Pulled a couple of cards this morning that I was near to anyway. I was happily surprised to see two old friends from the last two years and better yet, to see they grew more antler this year. Plus I had some pretty neat shots on both cards. This is Maverick, I knew he survived seasons and winter but had not seen him in velvet this year. He was a good ten point last year but is now twelve and looks nice! (at the feeder) This is Two Towers, had him on camera since 2013, last year his right side was a little messed up but whatever the cause he recovered and is even again and grown some nice junk on the bases along with mass. Some shots of Bone-afide: And a couple nice bachelor group shots:
How many acres do you manage? Looks like you have a great program going! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
when are you gonna show the big ones.LOL. great pics. 2 towers will sure shred some trees with those bases
My own personal property is 250 acres then I manage an additional 2800 for my main landlord I rent farm ground from. The 2800 is divided over three counties in two states though. Thank you very much, I'm very proud of what I've accomplished in a short time frame by myself. The neat thing is I'm not a guru, most of us have good genetics, they just don't get the nutrition to show their potential. MNay not have the genetics to hit 300" of antler in most cases but 150" should be doable for most people and places on a regular basis.
Are these bucks on your 250? Is the 2800 mostly tillable? I'd like to get a lot better at proper nutrition. I think it would take a lot of work to get it to where your at but I agree about the 150 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When they show up. So far I've only held back the one deer's pics. The other that should be a monster this year, has not shown himself yet but I know he's still running around nearby. I'll post at least one of the big boys if the second one shows up. We also have an incredible wide and heavy 8 point somewhere but I've only gotten a couple of blurry images of him so far. I know him from last year but like the big one that's not shown up yet, he lives off property most of the time over in coal dumps. For some reason the darn cameras always blur when he passes by...it's gotten to a point of being spooky that they do that.
No, most of the bucks I've been showing are on the managed land. I hit it with more effort than my own land because I get paid to do it and I have crappy neighbors on two sides now that slaughter deer here at home. I still manage these and the nice ten point I posted a pic of the other day is from here but for the most part they keep the big ones shot out or spooked off over into the coal dumps a mile north of me. The managed land is not mostly tillable, it's maybe 20% "tillable" which is actually "croppable" since we went completely zero till. We started a focus on soil health and zero-till with proper PH and cover crops and food plots (100 acres) and I keep mineral abundantly available and the feeders have had a huge impact even though all we feed is corn and beans at 1:1 ratio. I treat the grain in the feeders with diatomaceous earth that's an all natural livestock feed additive that keeps the grain bug free but it also adds calcium and some trace minerals. We have lots of clean water also...a big plus. Predator management is getting more attention now also. We want those healthy does and fawns to survive to take everything to the next level. It has taken a lot of work and money and materials, every bit of it is sooo worth it when you get the pleasure of seeing deer like ours in person and on camera though. I can kind of see the appeal to high fence operations from a management standpoint...you hate to get so much wrapped up in producing these animals only to have them killed off property or to have an problem with roving predators on property. Still, the free range aspect of our properties is what makes it special so that's where it'll stay.
Just whole kernel field corn and soybeans (sometimes wheat and milo also) both produced on the farm. I treat them both with diatomaceous earth when I auger them in the grain bins, to keep the grain bug free and it has the side benefit of adding some calcium and trace minerals to it. I don't know how much impact that has on the antler growth but it's a nice accidental benefit.
Man, you got it going on for sure. Very nice bucks and congrats on all your hard work. Blessings............Pastorjim
Maverick is an incredible deer. I can't wait to see the big you haven't showed yet. Sounds like it best to hold out so he doesn't get poached by someone that found him here. Keep him a secret and when season comes hide him in your freezer.
Awesome pics covey....I've been tossing around leasing a farm in northern Kansas.....There is some incredible genetics down there for sure
If I were out of state looking at leasing, I'd begin research on what counties have historically produced the most record book bucks. I'd then look at the area on Google earth and then at real estate sites and see what's available in those areas to buy. Many of those areas looks surprisingly poor and many may just completely miss any opportunities there. We're on the extreme eastern edge where we still have a lot of Missouri landscape (and some of Missouri too) and we have some good deer but nothing like what seems to come from further out in KS with mass and frames. I've always felt that had to do with the limestone country and the hard ground water irrigation out there more than the actual genetics though. I believe more and more that most herd genetics are capable of producing stupid huge monster deer given the right catalysts. Most of the time those things just aren't present to show what potential is there. Not to understate the value of good genetics though....
Yea the farm I have been looking at would be overlooked by most. Doesn't look like classic deer habitat at all. But 3 deer over 200 have come off of it in the last 20 years and several 170-180 class. It's northwest of Salina
