2021 Alberta shed hunting thread

[bonedogg]

Decided to drive a few hours with my son to see what we could find for antlers. We met up with a buddy and his son for some exercise, hiked the edges of his farm hard and found nothing for most of the day. Lots of deer sign, just nothing on the ground we could see. We went back to his farm for a fantastic home cooked soup and sandwiches on fresh home made buns and were off to a spot close to the house. Kids were having a blast, sun was shining but we could tell they were getting tired. We checked one last spot and when we split up I walked into a chunk of swamp spruce and on the edge spooked a big Buck but just couldn’t see his points, just knew he was big as his rack smacked the thick spruce on his way across the lease road. I wanted to check out his bed and found antler 1 between us. Not his, as he had both still attached.

 

[bonedogg]

Bewildered at what just happened and a few fist pumps and I was on my way back to the truck. On the trail I walked in on, I stemmed off on one trail that had fresh sign and stumbled into another. Could it be his match or was I in a sweet spot?

 

[bonedogg]

Match, 100 yds apart and it shouldn’t have happened based on the snow and where they fell. This is where it gets interesting ....

 

[bonedogg]

Back in 2014 the landowner found this set. At the time we figured he was a 3 year old.

 

[bonedogg]

The following year in 2015 I found one side of the same deer in the same field.

 

[bonedogg]

Now back to yesterday. Same quarter, 6 years later.

you guys and gals figure it’s him?

I think so, bigger side goes 75” , 70” for the other. The curve in the brow and the nub on the bases are identical. This deer is perhaps 9-10 years old......

 

[bonedogg]

 

[brownbear932008]

Gotta be the same deer it appears it's ancient. That's really cool!

 

[bonedogg]

 

[bonedogg]

 

[bonedogg]

His massive body makes his antlers look smaller in the trail cam pics, my buddy passed on him 2 times looking for big Doug.

 

[SaskHunter]

His massive body makes his antlers look smaller in the trail cam pics, my buddy passed on him 2 times looking for big Doug.

Your buddy has more patience/composure than I do.

 

[dcopas78]

Sure looks to be off the same deer. Dad and I found sheds off of a buck over a 7 year period. We found his set 2 times in that period with and single sides the other. We had numerous trail cam pictures of him as well. He had a very distinctive double throat patch. First shed we figured he was a 2 or 3 year old. He was always a 4x5. He topped out at about 160 gross. It was amazing how little he changed from shed years 4 through 6. He nose dived in shed year 7 (probably 9 or 10 years old) and we never saw him again so we assumed he died later that winter. It will be cool to see what that one does next year!

 

[cahunter805]

Definitely looks to be the same buck. The mass is incredible!
Wheres the pics of big Doug?

 

[bonedogg]

His massive body makes his antlers look smaller in the trail cam pics, my buddy passed on him 2 times looking for big Doug

Definitely looks to be the same buck. The mass is incredible!
Wheres the pics of big Doug?

 

[bonedogg]

Never did get trail cam pics of him this year as much as he tried. His dad has seen him twice since the season ended in November so he’s still around....

 

[bonedogg]

Around 215” buck

 

[CUElk]

What tha... holy crap that's a big deer. Hope you get him.

 

[cahunter805]

I can see why he was holding out for big Doug! That’s an amazing buck!

 

[Slate]

Wow