I 100% hate it but sick and didn't go out last night and not gonna go today as just make it worse. Lay down some beasts fellas!!!
Big zero..? Not sure it's on yet... Set from daylight till 1pm never saw a deer! Not too mention I got everything loaded and realized I left my phone in the GB. Yep... Back off the trailer we were in pursuit of my faceburner LOL!!!!
Had a buddy rattle in an awesome 9 (probably upper 130s) up here in Northern IN this morning and he is tagged out now LOL. I am hoping to feel good as Monday hits and be hitting the trees consistently next week!
I Was in woods this morning, wasn't in stand maybe 20 minutes, I get a text from my son shot a buck. Spent the rest of the day with him tracking and dragging it out. Well I'm back at it . Hope something comes by!!!!!!
There is not much worse than being sick this time of year get better man. I hammer down airborne a lot while I'm down hunters coming and going easy to get Sick. I will be at camp tomorrow night hope to get couple came out anyway. Will be at it starting Monday
Well last night I climbed down and was about to start packing up. I heard a noise, I turned around and saw a Buck walking thru a shooting lane. 30-35 yards. He was big bodied and had a large white rack, it was dark and couldnt see very well. Got my blood pumping. He was walking with wind blowing in his face. He got to the field and turned and walked into the Pines (doe bedding area). I can't hunt on Sundays, do you think he will stick around until Monday morning when I can go back? Or will be locked down on with a doe. Some places / people are saying Rut is on but I just started to see rubs and scrapes yesterday as I was helping drag out my son's buck. I walked by the same spot on Friday and it wasnot there, but it is now Any help? I wanna kill him bad
Ok I finally got my buck on the score board, I had been busy taking my sister hunting and we finally got a good one on the ground for her! Got it all on film and I was super stoked to see her behind a good buck, She made a perfect shot at around 20 yards and this dude only made it about 60 yards before tipping over!
Galen that is an awesome year you two are having! You gonna upload the video anytime? IF so let us know. Well fellas little update here.....FINALLY a couple shooters have shown up. Not in daylight but with the amount of does we got everywhere I know it is just a matter of time. I am healing up and after taking this weekend off I should be found up a tree tomorrow afternoon again. I used the rain today to slide to my New22 place (hunted just 2 or 3 times early on) and the Swamp Prop (lose this place come gun...best big buck potential over the years). The SWAMP finally has a bonafide shooter and some nice 2 1/2s on cam just in the last 9 days....this place typically has 2-5 no doubters but has been dry all year till finally now. Over 10 does seen on stand by Pops on Friday there so plenty of does to bring them in hopefully over the coming weeks before gun opens (18th). As for the New22....all the bucks are everywhere. With the food source to the SE finally harvested they are already hitting my brassica plots (radishes and sugar beets mainly) and the clover/chicory hard. Bertier is everywhere but...like you may have seen on Small Acre's facebook page....he has me befuddled. Aspects of this buck make me think young...other aspects say old...perhaps even senior beyond active breeding. Example...his face while seems young due to how stubby it appears...his graying around snout and eyes is like nothing I've ever seen in younger deer before...and the mass of his bases is very rare for a deer younger than their 4th year or so. His brisket is another one...while it protrudes out like a mature buck would it just seems thinner than most would think...like weathered possibly. My thought is either he is a younger 3.5 or 4.5 year old that may have battled infection/or testicle injury effecting testerone OR he is a senior deer not partaking in the rut/breeding much BECAUSE as you may have noticed his neck is still extremely thin considering the time of year....I've also never gotten him working a scrape...or following a doe on cam yet. I am truly split on whether I'm gonna shoot him or not....I suspect if I decide to start hunting the New22 I'll have a crack at him...if on film I doubt I pass but part of me wonders what he could be next season....
Thanks everyone, I am still on cloud 9 two bucks in the same week! I let you all know if I upload the video anywhere, I say I got the hunt on film but it is definitely not high quality footage by no means...!
Big congrats to you both Galen. Just one thing thou, where is the smiles. Serious faces on the pics On another note I'm back in a tree. It's wet out.
Tyni, I think that is a younger buck. His legs still look long and his body isn't quite blocky enough to be past his prime. He definitely has some character. Nice buck either way.
I did a lot of digging up of last years footage of him fellas and have been discussing him with numerous folks more professional than I in aging by long stretches. He has us all perplexed somewhat. His neck not swelling all agree is a sign only exhibited by bucks with testerone issues or aged deer. His neck even last year in a video chasing a doe wasn't swelled up like you'd suspect any 2.5 or older deer to be...mix that with some attributes of him that often times are attributed to young deer yet parts he shows have to be from an older deer. Most have come back with the opinion of him being one of two categories: A - a 4-ish year old deer that due to his injury in 2016 has gone through infection or some kind of issues causing him to not only grow the odd antler characteristics but more importantly lose weight and not garner a thick body he should have EVEN if he was only a 3.5 year old deer. The issues with this being true is his brisket appears fully developed but thin....he has a roman nose which many say occurs in the 6+ age brackets...his bases are either world class for a youngin or a sign of age....the loose way his skin seems present under chin, brisket and even haunches could be sign of just old. B - He is a senior deer. Often times once a deer gets past 6 or so years old, their bodies thin down, weight retention is drastically reduced and depending on the deer neck swelling decreases and their overall involvement in the rut becomes less intense and in some cases seems non-existent. Some attributes that disagree with this by him are his leg to body ratio which does seem off for an old deer...however weight loss will exhibit this as well. He was chasing a doe last year on camera...so he did partake in the rut last year...but that is the only photo or video of him doing any "rut" type activity....rubbing, scraping, chasing or seeking posture have never occurred outside that one photo. I am leaning to the older category for a few reasons other than those listed above....older deer almost always begin to show aspects of their non-typical genes...stickers, kickers, curly type antlers and/or non-typical points. Last year his right side had a non-typical 5 inch or so tine that came off beam and inward at about a 60 degree angle, stickers along bases and seem to intensified some more this year. Last thing is that last year his body exhibited many of these same traits and to me didn't seem younger really than this year like you would suspect a deer to be if he was really young last year.... Either way I think he is at worst case a 4.5 this year....best case who knows how old. This property is in a semi-city/rural setting where low pressure exists and a deer getting to this age isn't out of the question. I was 50-50 until researching him in depth from last year pics and vids (glazed over before), spotting the injury to his right rear leg last year and now thinking him busting his entire left beam off last year (bad bleeding) was a vehicle crash not a fight with a buck. If killed I am going to send teeth into two different labs to see the verdict.
It would be very interesting to see how that comes back. I vote for you to shoot him so we can see his age. lol Plus a 4.5 year old is by no means a young deer. Aging is something that I enjoy but seeing one like this will be neat to answer all the questions you are presenting to use for future reference.
Right...first deer that truly I feel based on different things is drastically differ.... 3.5 vs 6+...doesn't happen much but then again not a lot of 6+ deer running around IN anyways to really have a track record of. I am hunting tonight but not this property...will be tomorrow though
