EastIslander

I've found a couple nice dead heads in the area over the years as well some bait piles and climber marks up trees. Its in a preserve thats open to the public and has some bike and foot trails running through it, parking is limited and it closes at dusk with a check in check out system. Archery hunting is very competitive by me due to lack of land resources and high population density so some less scrupulous guys who really want to shoot a large buck get dropped off and sneak into the park to hunt the evening hours when people aren't around. If they make a bad shot and can't recover the animal that night you'd have to wait till the next night to look and that deer could get pushed all over the park by the daytime trail walkers. There is public and private hunting hunting all around the park in tight wood lots which controls the park herd population by eliminating the overflow so deer rarely succumb to old age. The bucks I found dead all had good teeth and seemed to be in their prime with intact skeletons which would dismiss auto collisions. I also found them all in thick brush next to water sources which is what a gut shot animal would seek out. So in putting all the evidence and circumstances together the most likely assumption is that these are poached bucks however it'll never be known they could have gotten sick or caught an arrow outside the park and sought refuge within, its just my assumption. Its def the best head I've ever found but old bones don't do it for me, I only save my unchewed browns so I'll prob give this one away.

Found a nice dead head today in a swamp out in a no hunting area. Somebody probably saw this guy and couldn't resist, made a bad shot and was afraid to look for him. Shame, would've loved to have found his sheds or have him make the mile trip to my land and offer a shot. Double split mains and stickers all over, unfortionately it's old chalky and chewed. Prob been sitting out there 5 or 6 years. Must walked by there a dozen times over the years.

About half those sheds came from my family's farm and surrounding area in Saratoga county, the rest I picked up on the eastern ends of the 2 forks.

Found a dead body and a couple dildo over the years but never anyone's teeth, I guess you never know.

Just went for my last shed hike today, found the 5 point with the G2 kicker second row from top on the right side, not huge but a good un-chewed browny. The others are my years totals in fresh sheds except for the 2 on the bottom right, their last years but nice and un-chewed so I kept them. Probably found as many chewed or older sheds plus 3 dead heads that I gave to friends who use them for crafts. 7 matched sets, the one I'm holding is my best to date 148" by my measurements. Also got 2 other 4 point sides in the pic which are 70" range. 32 brown sheds altogether, my best year in a long time despite the most competition I've ever scene. All found on public land with about 120 miles logged, just got lucky and hit all my areas at the right time, most of these sheds still had fresh blood on the bases. God Bless and good luck with the rest of everyone's season.