So it's Wednsday, 1-1:30 pm , cool, overcast and raining lightly. I've been watching 2 bucks in the bean field, across the road for the last half-hour (because I have no life :d). The smaller one appears to be working his way to being a 6 pointer but his growth process seems to be way behind, compared to the bigger buck. The bigger buck is clearly an 8 pointer, with excelent heighth, long brows and a decent spread. If I had to guess him now, I'd say he's around 125-ish.My question is how much longer does he have to grow (I'm guessing about a month, even). And let's assume he's 125, now. How much bigger should he grow within the time allowed?
Man, it's hard to tell... I wouldn't think that another 5-8" is out of the question. Did he appear to have any "bulbs" left on the tips of his tines? When do your deer start coming out of velvet? Ours are generally the middle of september and from stuff I've read they stop growing 3-5 weeks before they shed their velvet. I have no idea whether or not that's accurate, but I didn't find it on wikipedia so there may be a little truth to it. :D
Here in IL my experience is that they are all but done come August...typically fresh rubs showing up as early as August 8th...every buck is different though, if bulb shape still present on tips, then more to come...
Dub, I'm thinking late August/ early Sept. is when the velvet begins to shed. And he had bulbs at the end of his tines, but they weren't nearly as large as the ones of the smaller buck. That's what made me think that maybe he's a bit closer to the end of his growth cycle I'd like to see him break 130, at least, if it's bpossible
Damn, I hate them border line bucks!!! It seems that's all I ever see In my woods. Tough call Josh, you'd think they'd put on another 7 to 8 Inches or so? Who knows I guess. Good luck bud!!
Me too Schultzy we always have border line bucks, the thing that stinks is that our buddies that gun hunt with us sometimes shoot the smaller ones.... but what can you do???
I talked to Josh earlier so he knows my take, but I'll sort of post it here. I agree if the bulbs are still there, there is still some growth, but in all honesty, if he's a buck a guy would like to have on his wall, and what that particular guy feels is a trohpy, then ne's no longer "borderline," he's a TROPHY. For me personally, I want my next buck to be a 140", and I've passed several that were on the P&Y border, a couple I kicked myself for after thinking more about it, but I don't HONESTLY regret those decisions. Each of us needs to personally decide what a trophy is to us PERSONALLY. Sadly, both of my bucks I have on the wall were relatively anti-climactic hunts, but both are still trophies in my eyes, even if they'll never make any record books.
I havent seen the bucks in my yard in about a week. Almost all of them made (in my opinion) significant gains in that time frame. One grew a drop, another grew g4's and a third grew a g3.
I find this promising The more I pnder it, the more I believe he will distance himself from the border line before the velvet sheds. But I still need to secure permission and hope his pattern holds.
he should add about an inch a day and i would say about 14 to 21 days left of growing then they will start to harden