megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Wow, what a morning! Put up a tripod on a farm we haven't really hunted much in the past few years due to a declining population yesterday mid- day. Last buck we killed off this farm was 4 years ago... a 127" 7ptr with a 23" inside spread. No trail cameras, so I have no idea what is lurking. I did see an upper 130" 4.5 yo there last year but was too far for ML.
Hunted the tripod this morning, only seeing an acorn spike until about 7:30, when a small tree 60 yards away started shaking like it was in a tornado. I was in an overgrown field with 3' of woody growth mixed in with seresa and fescue on the rise of a steep hill. I couldn't see over the rise to tell what was shaking the tree, so I stood up in the tripod and glassed the tree. All I saw was antler everywhere!. Sat back down, got the ML ready on the shooting rail, then grunted 4 or 5 times. The tree stopped shaking, and I could see antlers coming up over the rise toward me through the brush. When he finally exposed his head at 40 yards, he just about got neck shot. 18" inside spread clean 8, but weak mass and not very long beams (prolly 18"). I hesitated shooting, and he turned sideways. Still couldn't see the body, but base of neck was too defined to be mature. Decided to pass, and after 3 or 4 min of staredown, he decided something was amiss and headed diagonally off the hill exposing his body and confirming he was 3.5. Nice encounter with a deer in the high 110's.
about an hour later, a 2.5 y/o 6 ptr came out feeding on coralberry in the opposite direction. He stayed out for 15 min or so, I got bored and was looking elsewhere. When I looked back, a second buck was with him, looked like a shooter at first instinct! Got the binoculars up, confirmed he was a mainframe 9 with 16" inside spread and decent tine length and mass... figured around 125" or so in my head. Picked up the ML to shoot, then he started pushing the 6ptr around a bit. I had plenty of time to look him over, and just couldn't make him out to be 4.5 no matter how hard I tried... he just wasn't THAT much bigger body-wise than the 2.5 y/o. I decided not to tag out on that deer and just watched him spar then feed off out of range.
I thought the morning hunt was over, as it was 9:30 and getting hot... but I was wrong. Yet another 3.5 y/o mainframe 8 with a kicker off the G2 came out. Very little mass, but good tine length and beam length. Kinda narrow at 15" inside, but should still score just under 120". He was smaller than the last buck seen, so I didn't even pick up the ML on that one.
Not a bad morning, probably the most inches of antler I've seen on a single hunt. Not one doe came out, just 5 bucks. Hopefully the big boys start moving in daylight soon!
Hunted the tripod this morning, only seeing an acorn spike until about 7:30, when a small tree 60 yards away started shaking like it was in a tornado. I was in an overgrown field with 3' of woody growth mixed in with seresa and fescue on the rise of a steep hill. I couldn't see over the rise to tell what was shaking the tree, so I stood up in the tripod and glassed the tree. All I saw was antler everywhere!. Sat back down, got the ML ready on the shooting rail, then grunted 4 or 5 times. The tree stopped shaking, and I could see antlers coming up over the rise toward me through the brush. When he finally exposed his head at 40 yards, he just about got neck shot. 18" inside spread clean 8, but weak mass and not very long beams (prolly 18"). I hesitated shooting, and he turned sideways. Still couldn't see the body, but base of neck was too defined to be mature. Decided to pass, and after 3 or 4 min of staredown, he decided something was amiss and headed diagonally off the hill exposing his body and confirming he was 3.5. Nice encounter with a deer in the high 110's.
about an hour later, a 2.5 y/o 6 ptr came out feeding on coralberry in the opposite direction. He stayed out for 15 min or so, I got bored and was looking elsewhere. When I looked back, a second buck was with him, looked like a shooter at first instinct! Got the binoculars up, confirmed he was a mainframe 9 with 16" inside spread and decent tine length and mass... figured around 125" or so in my head. Picked up the ML to shoot, then he started pushing the 6ptr around a bit. I had plenty of time to look him over, and just couldn't make him out to be 4.5 no matter how hard I tried... he just wasn't THAT much bigger body-wise than the 2.5 y/o. I decided not to tag out on that deer and just watched him spar then feed off out of range.
I thought the morning hunt was over, as it was 9:30 and getting hot... but I was wrong. Yet another 3.5 y/o mainframe 8 with a kicker off the G2 came out. Very little mass, but good tine length and beam length. Kinda narrow at 15" inside, but should still score just under 120". He was smaller than the last buck seen, so I didn't even pick up the ML on that one.
Not a bad morning, probably the most inches of antler I've seen on a single hunt. Not one doe came out, just 5 bucks. Hopefully the big boys start moving in daylight soon!
