That buck that will likely disappear but you hope slips up during the rut

[Uncle_Milty]

dang good deer right there...just curious on why you dont shoot deer with broken tines? lease rule? thoughts behind it?

i like them busted up a little and taxi's can fix it these days if you want...

i would hate to pass that dude at 7.5 because of a couple missing tines

I was wondering the same thing

[freerhunter16]

dang good deer right there...just curious on why you dont shoot deer with broken tines? lease rule? thoughts behind it?

i like them busted up a little and taxi's can fix it these days if you want...

i would hate to pass that dude at 7.5 because of a couple missing tines

Not a lease rule as we own the ranch. I know taxis can fix tines, just our personal choice is if they are broke they get a pass to the following year. At 7.5, this deer is just now in his first year of being of age to hunt. We see our deer continue to grow at extremely old ages so I don’t mind letting a broken deer live. Luckily, our neighbors don’t shoot broken deer either. So if he is broken, his chances of making it another year are extremely high. We also have other deer that are of age and size to hunt, so if he shows up broken I will shift my focus to one of them.

[jshouse]

Not a lease rule as we own the ranch. I know taxis can fix tines, just our personal choice is if they are broke they get a pass to the following year. At 7.5, this deer is just now in his first year of being of age to hunt. We see our deer continue to grow at extremely old ages so I don’t mind letting a broken deer live. Luckily, our neighbors don’t shoot broken deer either. So if he is broken, his chances of making it another year are extremely high. We also have other deer that are of age and size to hunt, so if he shows up broken I will shift my focus to one of them.

gotcha, all good reasons, good luck with him

[Howdy]

Wow. A bunch of stellar animals here. Good luck to all of you!

[helibow]

Probably an unpopular opinion here.. but... deer don't "go nocturnal".... they don't vaporize during the day and magically appear at night inside the feed pen, only to levitate out of there into the abyss when the sun starts to come up. Disclaimer - I used to think the same until I started hunting in states that don't allow feeders and require hunters to "hunt" rather than sit on a stand over a feeder. Disclaimer again - i'll sit on a feeder when i'm back home in Tx and hope for a big buck, so don't get all twisted about that statement. My point is, we don't really 'hunt' in Texas. it wasn't until I started hunting western states, and moved to Colorado, where I truly learned how to HUNT a deer. Learning to pattern them, know where they bed, where they water, where they seek shade in the hot sun, observing the signs, quietly scouting trails to see when/how they are using them, etc., gives us a much better chance at finding them. I put in a ton of work sitting still and watching for hours pre-season to figure out where they are these days, so I can understand their patterns.

That big buck is still likely on that property somewhere. Go scout and find where he is. Put out game cameras well off the feeder to help pattern. All deer travel, especially during the rut, but that doesnt mean that if you find one hanging out that you can't pattern it and figure out how to keep it in the area. They don't get big by being blind to what happens at a feed pen, but there are ways to keep their nose and their bellies interested in staying around without erecting a corn feeder and pen.

Certainly the farthest from an expert - but something to think about if you are willing to give up going after a deer of of high quality... typically what you put in you will get out at the end of the day.

[jshouse]

Probably an unpopular opinion here.. but... deer don't "go nocturnal".... they don't vaporize during the day and magically appear at night inside the feed pen, only to levitate out of there into the abyss when the sun starts to come up. Disclaimer - I used to think the same until I started hunting in states that don't allow feeders and require hunters to "hunt" rather than sit on a stand over a feeder. Disclaimer again - i'll sit on a feeder when i'm back home in Tx and hope for a big buck, so don't get all twisted about that statement. My point is, we don't really 'hunt' in Texas. it wasn't until I started hunting western states, and moved to Colorado, where I truly learned how to HUNT a deer. Learning to pattern them, know where they bed, where they water, where they seek shade in the hot sun, observing the signs, quietly scouting trails to see when/how they are using them, etc., gives us a much better chance at finding them. I put in a ton of work sitting still and watching for hours pre-season to figure out where they are these days, so I can understand their patterns.

That big buck is still likely on that property somewhere. Go scout and find where he is. Put out game cameras well off the feeder to help pattern. All deer travel, especially during the rut, but that doesnt mean that if you find one hanging out that you can't pattern it and figure out how to keep it in the area. They don't get big by being blind to what happens at a feed pen, but there are ways to keep their nose and their bellies interested in staying around without erecting a corn feeder and pen.

Certainly the farthest from an expert - but something to think about if you are willing to give up going after a deer of of high quality... typically what you put in you will get out at the end of the day.

good post, but i hunt 3 spots, in 3 different counties, all within 1 hr of each other. on 2 of them i dont see bucks till after halloween and then i am covered up with them. on the other one, i have bucks all over cams from april to october, and then they gone. its frustrating.

on all 3 properties i am covered up with doe year round, and usually keep food out pretty regular.

[dustoffer]

Here's mine---one night pic and one day pic but hoping to see him in person--