CNYScott

Great view of a curious buck. I harvested him on November 22, 2010 using an antler bag to bring him in.

Taken in 7M - Town of Nelson.

I'm no expert on deer behavior, but are four point bucks supposed to be mounting eight point bucks?

7M - Eatonbrook Reservoir / Town of Nelson. On our 70 acres we've taken a four pointer with an antler missing and two nice 8-pointers, both 2 1/2 years old. Seen an additional spike, 2 4-pointers and a young six, plus many does. We have several other frequent bucks on trail cam. Wind has been a factor. Required pushing earlier than we would have liked. Small buck was taken at 10:30 a.m. on opening day. 8-Pointers were taken at 7:30 a.m. on 11/21 (pic w/ Mark & truck) and 3:05 p.m. on 11/22 (rattled-in using an antler bag; pic w/ rifle).

Ha! I hear 'ya. After hunting alone for nine hours in crappy conditions, and recruiting a buddy to help me get him on the platform, I wasn't taking any chances.

2 1/2 years old. Tempting to let him pass but we've worked hard on this property for four years to get the buck population up and better quality. Given the 9 hours in wind and rain and the fact I rattled him in I felt the marginal size (by our own standards) was worth harvesting. We have at least 4 other 8-pointers on the 70 acres, and a slew of young yearling bucks between spike and six points.

Turns out I had him on trail cam as well.

I rattled in this 8-pointer at 3:05 on Monday (third day of regular Southern zone) after being on stand since 6:15 a.m. that morning. 20+ mph winds, 35 degrees and plenty of rain. I passed on four young bucks between 8:30 and 10:30. I grabbed the antler bag almost out of sheer boredom and started to rattle. It has not worked for me in 12 years of hunting, I frankly didn't expect it to work then either. After some rattles I heard a strange noise about 90 seconds later. There was the buck at my 8:00 o'clock position about 35 yards away stomping and snorting/wheezing, looking for a fight. I slowly raised my rifle (allowed in 7M) and shot him through the heart. He ran 100 yards and keeled over dead. He dressed out at just over 180 pounds. Taken in 7M near Eatonbrook Reservoir in the Town of Nelson.

We're largely in agreement, Joe. I passed on four young bucks Monday morning before I bagged a 8-point / 180 pounder at 3:05 p.m. I agree on the direction of the criticism. Don't see much sense in killing obviously young deer so I choose not to. Hardly makes Neva trophy hunter however!

I say to each his own. On our property we target six points minimum as long as spread is beyond the ear tips; we have one lineage group that are genetically inferior with bucks with feeble 4-point racks that we cull out for meat. I'm not inclined to force my practice on others any more than I'd expect others to choose for me.