What's wrong with this doe?

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I butchered a big doe in Northern Missouri last weekend that had more fat on her than I have ever seen on a deer in my life. Gobs of it. The small doe and the Buck were totally normal, but the bigger doe (closer to the cab of the buggy) was fat as hell.
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The buck looked way bigger on the hoof. Ok 10pt, nice spread, but two broken tines and a smaller body than I thought. When I came up on him I was really disappointed. I thought he was a monster.
I was lookin’ for this guy:
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Ought to see the ones in northern Minnesota (and some provinces in Canada).big does will field dress 170 and some more than that! Bergmann’s Rule (of evolution)!
I know I live just west of Saskatchewan where all the BIG bucks are taken .Just across the border ,most of your does look like our yearling does .
 
I took a doe here in Mass a few years ago tht was 146 lbs dressed. That is a corker for around here. She ate just fine!
 
Yes, as expected! So why act so surprised then if you know better? Your statement is just proof of Bergmanns Rule.
Alls I was trying to say my friend is the farther north you go the animals like deer elk and especially the moose if you’ve ever been to the Yukon or Alaska seem to get bigger .Im very sorry if I hurt your little feelings .
 
I butchered a big doe in Northern Missouri last weekend that had more fat on her than I have ever seen on a deer in my life. Gobs of it. The small doe and the Buck were totally normal, but the bigger doe (closer to the cab of the buggy) was fat as hell.
View attachment 363481

View attachment 363482
The buck looked way bigger on the hoof. Ok 10pt, nice spread, but two broken tines and a smaller body than I thought. When I came up on him I was really disappointed. I thought he was a monster.
I was lookin’ for this guy:
View attachment 363484
Nice healthy looking animals you got there how are you allowed to harvest a year .
 
How many? It varies by county, but generally you can buy two any deer tags (one for archery and one for firearms) and if you don't fill during firearms you can use that one for an antlered deer in the second archery period. The MDC website says "any number of antlerless archery tags". In general, by county, you can buy four antlerless tags that are good for either button bucks or does. After that you can go back and buy more up to that county's limit.

The thing is that you have to look every year, because they're constantly tinkering and changing it for management. For the last few years they have much simplified the methods, and now they just have an "alternative" season that allows pistols (AR pistols mostly from what I've seen). There is no more black powder/traditional/primitive, or any of the other little used and more fun (IMO) seasons they used to have. One year I read through it all and figured that if you took deer at every season and method you could take two antlered and twelve antlerless in most counties. Now that so many counties have removed all limits from archery I have no idea what it is, but essentially you can take as many as you want for 4+ months. There are just not enough bow hunters to make a dent (which is probably why they allow crossbows now).
https://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer

This is certainly a golden age for deer hunting in my state. The herd is massive and the harvest plentiful.

Last year 217,XXX were harvested, which was down a lot, and probably why they loosened everything up this year.

https://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-reports/deer-harvest-map

Almost everything is instant report. All those numbers are "now". We know the total firearms harvest today. Funny when you think about how many weeks it takes blue states to even know how they voted in elections!!!
 
Have seen one buck and one doe in the back yard lately that are notably fatter than usual but all of them are looking fit. Two does watching me carry the garbage out yesterday weren't porky but certainly were well filled out.
 
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