I didn't catch any.....do tell kind King. To the question, with the exception of my York 5B tag, which I plan to use this weekend, I could have been tagged out with two does and a little 6 point as of last night.
My awesome friend and team mate Kyle killed his buck (only buck tag) about 7 minutes after first shooting light opening morning. I STILL tell him I wish I could trade places with him! ha I would tag out (buck wise) in a heartbeat. I am not a huge doe hunter so likely would never tag out in those anyway. Actually, unless i buy extras one doe and one buck would tag me out. Not sure if I'll even try to fill the other unless antlers hit the ground first. Who knows. If it is the animal I want to kill, I'll kill it on the first 2 minutes just as quickly as the last 2 minutes.
This guy. The pictures do him no justice. He's really solid. 3.5 for sure. At least 11 scorable points. Double G2. Gorgeous buck. I glassed him all summer, left his bedding area alone, and slipped into the edge of the thicket on opening morning with my buddy on the camera. He was bachelored-up with 3 other bucks, maybe 100" 4x4, a 70ish runt 4x4 and a really small guy. We hunted for 30 minutes, and right on cue, they all came in. My buddy's camera was fritzing out due to the moisture, so we got no footage... I had chipshots at every one but him. He just slinked on past at 11 yards... I had one quartering-toward shot, but I passed. They fed for a bit, and worked their way back into the bedding area. The foliage was just so thick, and he stayed under a canopy of grapevines... Tough pill to swallow, for sure. It was weird, just from watching him for so long and knowing his mannerisms, I knew I wasn't going to get a shot. I just kinda stood there holding my bow, thinking "old boy, you aren't gonna come out from under those vines, are ya.." And he didn't. Even though he spent his whole summer with those young guys, he's consistently displayed a little better survival instincts. He likes to always go last, and never likes to get too far from his safe zones... He always likes to keep the wind at least partly in his favor, and travels at dusk and dawn. I don't know what he'll gross (130's?), but he's only got maybe 14" inside. He's all mass and tines... The double-G2 is a really rare characteristic. Perfect mirror-images. Some crossbow hunters have bumped him out of his bedding area, so I have to find him again. I want one more chance. Sorry about the shotty pic. Every trailcam pic I have of him is bad, b/c I didn't want to hang a camera anywhere near his bedding area. Since he doesn't like to travel much, I didn't get many pics of him. I've got a whole videotape of just him and his bachelor group from this summer. I had a nice vantage point from the next ridge.
Doubtful Matt. I'd say he's gonezo. The farm is getting pounded by the new generation of xbow hunters... They found the sign and invaded... Since he's smarter than they are, he's found himself a new, safe, bedding area. If I can locate him, then I'll strike while the iron's hot. That, however, is doubtful, because based on the location of the nearest "safe" bedding areas, I'm laying 80/20 odds that he's moved into the neighbor's land, which is off limits. My next best chance for him will probably come next month. But right now . . . I've got fish to fry in Ohio. There was one deer in PA that I wanted... It didn't work out... I can't afford to waste time here hunting a deer that I know isn't there. Just put it in the rear-view and move on. That's the great thing about hunting: Sooner or later, if you put on enough mileage, you'll find another big buck to hunt. It's like a well that never dries up. .
