Backyard Bucky - DANG!

Treeslug said:
Muddyboots, Don't take this the wrong way, but I believe I read that you "might shake an arrow off the rest." There's your problem. You are too close to the deer. Move back about 250 yards and he won't look so big. I know it will be a long shot, but if you start practicing right now, who knows?
Just kidding. I have put my bow aside and now hunt with handguns. LongRangHunting is sort of subjective. It is very satisfying to reach out and touch one with my 7 mag., but I also like sneaking up on the little rascals with a handgun. There is still something for me about the smell of gunpowder in the air. I hope YOUR son gets him. Good luck.
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My son is 38 and has a killer lease in Indiana. I killed a 138 last year there and son killed a 151 year before. I use to hunt with handgun and had fun doing it with Ruger Redhawk .44 and TC Contender in .35Rem. Checked that off bucket list! Had couple kills around 200 yds so cool to do that.
 
Muddyboots said:
nicholasjohn: Great catch! I posted up the wrong pic of another buck that is here. He isn't quite as big and a year younger. I didn't even noticed that I grabbed wrong pic! Good eyeballs!! There are actually three bucks traveling together with two being a year younger than the bigger one and the bodies sure show it.
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Double eye-guards are pretty easy to notice, Muddyboots. It's remarkable how similar the main frame of those two bucks' racks are. You've got some good genetics for antlers in your area. With three of those bruisers running around out there, if you do end up popping that bigger one, you don't have to worry about some little forkie doing the breeding. The other two bucks will take care of that. They may just start a year earlier than they were planning on. Another note : That bigger buck is probably already notorious among your neighbors, and somebody is going to push too hard and send him into nocturnal mode for the full duration of the season. He's already old enough that he's nobody's fool, and he may disappear for a while. Just when you start thinking that he got himself nailed during hunting season, you'll find his sheds in your back woodlot, and next summer you'll be posting more pictures of him - and he'll be bigger still. We hear this story all the time.
 
Yep, just grabbed a pic without even looking. Sad news though, pulling out of our road mid morning, I spotted a large bodied deer crossing road maybe 1/4 mile up and it had terrible head bob from shoulder limp. I haven't had time to go there to look for blood but it definitely was a deer that was hit hard in shoulder. Vehicle or arrow is not known at this time. Will watch cams closely.
 
Muddyboots said:
Yep, just grabbed a pic without even looking. Sad news though, pulling out of our road mid morning, I spotted a large bodied deer crossing road maybe 1/4 mile up and it had terrible head bob from shoulder limp. I haven't had time to go there to look for blood but it definitely was a deer that was hit hard in shoulder. Vehicle or arrow is not known at this time. Will watch cams closely.
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Your adventure may be just beginning, Sir. If one of your bucks took a serious orthopedic injury, and he lives through it, you may be posting pictures of a grossly non-typical monster buck in the next few years. If he was limping, but still getting along at a somewhat normal pace, he is quite likely to survive this tangle with an automobile or poorly-shot arrow. I would remain optimistic about this, and keep an eye on your trail cameras.

These animals are tough as nails, Muddyboots. I have shot deer that had arrows embedded in their scapula or leg bones, and they were all healed over just fine. I didn't even notice a limp on any of them, and didn't find the arrowheads until I butchered them. I have also shot a fair number of deer that only had three legs, and I'll bet that you have as well. They seem to do just fine with that, particularly if it is a front leg that is lost.

Another consideration is that if this one does survive, he will probably go "underground" while he's recovering from this injury, which may dovetail into his survival of the rest of the hunting season. If this injury causes him to sit out the rut this year, he will be much less likely to do something stupid that gets him killed. I'm keenly interested in hearing how this one settles out.
 
Tough is probably an understatement. We wouldn't last a day in the winter conditions they survive. What they can live through from a bullet, arrow or vehicle is mind boggling at times. We had a dominant doe here for about 5 years on three legs that literally kicked the crap out of all other deer to set the pecking order when we could winter feed. She was top of the chain and she let every one else know it bucks included. I hope to get up the road later and see what I can find just in case there is a blood trail. If so, will call neighbors to see if anyone hit one and maybe provide a line on it for recovery. Absolutely hate seeing one go to waste due to tracking.
 
Muddyboots said:
Tough is probably an understatement. We wouldn't last a day in the winter conditions they survive. What they can live through from a bullet, arrow or vehicle is mind boggling at times. We had a dominant doe here for about 5 years on three legs that literally kicked the crap out of all other deer to set the pecking order when we could winter feed. She was top of the chain and she let every one else know it bucks included. I hope to get up the road later and see what I can find just in case there is a blood trail. If so, will call neighbors to see if anyone hit one and maybe provide a line on it for recovery. Absolutely hate seeing one go to waste due to tracking.
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An old buddy down in southern Oregon used to have a bunch of blacktails feeding in his yard, and he watched them all the time - he even had them all named. One got nailed by a car one time, a mature doe. I saw her the next summer, with a pair of healthy fawns. She also had one back leg that was on backwards. No kidding - that was the way it healed, and it worked just fine. Of course, she walked funny, but she could keep up with the rest of the deer just fine. My buddy told me that she raised twin fawns the next year as well, but I never saw them. She was also the lead doe in her little group, and the young does all gave her plenty of room, lest they risk a good ol'-fashioned A**-kicking from the old blister. She was kind of a bossy doe, and herded the rest of them around like she was boss-chicken in the hen house. It was funny to watch, and she gave up nothing to the other deer in the bunch.
 
Muddyboots said:
LVJ: Thank you for kind thoughts! Doing well!

Pic just came in off camera and we ran to sunroom and watched him tear up field saplings for about 20 minutes! It was actually a privilege to just watch him in all his grandeur. This was at 5:40PM moments ago!View attachment 217716
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Nice buck. If you think he'll make it through the hunting season and doesn't have a high prospect of being poached, wait till next year. He's a good'n
 
Treeslug said:
Your neighbor shot that deer out of season. What a great neighbor.
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Yes we are definitely not friends I just don't wanna start any trouble it will come back on him for sure but I have pictures three days after season closed of that deer with the time and the date if those horns are hanging on his wall one call to the game warden could be trouble but I will not stoop to their level
 
Jspeed said:
I promise I'd report him...
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I would love to but you don't have to live next-door for the rest of your life I've been pushed out of my spring which was my main water source at the time I've had gates and fences vandalized things are fairly quiet right now and I hope they stay that way
 
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