First year to bow hunt on our small place this year after living here for two years. The last time I bow hunted was in the early 80's! Man have things changed. At that time me and a few friends leased 200 acres in Travis County that had a common fence with Paleface Park (now Pace Bend). We leased that for $200 per gun and manual labor. Only had it for two years but I sure enjoyed it.
I'm also new to trying to age bucks. I'm seeing two bucks on my trail cams that are of interest to me. This first guy I actually drew on last Thursday evening during very last light. But, after settling the 20 yard pin on him I decided my sight picture was darker than I felt comfortable with. So passed him up. Hopefully... next time.
I only know of one neighbor that hunts about 1/2 mile from me and they bow hunt only also. There are probably over 100 acres including our property that isn't hunted hard. So I'd like to try to only harvest mature bucks if possible. Realizing that I'm not going to be able to improve the herd locally, but hoping that the herd in our area isn't hunted so hard that the good bucks don't have a chance to come into there own.
Anyway. I'm interested in opinions on age and which features you might be keying on for that guesstimate. I've read some info on estimating age on the hoof, but I lack enough field time right now to feel confident in my guesses. Again, this is a Hill Country deer located in eastern Blanco County.
This is my first time posting pictures... so I hope they post properly. Pictures of buck No. 1 follow. I'll post buck No. 2 later if this posting goes well. It's great to be back in the game.
Thanks,
Rusty
I'm also new to trying to age bucks. I'm seeing two bucks on my trail cams that are of interest to me. This first guy I actually drew on last Thursday evening during very last light. But, after settling the 20 yard pin on him I decided my sight picture was darker than I felt comfortable with. So passed him up. Hopefully... next time.
I only know of one neighbor that hunts about 1/2 mile from me and they bow hunt only also. There are probably over 100 acres including our property that isn't hunted hard. So I'd like to try to only harvest mature bucks if possible. Realizing that I'm not going to be able to improve the herd locally, but hoping that the herd in our area isn't hunted so hard that the good bucks don't have a chance to come into there own.
Anyway. I'm interested in opinions on age and which features you might be keying on for that guesstimate. I've read some info on estimating age on the hoof, but I lack enough field time right now to feel confident in my guesses. Again, this is a Hill Country deer located in eastern Blanco County.
This is my first time posting pictures... so I hope they post properly. Pictures of buck No. 1 follow. I'll post buck No. 2 later if this posting goes well. It's great to be back in the game.
Thanks,
Rusty
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