antlerradar
Well-known member
The first buck. I found all of his antlers and him dead in a mile and a half of river bottom. I saw him many times over the his life. Even watched him with one antler on his head one Jan. 9th. That was the only one of the big antlers I couldn't find. It is likely He died of EHD.
The second whitetail: I found all but the first set of his antlers in a 40 acre bend in the river. The other set was on the other side of the river. I also found a smaller set about a mile away but I parted with them before I found the bigger antlers. Wish I would have kept them. I saw him often when he was young but only once or twice when he was older. He was a smart old buck. A neighbor found him dead about a mile and a half from were I found the antlers. I haven't been able to talk him out of the head. Likely died of EHD.
The mule deer: I never saw the mule deer. The year I graduated from high school (1984)I took the fall off to work and hunt. I had a goal of taking a big mule deer. The season was all most over and I still had a tag. My father suggested I ask a friend of his (Bill) to hunt his ranch. Back in those days you could get permission by just asking. The first day I hunted Bill's ranch I found the big antler (2nd from the left bottom row) before the sun was up. At the time it was the biggest antler I had ever found and better yet it had been dropped that spring. I hunted the ranch a few more times but never found the other antler or saw the buck. I learned a few years later that the landowner on a neighboring ranch had been hunting a giant buck in the mid 80s a few miles away. He never got the buck and it is likely that was the buck I found the antlers from.
I asked Bill if I could come back and look for the other antler and he gave me the ok. In 85 I found the set in the top left and one of the antlers from the top middle set. I got the match from Bill's antler pile. I could not find the match to the big antler I found first. I would show the antlers to Bill and talk ranching over a beer. We became good friends.
In 86 I had other priority's and didn't look for the other antler.
I was back in the summer of 87 and I found the what I thought was the match to the big antler about 1/2 mile away. (Bottom row second from the right) It was right on top of a ridge and I had been there in 85. I figured I had missed it.
In 1990 I found the big antler(bottom row middle) about a mile and a half from were I found the others. Spent a lot of time looking for the match but couldn't turn it up.
In 1997 I was walking back to my pickup when something told me to walk through thick patch of juniper. In the middle of the juniper was the match to the first antler I had found. It was only three hundred yards from the first and I had been walking by it for 13 years.
That meant that I was missing the match to the antler I found in 87. I started looking for it and found it and the smaller antler on the top. Unfortunately several of the points are chewed off.
About 15 years ago I was having a beer with Bill when I noticed the antlers hanging on the wall. I asked Bill where he got the antlers. He told me he found the buck dead just before Christmas in the mid 80 (1986 is written on the back) and that they had been in his office but he had recently moved them to the living room. I told Bill it was the buck I had found all of the antlers from and Bill said "when I die I will give you the antlers". I am glad to have the antlers but miss sure miss a good friend.
Antlerradar
The second whitetail: I found all but the first set of his antlers in a 40 acre bend in the river. The other set was on the other side of the river. I also found a smaller set about a mile away but I parted with them before I found the bigger antlers. Wish I would have kept them. I saw him often when he was young but only once or twice when he was older. He was a smart old buck. A neighbor found him dead about a mile and a half from were I found the antlers. I haven't been able to talk him out of the head. Likely died of EHD.
The mule deer: I never saw the mule deer. The year I graduated from high school (1984)I took the fall off to work and hunt. I had a goal of taking a big mule deer. The season was all most over and I still had a tag. My father suggested I ask a friend of his (Bill) to hunt his ranch. Back in those days you could get permission by just asking. The first day I hunted Bill's ranch I found the big antler (2nd from the left bottom row) before the sun was up. At the time it was the biggest antler I had ever found and better yet it had been dropped that spring. I hunted the ranch a few more times but never found the other antler or saw the buck. I learned a few years later that the landowner on a neighboring ranch had been hunting a giant buck in the mid 80s a few miles away. He never got the buck and it is likely that was the buck I found the antlers from.
I asked Bill if I could come back and look for the other antler and he gave me the ok. In 85 I found the set in the top left and one of the antlers from the top middle set. I got the match from Bill's antler pile. I could not find the match to the big antler I found first. I would show the antlers to Bill and talk ranching over a beer. We became good friends.
In 86 I had other priority's and didn't look for the other antler.
I was back in the summer of 87 and I found the what I thought was the match to the big antler about 1/2 mile away. (Bottom row second from the right) It was right on top of a ridge and I had been there in 85. I figured I had missed it.
In 1990 I found the big antler(bottom row middle) about a mile and a half from were I found the others. Spent a lot of time looking for the match but couldn't turn it up.
In 1997 I was walking back to my pickup when something told me to walk through thick patch of juniper. In the middle of the juniper was the match to the first antler I had found. It was only three hundred yards from the first and I had been walking by it for 13 years.
That meant that I was missing the match to the antler I found in 87. I started looking for it and found it and the smaller antler on the top. Unfortunately several of the points are chewed off.
About 15 years ago I was having a beer with Bill when I noticed the antlers hanging on the wall. I asked Bill where he got the antlers. He told me he found the buck dead just before Christmas in the mid 80 (1986 is written on the back) and that they had been in his office but he had recently moved them to the living room. I told Bill it was the buck I had found all of the antlers from and Bill said "when I die I will give you the antlers". I am glad to have the antlers but miss sure miss a good friend.
Antlerradar
