Yeah it was tough to let him walk, especially the second time in broad daylight. I was pretty certain he was a booner and that's a goal I've chased for years and never quite accomplished and want badly. I knew he was a 180"+ deer but didn't know if he'd make it as a typical net or not. As it turned out he just barely missed by both typical and non-typical....that sucks....it's a really tough thing to get a deer over their marks net scores. I did have the advantage of years of killing deer and some very nice ones, I've got six on the wall ranging from 138" to two that scored 168" and change. So it wasn't like I was hungry for that first wall hanger but still it was rough watching him walk knowing he may either get hit on the highway 300 yards to the south or a neighbor may get him or a spotlighter or roadhunter. It is a bad idea in general to let a deer like that go because they draw attention and generally don't go unnoticed for long (around here anyway). When one becomes known in the community, he generally has a lot of people going to some pretty extreme measures to get to him and take him.
if you dont mind how much did each of those run. I have one deer that I was pondering on that same idea
No, I don't mind, it was what it was and I won't lie...it was expensive. I did quite a bit of research on the matter and the guy I used was as cheap as anyone that does it and cheaper than some but that said it was beyond the means of most financially sane and responsible folks. The mold itself costs ~$1000 depending on how complex the antlers are and then each set of reproduced antlers cost $600 just for the antler set produced and painted to match the original. From there any work is extra, Skull mount was $125, shoulder mount with a new cape was $700, using the reproduced antlers of course. So to get a skull mount with a reproduced set of antlers, ~$1000 mold+$600 reproduction+~$125 skullmount= $1725 Full Shoulder mount with repro antlers, ~$1000 mold+$600 repro antler set+ $700 mount and cape= $2300 In my case the mold was already done for one set of antlers so the $1000 mold was a one time charge for the project. They can make as many repros as needed from one mold. Total I had about $3200 for the mold and both mounts and plaques, pedestal, etc... It is a lot of work though for that money, the molding process is quite a deal and you own the mold when it's done so if anything ever happens, stolen fire, whatever....as long as you have the mold you can replace the mount.
Haha...Yeah I admit it's a bit absurd and I doubt I'd ever consider doing it again for a deer under 200". My determination and stubbornness to hang this deer on the wall got the better of me this time. I had already accepted the fact that the only way I'd hang him on the wall was with a replica so I started saving up for it a ways back and then with it split two ways it wasn't that far out of whack for me to do it.
So when u let him go by the one night did you at least go twack your dead :D Honestly clicking through the pictures I didnt even know there was a replica until I read your post.
Lol, actually I did do that very thing. I sat there wishing I had a paintball gun and a video camera. That morning while he worked the scrape it was so dark yet that the only way I identified him was the way he worked the scrape. He had a very definite characteristic way of approaching the scrape, working it and then leaving it that he repeated almost every time he visited it. It was actually too dark to see his headgear hardly at all that morning but I could see the darkness of the bulk of his body and watched as he worked through his characteristic way he came in, worked it and then left. A certain way he always turned as he finished and readied to leave, after watching him intently on camera for so long I knew him on a personal, individual character sort of way and that stuck out that morning. When I left the stand that morning I pulled the card from the camera overlooking that scrape and had good images of him to verify what I already knew that it was indeed him. Now with my lighted sight pin...I was about 90% sure I could kill that deer that morning and thought very seriously about taking a shot but I knew I'd hate myself if I had trouble finding him....without lighted knocks I'm sure there was no way I would have been able to see the arrow impact to verify a good or poor hit so it would have been pure chance and on a 180"+ deer I just couldn't bring myself to chance it. Yeah the replicas are very hard to identify as replicas even when you know they are. I can tell now what a replica is after careful study just because they aren't quite as stiff as real ones so they will flex a bit more if you handle them but the difference is very very subtle.
I give you props for not taking that shot, there are a lot of people out there that would have done it and hoped for the best
