So of those that are still running trail cams, anyone have any ideas how well your deer did getting through the hunting seasons? I've got a couple of card pulls now and ours seem to have survived rather well. Looks like most of our best bucks made it through and tons of the nice young ones look pretty good.
I usually run cameras until the antlers drop. There are a couple of young ones that I'm glad have made it. A couple of others are MIA. These two tens should be decent next year. I'd really like to see them blow up! This guy just showed up. Never saw him all summer/fall. Not the greatest pics. Hope to find his sheds. I've seen a couple of 1-1/2s drop a side. Should be dropping in next month or two.
I still have two cams out. I'll get them in a couple more weeks. As of Dec 18, my #2 buck was still alive. He's a nice 11 point. Narrow, but long tines and beams. 150+. I hope to see him next year.
Here are a couple I was glad to see make it. There was a little season left in KS after the last pic but he made it, latest pic was just poor. (Early and post season pics)
Some nice deer there. The deer leave our property in mid December and don't winter here so I haven't even cut a track for over a month. Just lots of coyotes and one wolf.
From last check here we are doing pretty good. We have a little snow on the ground so I should be able to keep an eye on the ones at the house with the standing beans. My folks came over for dinner last night. As they were leaving the deer were piling in to the standing beans. Need to reposition a few of the cameras to keep an eye on the food plot.
Me and the boy went and pulled cards yesterday and we had 4 of the 7 bucks that I would have shot make it through. That's really unheard of for here in Georgia because most of the neighbors just shoot whatever. I'm glad the nasty 9 made it through because I'm pretty sure he was a 3 1/2 year old and will be a really nice deer this year.
We have 7 or 8 bucks that are 3.5 years or older that survived. That is the most we have ever had for our area. We lost 3 4.5 year old bucks during hunting season and I shot a 3.5 year old with my bow. I would say we are looking good for the 2016 season.
Sounds like good potential for 2016! I think we lost two of about thirty decent bucks, as far as I can tell. Maybe as many as seven but four of that total that I have not seen lately have a habit of disappearing for stretches of time. One of them I only had on camera a few times all of 2015. I think he's maybe my most sought after buck, I thought he died in the fall/winter of 2014. I don't recall if I had any pics of him after velvet shed. If he survived, this year he'll be 5.5 -6.5 years old. (depending on how old he was the first year I watched him.)
Man Josh, that guy is a stud! He reminds me of one of ours here, who also made it through to my extreme delight:
Thanks, yeah I'm particularly proud of that buck, he's one that has been produced on farm since I started management. He was 3.5 in 2015, I could tell he was a potential prodigy in 2014 as a 2.5yo 8 point. In 2015 he was a 9 point with a potential 10th peeking out on the right beam. I'm excited to see what he does this year.
If he starts to push the rest of your "project" deer around, I'll be glad to come down and "help" you out with that problem!
Ha, might happen, one of the nice young eights got blinded in one eye recently. I hated to see that, can't help his chances at surviving, much less adding a lot of inches this year.
You are a riot elkguide!! We have the same kind of buck here. Looks like he ended up on the short end of the stick. He looks more like Rocky after a fight with Apollo Creed. His right eye is either poked real bad or just really swollen. It don't reflect at night in the infra red pic's.
