That's a young buck. The coat is too clean and the neck is thin, I think 2 or 3 years also.
Age this guy.
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BwanaObie
Member
Bamban - my guess-estimation is that the larger deer in the pics is about a 3 year old dark face youngster. Fair rack, decent sized body and possibly just pre-rut. I can only judge by the Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northeastern BC bucks I've hunted in Western Canada. If this nice buck were up here in the north part of the continent and in full & cold November rut his neck would be swollen at least twice that size and jumpy - not relaxed like this fellow is at present. So here he'd be a Sept, early Oct buck, then for the latter parts of Oct and into all of Nov and into early Dec the neck and front shoulders would fill out and he'd be ready to rumble! Still we're a long ways apart from you folks in TX so many factors come into play. I've lost count of the numbers of Whitetails I've taken after 55 or 60 of them, and passed up many more in forty years of hunting. At least a dozen of these noble game animals were over 300 + pounds on the hoof and many were B & C's. A lot of sportsmen down your way come up here annually for their Canuck buck fix and there's a good reason they keep coming back. Russell Thornberry for example.
Still, you have a nice buck there and it'd be interesting to hear if you'll harvest him this year, or let him pass for another season or two.. Good Luck!
Still, you have a nice buck there and it'd be interesting to hear if you'll harvest him this year, or let him pass for another season or two.. Good Luck!
Thank you for the input.
I plan to let it walk this year and maybe next. There was ugly big bodied 6 pointer that showed up during the extended season. That the one I plan to put on the ground.
Some day I will love to go to Canada to hunt before I get too old, still young at 70...need to find a good outfitter up there
Hard rock
Well-Known Member
That's the proper way too manageBottom line is if you want big deer you have to let them grow........Even the "cull" bucks will often turn out pretty nice if you let them reach maturity. We have found that shooting "cull" bucks before reaching maturity does not the reduce the number of these bucks you will see the next year. We now only shoot bucks that must be a minimum of 5 1/2 and it has made a huge difference.
Five years ago we took over a place in the Texas Hill Country that's not really known for huge deer. The place had been shot out and most of the bucks we did see were 2 1/2 with the occasional rare 3 year old. I was appointed "wildlife manager" of the group (6 of us on 2500 acres) and decided we were only going to shoot does the first 4 years. It was hard to do and ****ed some members off but they are sure glad now that we stuck with that plan. Last year the biggest buck we took off the place grossed just under 170".......and I think he was a 4 year old deer
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A better picture. The same buck? There is a dirt road the power line clearing crosses up the hill about 40 yards away. Most traffic looks that way. My hide is 240 yards away looking the clearing that crosses a deep ravine. I have shot from 350 yards into this clearing from further up the power line, and into the dirt road about 400 yards on water bottles. Impact area is a huge hill.
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A new one by the power line clearing. Two were traveling together...male bonding...lol
Revolting Peasant
Well-Known Member
Ewe necks on most, thin. Couple have fairly deep briskets but not a one appears to be old. Oldest maybe 4.5. It's a guess but nothing ancient.
You might try a feeder, protein, or salt/minerals and set your camera up for night shots. With this many good young deer and if the place truly hasn't been hunted, there should be an old nocturnal, bruiser warrior hiding out in there somewhere. The kind that don't make a mistake until the rut. That's your quarry.
You might try a feeder, protein, or salt/minerals and set your camera up for night shots. With this many good young deer and if the place truly hasn't been hunted, there should be an old nocturnal, bruiser warrior hiding out in there somewhere. The kind that don't make a mistake until the rut. That's your quarry.
Thank you. Will buy a feeder, hope to tag what you envision.
I am quite certain nobody hunts in the enclave. The property is surrounded with equally large lots in the 30 to 50 acres lots Most now have multi level multi $M mansions that sprung the last decade.
mcdil
Well-Known Member
When installing the feeder, ensure hogs can't access the feed. Otherwise, they will move in and take over, pushing everything else out. Ugh, I sure hated the July days with a manual post driver in the heat of the day, lol.
Thanks for the advice.
I can't reiterate this enough. Feeding equals hogs in most areas and devising a way to exclude them can be an exercise in frustration. They are very intelligent and very persistent.
Thank you.
And they can wreck almost anything that man can build.
