I was reading the local paper on Sunday and read about the opening day of the deer hunt here in Utah. There was an article that talked about some of the success that happened on opening morning of the rifle hunt. Here is an excerpt from that article:
As of 1 p.m. on Saturday, hunters checking in at the Division of Wildlife Resources checkpoint in Spanish Fork Canyon had taken 12 deer, all but one mature, said Hadley [Mark Hadley of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources] . The information was reported by Scott Root of the Springville office of the DWR, who manage the checkpoint.
“Only one was a yearling, born in the spring of 2005,” Hadley said, “The other 11 were at least two-and-a-half years old, and most of the animals were three point or better.”
Hunters are happy to find mature animals because they are usually larger, he said.
I kind of had to do a double take, but did the Utah DWR just state that a 2 1/2 year old buck is considered a mature buck? What do you consider a mature buck?

