store in Chicago had... I mean range finders, $500.00 ANYTHING proof parkas etc. $300.00 hunting boots, etc...

Their first deer season, 9 Am to 10 Am, bingo, 300 lb plus buck, and what a rack on this thing....

Then they make this comment to me about what do all of these locals act like it is such a hard thing to go deer hunting??? Of course they thought it was awful neighborly of me to gut the thing for them when they were clueless on how to do that.... They did offer to pay me, but somehow it was just not in me to take their money.....

As they drove away, worrying the deer might get blood on the paint job of their Eddie Bauer Edition Explorer, I did not know if they were the luckiest two clowns on the planet or that was the most unlucky Buck ever born!

Some days there is no poetic justice in the world!

OH well....
cheers
seafire

Here in Texas it's not so much the weight that gets exagerated, it's the spread. If all the stories I have heard are true, there were only a couple of bucks taken of the last few years that were under 20" inside spread.

Most of the bucks i get up here in Manitoba run around 220 to 250#.I did get a real whopper back in 1995 that sported a 6 x 7 and weighed 342# at the pool elevator.The area i hunt has hardly any hunters and most bucks i shoot are on my own property.It seems that some areas sport bigger bodied deer maybe it's the plentiful food supply and lounging around all year.

If you want a lively discussion about weights, you should ask a group of hog hunters. Now there's some controversy.

quote:

Here in Texas it's not so much the weight that gets exagerated, it's the spread. If all the stories I have heard are true, there were only a couple of bucks taken of the last few years that were under 20" inside spread.

That's because they use the same measuring system I taught my wife. The distance between your thumb and forefinger is 8 inches

Jeff

It soley depends on the animals available nutrition. Big Game animals can vary large amounts in an area much smaller than a county. For instance, here in La. we have "Piney Hills" Deer and Hogs and "Delta Crop Land" Deer and Hogs. The Piney woods buck usually are aroun 150-160 lbs w/ a 180 pounder being huge. On the other hand, 30 miles through the woods in the Cropland Miss. River Delta the bucks are anywhere from 200 to 300 pounds depending on the available food sources. The biggest whitetail I've taken in the Delta was in the 240s live but, I have seen bigger. That particular deer dressed over 190# and was the largest body weight out of several thousand that the Processing plant recieved that year (Plant located in the hills but usually gets a mixture of field and hills deer).

Hogs are the same The biggest wild Boar I've taken in the swamp land was 350# but, I've taken 1 pig in the crop-land that was much larger.

I would assume the same principles apply to other game around the world. Of Course Population numbers would be an effect as well.

Reloader

Good point, and don't even get me started on wild pigs!

For some years I hunted deer locally and a rare big one would go around 160 lbs dressed. Then several years later I was hunting in a different locale where the browse was abundant and hi quality. My brother took a 200+ buck there and we saw many in the 185 lb range. I think like some others here genetics and nutrition are the main factors. I think I have seen a few pics of 400 lb Canadian prairie Whitetails and I have no reason to doubt them.
As for judging game weight on the hoof very few can do it with anything like true accuracy. Almost everyone over estimates how heavy the game is.
Black bears are a prime example.. man everyone shoots a 300+lb blackie in the spring. Truth is most of em would be stretching to make 275 lb let alone over 300 or 400 lbs. Avg is prolly like 225-240 lb or so.
Now fall bears are a different kettle they can go up to 500 lbs rarely more. A local CO shot one near hear years ago that was 525 lbs on butchers scale and I saw a pic and it was for real!
Of course there are prolly bears from other areas that can go more or less but prolly fairly close I think.

It's true that most people overestimate the weight of their kill. It's easy to understand why. About 15 years ago helped a hunting buddy drag a whitetail we guessed weighed abot 200 lb.s whole to the top of a hill. By the time we reached the top that buck weighed about 1,500 lb.s. A snack, a 30 minute truck ride, and the butchers scale bought it back to 225 lb.s. Thank God nobody I've hunted with nor I have killed one that big since. A friend about my age from work is from Maine. He came to work one year with pictures of a 898 lb. Moose his brother killed. I asked how the heck they moved it. His answer,"We don't hunt anywhere we can't get with a log skidder." That might not be how the Micmac did it, but it makes sense to me. etc.

I bagged a 430 lb dear once, but when I sobered up I never did call her back.............JJ