Beautiful buck! I would be excited too. Congratulations!
Ignore the resident Negative Nancy. If you’ve spent any time here, you know he’s just insecure and has major sour grapes when someone gets more attention than he does 🙄
I swear cats will survive on nothing more than spite. That’s tough, but geez they don’t die easy. Canines are way bigger pansies.
Sounds like some neat time spent in the stand. Glad you made it out.
With respect, this is one where hunters have co-opted a biological term to suit their aesthetic wants. Biologically speaking, “mature” nearly always means sexually reproductive age, particularly when we’re talking about wildlife. Any animal without antlers is mature when it reaches sexual...
In my experience doing necropsies on elk shot anywhere from 8-12 hours prior to postmortem, there is absolutely spoilage in that time even at -25 degrees. The side in contact with the ground holds heat. Large muscle groups hold heat. Rumens full of bacteria that are fermenting vegetation...
Despite the challenges, it sounds like a good father/daughter trip was had. Perhaps an eye-opening experience for her on a couple levels, but I hope she enjoyed it enough to go again. No doubt the next one will be better.
I would look closely for cuts, cactus, splinters, broken nails, swelling, or if anything feels out of place. If you can’t pinpoint anything you can treat, I would restrict activity for a day or two and if no improvement, take him in.
USFWS easements do not have an access component, and that is frankly outside the mission of the agency. But the great thing about having a variety of easement types and easement terms is that they appeal to a broader swath of landowners and their unique situation/concerns/desires for their property.
If the wound is that necrotic, the animal likely has some level of sepsis or systemic bacterial infection. Some of these pathogens can infect humans. I personally wouldn’t consume it. If you do eat it, cooking it well to kill any pathogens would be recommended.
In the future, if you can get the...