nyantler

Good for you.. just goes to show.. where there is a will there is a way!!

How can anyone have cold feet with all the great boots out today? I can wear no socks in some of the boots today and never get cold feet... I'd check your blood circulation!! lol

You can only do what you can do.. no sense beating yourself up about it. Stuff happens no matter how hard we try. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. As long as you think you've given this the attention it needs.. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

I agree... its a good way to lose a good buck during bow season, but I hunt the rain with gun

I'm pretty sure I'd shoot him..lol

Would love to have that story!!

Its just common to use the 1/2 because most guys see the buck during hunting seasons which would put them half way through the next year. You be right same.. that if they are talking about a buck cammed in early antler growth they would be closer to the previous year than half way to the next. People pick up habits quite easily and that is one of them.

I don't care if that buck was shot 10 years ago.. that is one hell of a buck!

Maybe gross yes...I'm thinking 150 + gross.. anyway.. that is a terrific buck.. he has all the bells and whistles.. what a deer!!

Be tough to get 160 outta him as an 8.. but man what a gorgeous buck!!!

I'd peg him for at least 3.5... lotta bone and body for 2.5

She should be very proud.. nice job!

Not to mention carrying capacity changes year to year in different areas based on available food source and changes in weather etc... it would take a ton of resources for the DEC to even think about anything but general population control

I'm not sure the DEC concerns themselves with optimum carrying capacity the way a good deer manager would.. they are limited to general population control of whitetails... it would be very hard for them to micro-manage small or private hunting lands. It would serve them better to educate guys on a general idea of controling herds in their own areas. I don't see how they could possibly manage deer other than in a general way. with so many hunters not on the same page about managing whitetails

Way to go Kiddo!! Nice Buck!!

Luck!!

I think it was 1995 when I did my first seminar on QDM... the resistance was unbelievable.. I thought I was going to get strung up some days for mentioning ARs or harvesting more does... or even for saying we needed to keep deer herds in balance with their habitat...fellas actually walked out of the room... usually not before screaming something like " I have killed a lot of old spike horns!!" or "if you kill does there won't be any bucks!!" It's actually nice to see that guys are becoming more receptive to managing deer. Although I'm not a big fan of where QDM has been led.. I still think that the basic concept is a sound one and well worth the effort... not only for hunting purposes but for leading hunters to educate themselves a little about the animal that they so love to hunt.

One thing is always for sure.. if you shoot a young buck he has a 100% chance of not getting older... if you pass on him.. you just upped his chances drastically... now he has a 50/50 chance...

I think Christy Brinkley's headshot in the 80's was good... Farrah Faucet's too.. And body shots are never good off a fat girl!!

deer smell death all the time

Culver.. its not so much about perfect racks... but it is about normal.. something is not right somewhere in the equation if an old buck isn't at least sporting something normal on his head.. by normal I don't mean necessarily big antlers but something you would expect a healthy deer to have... genetics really only plays a small part in rack size.. it plays a bigger part in rack configuration... usually deformed or dwarfed racks in mature bucks are usually a product of poor nutrition or lack of minerals.. or some other factor maybe even injury to the pedicle. It could be possible that he is a genetic mutant ... but in a balanced herd with other older healthy bucks he probably wouldn't be doing much breeding anyway... be hard for him to establish dominace without the rack to back it up. I'm not a big believer in culling bucks because of their rack size or configuration... I'm sure those that are managing deer for the ultimate rack might not like that belief.

Great video!

Lower deer sightings are not always a bad thing... if a property is over its carrying capacity you will definitely be seeing more deer, but that is not necessarily a good thing for the deer... decreased sightings may in fact be the result of the population getting back to the true carrying capacity of the habitat provided...it's sometimes hard to explain to those that are not up on deer management that it's not suppose to be all about the hunter and whats best for him... it's suppose to be about the deer... as th deer numbers come in balance with the habitat.. you may not see as many deer.. but with a good management program ...the quality of those deer should be much better when you do see them.

there is a pic on the northeast big buck club site I believe

yep they definitely make the hit list.