sampotter

There can be fibromas, which are wartlike tumors. However, this thing is under the skin and the haircoat doesn't appear to be messed up

looks like an abcess under the skin to me

There is certainly a lot more that is understood about whitetail reproduction than is really known. It is a fact that the gestation can vary from 185-215 days, and it is surmised that a doe can hold off fawning if there are adverse conditions. Also- there is the possibility that a little Darwinism will take place in the case of this doe; if she does conceive, she may fawn early and in bad weather, thereby causing the death of her fawn, thus preventing her from passing on her genes to the next generation. This may be a reason why there always seems to be a few barren does around in the summer time.

I don't know if you read my opening post, but there was a doe in heat on my farm on monday, October 25th. The buck and doe were seen by nearly everyone on the farm. They were bedded in an open hayfield all day. She was in heat, and unless the buck was gay, I suspect she was bred.

Sounds like a deal

For the past 5 years Alsheimer's rut prediction has been spot on. The rut never peaks at the same time every year. When mowing hay in the spring sometimes we mow fawns in every field and other times none, even if we start the same week in consecutive years. Alsheimer makes his living by being in the woods with deer. He has photographed behavior most of have never seen. He may not be a deer, but he seems to have a better handle on them than all of us put together. Regardless- a doe in heat on 10/25/10 is a little off from the oldtimer belief that does always come into heat around Nov. 15. Funny how there was a full moon 2 days ago.

I don't know how many of you follow Charles Alsheimer's rut predictions; I do, and I will say it sure is hard to discredit. This year is supposed to be weird- the earliest rutting moon so in recent history (2 days ago). Alsheimer predicted some does would come into heat off this moon, but because it is so early, teh majority would come in off the next full moon in the 3rd week of November. Here's what I have seen- 2 nights ago a yearling buck was dogging does in front of me, grunting like mad. This AM one of my employees came to work at 6 and told me all about a buck guarding a bedded doe in an open alfalfa field in front of his house. I drove up there and verified his story- a nice buck I have trail video of guarding a doe in the middle of the field- meaning one thing, she is coming in heat! Get your butts in the woods!

Thanks guys. I'll tell the 'ole man. Wow, is he pumped! I don't know how many times I've heard the story... And it only gets better with time. Video Camera is a Bushnell trophy cam. Still camera is a Canon digital Rebel

My dad got the thrill of his life last night...

they look like thoroughbreds trotting through the woods

Now thats exciting! Looks like he drilled it too.

Between Raquette an Tupper

Tough to tell, but they aren't more than a year apart in age. The 12 pt would be in the 140s and the 8 around 130

My brother just sent me the 3rd installment of Adirondack moose pics. He has identified 4 different bulls now within a mile of eachother.

shooooterrrr.

Tough to say, the coloration makes it hard to judge the shape/size of the muzzle. I have killed a couple of coyotes in CT that were absolutely yellow like a lab, saw one the same way in NY last year, and have seen black ones in CT and NY. Certainly an odd one though.Maybe you need to get a closer look...

Went to Connecticut for a little warmup. 28yds, got both lungs and the top 2"of heart. Went down in sight 65 yds from tree.

Nice double throat patch on #2 also

The main fact is that everyone is in it for different reasons. I hunt to get away from the social scene. A comment earlier about needing to get a job if you have so much time to hunt; I am a dairy farmer- I milk 1900 cows. I work over 60 hours a week, every week, except I save some vacation days to hunt. I still pass on little bucks. I'd rather watch them than kill them, but its the thought of a musclebound, stinky, mature buck that really makes it exciting. But, like I said- we are all hunting for different reasons. As for the internet tough guys- you remind me of that Brad Paisley song. Grow up. This forum is here to bring hunters together- not make enemies. Lively discussion is one thing- being jackasses is another.

Ou here in the Fingerlakes they are the most popular way to hunt in gun season. I have seen more than 10 guys push a 5 acre patch of woods. Its a scary sight. Lots of deer get wounded and lots of shots are fired.

I am going to fire up some opinions- I hate Deer Drives! Gun season opens up and the orange army appears. Guys start driving deer on opening day, deer run to town and hide behind houses, in culverts, etc. This is a method best used for shooting birds and rabbits, not deer. It sure isn't hunting. Its more like a football play with guns. It ruins hunting for anyone else who isn't doing drives as deer go into survival mode and shut down normal daytime movement. I hunt on one 15acre parcel that is extremely thick. I never hunt upwind of cover- you should see how many deer pile in there! I guess I shouldn't be so quick to condemn deer drives- they send deer straight into my lap!

The voluntary decision to pass on younger deer seems regional. In my area there are a lot of guys that let em grow, so more and more guys start holding out because they are encouraged by sightings of big, mature bucks on a frequent basis. SplitG2- I wouldn't mind seeing it being straight-up bow only. I have gained a lot of access to land that was off-limits by agreeing to hunt only with a bow.

Steve863-I still don't take the Elitist label as an insult. If you and your dictionary label me and my counterparts as superior members of an "elite" society- thats fine, maybe we are. If you think I care about big antlers- I do. Like I said we're as different as flyfishermen and bait fishermen and the same labels apply there too. To me- killing immature deer- bucks or does has no challenge. I have had yearling bucks walk straight to me as I am standing in an open field- not smart enough to be scared. People have been fascinated by antlers FOREVER. Thats why I'm not into duck hunting- they're all the same. Antlers are all unique- I just like to see them reach their maximum potential, which is not technically until a buck is 5-6 yrs old. There's nothing worse than a really great 2yr old buck being killed before maturity. Whenever I hear "you can't eat the antlers"- I have to laugh. Yes, you can't eat them, but you sure can sit there and look at them for a long time. Then if you tire of looking at them, you can turn them and get a different persective, and then stare at them some more. The only problem is- you can only turn a spike so many times before you realize its only ever going to be a spike.

I left out the part where I killed 3 other does in CT, still tagged 2 here. There is a little more to it than ONLY wanting bigger antlers, which I do want. Managing the deer herd is about keeping the population in check as well. Maybe if NY had a reputation for big bucks like Iowa does, we would be able to charge nearly $500 for a non-resident tag and still have a long waiting list of hopeful hunters. In the end, NY's deer are a natural resource that belongs to NY, so any management practice that woud increase revenue from hunting is obviously beneficial.

Just like the AR discussion- lots of heavy-handed opinions, and yes most of us can be judged as ingnorant, -on both sides of this argument. Do you know why Iowa is one of the best big-buck states? Yes the genentics are good and so are the soils, but #1 is the limited gun season that doesn't even start until December and only lasts a week. Bucks get to grow up and as the average buck is older and bigger, hunter expectations increase too. Guys just don't shoot every little buck they see because they know they can do better. I choose to wait it out for a mature buck because I enjoy the hunt and the challenge of it less than the kill itself. Tag out and my season's over. I'm in no hurry. I never had a shot at a mature buck last year, so my tag went unused. Oh well- shot a couple of does along the way instead. They taste better anyhow. I will be classified as Elitist by a bunch of Forum Members, but it is not an insult- more of a compliment, Thank you. If we were fisherman we would be as extreme as "catch and release flyfisherman" and "filling my bucket bait fishermen". There are both and there are also some areas that are fly only and catch/release only. Nothing is going to change that. I just choose to hunt with those that have the same principles as me and I try to convert anyone who'll listen.