I think it's more of a coincidence really. Both deer are from the same farm/camera set-up but the bigger buck was a beautiful 8-pt last year...something just went haywire with his right antler early in the growth cycle this spring.
LFN @ 1.5 years old:
Nope, no good pics anyways, he's been like a ghost. I saw him several times while spolighting over the summer...he's bigger but didn't appear to have drops this year. These are the only pics that I've managed to capture of him...
Early July (In the back on the left):
Fogged over pic from mid-August. He's the dark deer in the front:
It's always fun getting to see the new crop of yearling bucks every year. I got pics of this little guy once back in August and then he showed up again on yesterday's cam check. I'm digging those long brows and stickers. I hope he makes it though a couple more seasons...he could be a Steuben County stud in a couple of years!!!
I know how you feel. Overall, I had a pretty poor summer trail cam season. I did get some good pics of some good bucks, but I saw far more with the binos/spotlight than what I had show up on my SD cards...
When you give the right buck the right growing conditions and he's able to live to maturity there's no telling what he might turn into . I believe that there are going to be some monsters shot around the state this fall...but not a whole lot of typicals of this caliber will be tagged. He's a really special deer!!!
The deer I'm after (I also call him "Big Boy") took a turn for the more non-tyical side of things since last year...
It shouldn't be an issue. It took me about an hour and a half this morning to get this doe skinned, quartered, boned out and washed down. Unfortunately, my family butcher shop isn't running now so I had to ice down the meat and put it in the fridge.
Looks like 7 on the left and 6 on the right. I'll guess he goes 170-175 gross typical. I'm thinking that Regions 8 and 9 are gonna produce some whopper bucks this fall!!!
Nothing too overly exciting, mostly does, fawns and little bucks. I'm pumped to see the first signs of daylight activity from this guy all summer. I'll be waiting for him to show up on October 1st...
Looks who's back...
I believe that it should be muzzleloader/shotgun only (like this weekend youth season in Iowa). Being able to legally parade around with a buck with a ceneterfire rifle hole in it during archery season invites alot of shady activity, especially as understaffed as ENCON is already...