After replying to the "Would you fix it?" thread, it got me thinking about my decision to kill the buck I did this year. I had a ton of pics of this particular buck. In one pic I noticed he had a 3 - 4" kicker coming off the base of his right main beam that went back over his neck. I named him Kickback. I wanted to kill that buck solely because he had that unique kicker. Had I known that he had broken that tine off before I let the arrow go, or had I not known of the kicker to begin with, I would have passed on him. Judging by the pics of him, I knew he was only a 3.5 year old, at most, but only looked like a 2.5 year old in some other pics. I normally wouldn't shoot anything under 3.5 years old in this particular area (4.5 year old minimum in other areas). Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely proud of him. Heck, I'm spending $495 to have him mounted. However, had I known he had broken off the kicker, I definitely would have passed. That dang trailcam pic of the "kickback" point influenced my decision to take that buck. Have any of you had second thoughts after taking a buck you've had on trailcams? Here he is: The "kickback" point:
Don't know if this answers your ? or not but I have had pics of bucks on trail cam that kept me from shooting them. In other words if I hadn't had the pic I would have shot them, however being able to look at the pics I was able to determine age and know which ones to pass. If I hadn't had several pictures this year I would have ended up shootin a 3.5 yr old.
This is my first year doing trail cameras. We have gotten a lot of different bucks on them, but only seen a couple of them while hunting. I killed one that I never had any second thoughts about and couldn't be happier with him. My brother killed a buck that we've been getting on camera since he was in velvet. He would have been a good buck next year, and a really good buck the year after. But my brother is happy that he shot him, so I couldn't be happier for him.
I've had many pics that where I determined I was not going to take a buck. This was the first time that I had so many pics of a buck that I've had second thoughts on.
While trail cameras give me an idea of what I have running around, I can't say I use them to determin if a buck is a shooter or not. It is all about the feeling I get from a stand sighting if a buck is a "shooter" or not to me.
I never really started using trailcams til just recently.. in fact.. about mid-way through last season. Even then.. I only had 1 out.. and on only 1 of my properties. I've learned a TON with them.. including their negative impacts.. which is what always kept me away from them in the past. On one of my pieces this year I was awaiting a buck I got 1 picture of the year before as he was what seemed to be the oldest and "best" buck visiting this location after I had taken the 2 slightly older class deer from it (a 3 yr old.. and a 4 yr old). He returned.. which I was happy about. This time giving me many more angles in which to judge his age with. I determined him at 3 yrs of age this year.. so I decided I'd let him pass despite being already in the low to mid 130" range because of age. The very next day he came by at under 8 yards and broadside at one point.. but I already made the choice. Despite my heart rate blowing up as he then walked directly under me I never reached for my bow. Without the trailcam pics.. I believe without a doubt I would have tried to take him. With the trailcam pics... I chose to just sit and observe.. hoping for his return at age 4. Damn you "Mack the Knife"... damn you.
I learned a lot from mine this year, first cam placement is every thing. get it out of the line of sight from the deer eyes will give give you a edge from keeping the deer from finding the cam and changing it's trails. and setting it up 7-9 feet off the ground really helps with the ir flash. As far as seeing big deer most early deer before the rut i was only getting night pics until almost oct 31 then daylight pics really picked up, and i passed a lot of deer over a few pics i got of what i would call loner traveling bucks that i never got a chance at while on stand..live by the sword thing i guess. Also every year someone kills a deer on my ground that i didnt get on a deer cam so dont get in the mindset that there isn't any big deer because some bucks just dont follow the rules
