Think we're off to a good start!

[mrbb]

well its always nice to see a few good bucks make it , and get them on cam, raises the hope for next season and that droopy ear one, must be a fighter LOL
looks like he's seen some better days!
I seen a few bucks today while plowing snow, still holding onto antlers here too
I really would have thouyght all the darn coeather we have would have dropped them early this winter, hasn't been above freezing here since like mid Dec. so a cold winbter here this yr
the 2+ feet of snow isn';t helping any either!

[zachc]

I agree nice to see some good bucks made it so far! I actually took the pic of the droopy eared one from a trail cam video I have of him. He looks pretty rough as far as his face and what not but seemed to be walking around ok. Actually in the video he walks in towards the corn pile, 2 more deer come into frame heading towards the corn pile and he walks away, went from dominating the area to seems to be very submissive, for obvious reasons lol. Anyhow hopes he makes it until next season, should be a giant. Which brings a question, I've heard that if bucks get injured it can mess up how their racks grow the next year (non typical in some cases) think this will effect it at all considering its to his face?

[mrbb]

yes they do say that, and its normally the oppisite side as to the injury the rack gets funky on
say breaksa right leg, left side of antlers gets funny

I have seen a bunch of bucks where I hunted alot, get shot, and such, and never have any racks grow funky?
BUT I have always had a few bucks every yrs that grew messed up racks, and were just very young 1.5 yr olds, so maybe it can be passed on thru genes too!
most bucks in my old hunting area, never lived long, to see them a few yrs later what they MIGHT have been/
only time will tell
he doesn't seem to have any BIG injuries that jump out , just looks like he's gone a few rounds on both the winning and loosing sides! LOL
in the vid, was he limping at all or???
if so, maybe a betetr chance of a non typ rack then ?

I personally think the antler deal, happens more when they break a bone , or a BIG trama
and then some how that transfers growth into the antlers, just my opinion!

[mrbb]

here is a droopy eared one I got yesterday!
BUT I think its just getting ready to fight , as its on a BIG food pile
and got a lot of pic's of them with pinned ears back eyeballing each other LOL

[zachc]

So the big 8 is back (nicknamed "Big nose"), can tell its him by his messed up eye and droopy ear. Already by far outgrowing the other bucks I have on camera. Very anxious to see what he going to turn into this year! Also been trying to post this other pic since April but my phone was acting crazy. Anyways, I got this pic of a smaller buck in the beginning of April with complete hard horns, no velvet what so ever. I'm figuring that maybe he never lost his rack last year...I don't know. Anyone have any other guesses?

[mrbb]

I have seen many bucks hold there antlers till the end of march, so , I have to think its possible he just held on really long and more likely did shed them soon after your pic of him
I hope the big 8 gets even bigger this yr for you
cool to be able to have traits that stand out and get to know a buck and see him develop
I haven't seen any bucks at all up my way yet this yr??
I think I have too many bears this yr, and the deer have been staying away from my yard, so far seen 11 different bears here, and there here almost daily some times 3-4 at a time
plus the one mother bear with her 3 cubs has been running up and down trees making a LOT of noise, SO< the doe's with fawns I know will avoid my yard for a while, as bears in PA eat a lot of fawns, being able to smell them before other predators(coyotes and such)
PA did a study a few yrs back and found MOST all fawns were eaten by bears than any other predator , by a huge margin.

here is the mother bear, and her cubs, I got them a kiddie pool too LOL, since there here so often, makes for a fun evening show on sunny days! LOL

[zachc]

Pull the cards today, just thought I'd post a few for some fun...and conversation since its so dead on here, lol. Big nose is still coming through pretty regularly (knock on wood), we watched him out in the clover plot last Monday shortly before dark. The wife said he came out a few more times throughout the week before dark. And then last night about 20-30 minutes before dusk he stepped out with a yearling and 2 smaller bucks, they fed about 70 yards from my front porch until I lost them when it got dark. With any luck he'll keep this pattern up through at least the first couple weeks of the season so I can slide an arrow through him with the new BowTech! I want this deer so bad its crazy! The pic of the one buck is going to be a pretty good deer it looks like and then the smaller buck just has a crazy rack. I have quite a few videos of him hitting up the 30-06 mineral, which by the way that stuff is amazing! On his right side he has 4 points that shoot up straight out of his head like spears and his left side is funky too! Can't wait to see what this dude grows into! Anyways anyone else having any preseason luck?

[mrbb]

well thanks for adding something to the site, its sure slow here anymore
and yes looks like you got some nice bucks there
best of luck with him keeping his pattern for the first few hunts and getting that arrow where you want it!
I haven't seen many bucks this yr up my way, But haven't been looking much either
last yr all I got mostly was doe and fawns in the yard, well that and bears and other critters, but deer wise, seems all I get are non bucks
lots of fawns this yr and young animals of all species here

should be a good yr for hunters
ME< I gave up hunting I think!, just like running cam's and enjoying the outdoors and others hunters stories and hunts!