WNY Bowhunter

Last year I had a beautiful 3.5 yr old 12 pt on cam. I had my fingers crossed that he would survive gun season as he made a huge jump from the previous year. Luckily for him, a buddy of mine that hunts the neighboring property actually passed him up on the opening weekend of rifle season as he chased a doe all around for half an hour. We had no other sightings of him for over a month until he surprisingly showed up on one of my cameras a week after late muzzleloader ended. He had several broken tines and his let ear was split up the middle, but he was alive and well!!! In early June I captured two pics of a nice looking buck with a split ear...it was him no doubt about it!!! Date is wrong on the pic should read 6/06/18). Finally, he showed back up with a very familiar buddy on 7/6!!! He appears to be working on being a 12 already with about another month to go. He added a lot last year in mid-late July.

I actively start deer scouting in early June right after turkey season ends. I have seen many dozens of bucks over the past 5 weeks. Some seem to be on schedule but as I stared earlier, many seem to be lagging behind. I also believe that the deer had a far more stressful late winter/early spring that most realize. The apple crop here looks really strong...need to get out a check the oaks. I haven't had a good acorn crop around for the past two years now.

He's coming along. The left antler is way weaker than last year at this time...

Send me his number. My guy is retiring...lol.

So true. It would be very bittersweet to actually kill him.

Let's see the sheds. I love seeing how deer progress. Some blow up but most don't.

The buck from the original post is an awesome deer!!! It would be devastating to lose a buck like that I never know what happened to him. I was fortunate enough to find the head of a 170" buck while shed hunting in April of 2014. I don't hunt the property that I found him on and needless to say, there were some pretty hard feelings over me finding him by neighbors who were hunting him. I found a shed from him in 2011 and 2012 too. He was an estimated 8.5 years old when he died. I found no signs of a cause of death...

I had the privilege of mounting the top buck in the state from last season (according to northeast bbc). The deer was killed a couple miles from home here in Steuben County. My friend had never seen the deer prior to having him step out into his foodplot that afternoon. Other than a couple of sightings by the neighbors the night before he was killed, this deer had remained elusive. No trailcam pics or sheds have surfaced that I know of. You never know what's lurking out there!

We've had a very dry spell here in the western fingerlakes region since late aMay. We did have had some pretty good rain in the past week though. I'm hoping that older = more daylight movement is true too. He definitely was way more daylight active on cams last summer and fall than he had ever been. Hopefully, the trend continues this fall. He was very active during the rut last year too which nearly got him killed several times during gun season by friends that hunt neighboring properties!!!

He's a big bodied deer for sure. Here's his rut look from early November... The vast majority of the bucks in my area get killed off way to early too. Unbelievably, this deer has been a total homebody his whole life. I've been getting him on cam since he was a yearling 8pt back in the summer of 2012. Last year...based on his shed and an estimated 21" spread, he would have grossed right around the 160 mark. I wouldn't be surprised if he slips a little in the antler dept this year. He's a bit behind where he was at this point last year. Overall, it seems that the winter and late spring we had this year was pretty stressful on the deer herd as most of the bucks that I've been seeing seem to be behind schedule in antler growth for late June.

Here's my #1 buck for the upcoming season. He is 7 yrs old this year. I'm hoping that a couple new secluded foodplots might draw him off the neighbor's property (his bedding area) in early October during legal shooting light. Last year: Currenty, about a week ago:

This pretty caped buck is headed back home to the big woods of PA. Last one out the door from the past season. Three months to go and the cycle starts over. Can't wait for October!

Wonder how many times this scene has played out in the past 2-3 weeks?

I've got my pic taken with several NY life time caliber deer. No need to shoot them and do all extra work!!!

Getting my moneys worth this season...#2 down @11:00. What a rough/grueling season!!

I've really been turned off by the lack of penetration of these loads on the past couple of birds that I've taken with them, particularly on hits that are a little low. My buddy that I was hunting said the same thing about the bird he killed with XRs on monday. There was nothing between me and him but air. I've killed them farther with hevishot but just wasn't feeling good about it and didn't want to risk buggering him up. There's a trio of longbeards togetherI, the other two stayed just inside the timber with hens. Will try them again tomorrow. The wife will be up to bat. A double would be perfect...;)

Passed up a big strutter at 50yds this morning. Definitely didn't feel comfortable with the longbeard XRs at that range. Think I'm jumping aboard the TSS train next spring.

I'll be out every day until the end unless I punch tag two in the morning. I think I have some players lined up...fingers crossed!

Had three longbeards roosted last night. It was raining pretty good at 4:30 so I went back to bed. Drove up to the spot this morning before work at 6:30 and sure enough...three strutters were in the field with two jakes and three hens. One of the jakes kept get harassed and run off. Can't wait til tomorrow morning. I'll be waiting for them with the jake deke. Hopefully, they'll be back. They never do what you expect them to...we'll see what happens.

Thanks. The antler belonged to the buck in my avatar...

Had an awesome morning yesterday, hope to repeat today! Congrats TF!!!

Saw a nice yearling buck last night still packing! Picked up 7 more since last post...

Thanks. Did two for Phade this year. If I'm taking deer this coming season I'd be happy to do one for you!

Just finished this bruiser for a good buddy of mine. Based on sheds and trail cam pics, this buck was at least 7.5 year old last fall. In fact, I found his sheds from the previous year and they were 20" larger than when he was killed. It's amazing that a deer can live that long in these part...truely an amazing animal.

It's been a rough season...was extremely happy to discover this awesome palmated shed yesterday. No luck with the match yet.