* Horn- Trophy Hunters * Question..

[freerhunter16]

We have been pouring the protein to them (over 80K lbs so far this year.) But supplemental feed is no match for mother nature. Our three biggest known bucks on the ranch were 7 last year and we were super excited about them as 8 yrs old seems to be when they "pop". Two are MIA so far and one is a melt down.

The herd as a whole seems to be way behind what we typically see for this time of year. The last two years were bumper crop years for fawns, so mother nature doing her part to keep populations in check this year.

[Mexico]

We have been pouring the protein to them (over 80K lbs so far this year.) But supplemental feed is no match for mother nature. Our three biggest known bucks on the ranch were 7 last year and we were super excited about them as 8 yrs old seems to be when they "pop". Two are MIA so far and one is a melt down.

The herd as a whole seems to be way behind what we typically see for this time of year. The last two years were bumper crop years for fawns, so mother nature doing her part to keep populations in check this year.

Kinda what I'm nervous about on my end. We have several 6/7 yr olds I had huge hopes for... and were waiting for them to pop. Now I'm not too excited.

[freerhunter16]

Kinda what I'm nervous about on my end. We have several 6/7 yr olds I had huge hopes for... and were waiting for them to pop. Now I'm not too excited.

If they show up and have gone downhill, pass them and pray fer rain!

[Sika]

We've had a little over 3 inches of rain since November. Some of the bucks look really good and some look down. We started feeding cottonseed in December last season (normally only Feb-Sept) and I think that helped. I'm more worried about next season because we don't have a large number of 6 year olds this year. 2016 must have been a bad year for fawn recruitment. My guess is we will let a lot of 7 year olds go this year - especially if they are down - so we have something to hunt next year.