Deer - lets see em

[Brad]

Last hour of the season yesterday.


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What a beautiful buck… I’m a sucker for palmation.

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

My smallest buck ever. I saw a lot of spikes this year so decided to finally shoot one. I think I could have fit all quarters, backstraps, tenders and trim into two game bags. The real kicker was getting him to camp and realizing the tag came off somewhere. I had to hike back but found the tag.

 

[Xs24-7]

Took this buck late a November with my bow. Rattled and he came charging in. I panicked and missed, but he gave me a second opportunity and I hit him well and he fell in front of my stand.

 

[RobertD]

Built a fast twist .270 Win this summer, 700LA, 1:8tw, 27" Light Palma contour, 0.290 freebore added, Holland heavy recoil lug, Triggertech trigger, Magpul stock. The .270 Win with COAL of 3.63 in the 700LA gives performance with heavier higher BC bullets that will stun you. My GTG load is 156 Hammer Hunter at 3200 fps with RL26 the magic pixie dust for .270's. Yes, this is correct and not a typo. My second GTG load is 170EOL at 3100 fps.

Killed this buck Thanksgiving morning in northern Indiana lease my son has. Not a long shot but not an easy one since he was in a pacer type walk at 240 yards. Double lung shot and the Hammer did the rest.

Green scored by taxidermist at 161 5/8, just slightly bigger than last buck on lease at 156 7/8. This buck was a warrior by any definition you can think of. His right front shoulder was broken and healed, right rear hip and leg broken and healed and field dressing found 3 broken ribs completely broken in half and healed up in a hard mass. Looks like hit by a vehicle and healed up somehow. Man, are they tough animals!
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Another example of a buck throwing a non-typical/trash side on the opposite side of a healed up injury

Great buck by the way

 

[drexal]

November 2021

 

[Swamp Donkey]

2021 Rudolph 6.8 western

 

[Lonster]

A cull shot by my 11 y.o. step-son with a Remington Model Seven HS 7mm-08 with a 120 grain Hammer Hunter hand load at 120 yards, DRT.

 

[Andrewlonghi]

Florida public land trophys

 

[bowhuntmontana]

Florida public land trophys
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Very impressive! Especially for Florida public land.

 

[Andrewlonghi]

Very impressive! Especially for Florida public land.

Thank you...

 

[3855WIN]

NE Louisiana. Last afternoon of rifle season.

 

[S-3 Ranch]

Some nice texas white tail we shot ( me on the Right), open range hunting, on 60,000 acres in south Texas

 

[Pahoundsman]

NE Louisiana. Last afternoon of rifle season.

Very nice

 

[Trayball20]

Nebraska whitletail from this year.
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I had my buck officially scored last week. Gross score-205 6/8" and Net score-195 2/8".

 

[Pedropistola]

I drew what I consider to be my first quality deer tag in 2021, a somewhat rare WY rut hunt for mule deer in a unit with relatively low tag numbers. I was really looking forward to this hunt after finally taking my first mule deer the year before. I knew I would have to do something I had hardly ever done before in order to make my goal, pass on a legal buck. I've lost count of how many does I've taken over the years, but I can still count my bucks on one hand. And none were anything to take home to mother. I wasn't able to do much physical scouting but got some good info from biologists and did my escouting. Not a lot of access to public land but not a lot of hunters either. Waited for the last half of the season for the rut to really kick in and others to fill tags early.

I got out there in the dark on the first day of my hunt. Within minutes of first light I was watching a buck chase does 100 yards infront and down below me. Watched a much bigger group of does being harassed by a bigger buck about a mile away. This continued on, moving in my direction, for about an hour or so. A few hours into my hunt and I had seen ~15 deer and passed on 3 legal bucks in shooting distance. Having had a great morning hunt, I decided to head into town and top off on gas for the next few days to be spent camping on BLM. On the way a fast moving doe, and wide rack, following behind caught my eye right off the road. I pulled over to get a closer look and when I did both deer ran across the road, across the boundary, into my unit. I got out, hiked a few hundred yards in that direction and set up the rifle on a much bigger deer than I had seen earlier that morning. He was what I was looking for, but I passed. Too early in the hunt and too easy being so close to the road. I got gas and lunch, the whole time thinking about how I'd regret passing that bigger buck. I told myself if he was still there locked on to that hot doe when I got back, I would take him.

He was. I spotted him locked down with the doe, pushing off a forky buck. I stalked a few hundred yards to within 150yds of them in 5-6ft sage brush. I lost sight of the big buck in the brush, but could still see the smaller buck and doe moving around. Eventually the big buck shook his head, his antlers giving away his position. He had bedded down, literally drooling, watching his doe and that annoying younger buck. I got a good look at him but still wasn't 100% on pulling the trigger. Within a couple minutes he stood up and started racking the sage. The doe was up and moving and she jumped the pasture fence, headed out into the middle of the state section. He decided to follow her, and as soon as I saw him start in the direction of the fence I knew I was going to take my shot at him. He came to a clearing right in front of the fence, I settled the crosshairs and squeezed one off, watching his back end drop before the rest of him disappeared behind the brush. A second later I could tell he was down and the shot was fatal, about 125yds standing and using my tripod to get over the sage.

Walking up to him I couldn't believe it had happened. Seemed too good to be true. First day, right off the road, and everything I was looking for in a buck this year. Not my kind of luck usually. The biologist in charge of managing this herd for the last couple decades or so told me if I saw a mature 4x4 with a 20" spread, I should probably take him. So even though it was the first day, and only 100 yds off the road, I did. A father and son stopped to take a look as I was dressing him, they said he was the biggest of about 20 they'd seen in the last few days.

I rough scored him at 19 7/8" wide (20 inches to my wife! Haha) and about 137" total. Not a record breaker by any means but the first decent buck I've taken. Aged him at 3.5-4.5, leaning toward 4.5, based on his teeth. It was a great hunt, although short, and I'm looking forward to besting him in 2022.

 

[wyoboypt]

Back from the taxidermist. 2020 buck.

 

[Stsinclair]

My first buck, 4x3, 2021 Colorado 3rd Rifle.

 

[grizzly63]

Wyoboypt, nice deer, get a better stud finder. Been there ,done that!

 

[grizzly63]

2021 Black Hills archery. It is rewarding to take a nice deer like this while road warriors are pounding the trails in their steel ponies. Came in to rattling and doe bleats.

 

[BOHNTR]

January 2022 archery Coues buck: