JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
It's gold for sure. Not sure which camera you have, but get you one that does video and put a big memory card in there, and you'll really be in for a treat 10X over a picture. You'll have video and sound. It's eye-opening
Right in middle of day yesterday.
You know that deer is gonna walk right past you multiple times with his rack busted off.
Are you still going to shoot him if he does?
The second biggest buck I ever killed, I would have shot as a 4 year old. He busted his rack off like that and paraded past me multiple times. It took me 2 years to finally put him down and him busting his rack was a blessing.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Wonder if that is the deer that is busting up your other bucks. He has some serious mass.
You know that deer is gonna walk right past you multiple times with his rack busted off.
Are you still going to shoot him if he does?
The second biggest buck I ever killed, I would have shot as a 4 year old. He busted his rack off like that and paraded past me multiple times. It took me 2 years to finally put him down and him busting his rack was a blessing.
It's happened 3x already. Once in range. Next time I'm shooting.
He's got his right side broken off. I'm starting to think he is the bully. Even with a broken beam he came running to a grunt last night, ready for a fight.
How old do you think he is?
I'd probably leave him unless he's like a 6 year old. There is no telling how big that deer could get if he's not peaked.
Deer on the left is the one that gave me fits for years and tortured me.
I'm pretty sure he's a 4yr old. Saw him a lot as a 2yr old but he got beat up and injured, and by January he had a big puss tumor on his neck and was getting super skinny. Didn't see him last year at all and thought he'd died. Then out of the blue he shows up like he owns the place.
Man your story with this deer reminds me so much of that 14 pt I called Hook. I passed him up as a 3 year old bow hunting and he was a wide 10, he was with an old 8 with a smaller rack which I shot. Later that season he busted his rack and his shoulder and was limping really bad. I didn't think he was going to make it. Then as a 4 year old he showed up with 3 beams, I'm assuming from the injury from the year before. He was a toad and I would have shot him for sure. He broke that whole right side off that had the 3rd beam and he was still tempting to shoot. He had 6 points on his left side. Then as a 5 year old he showed up as a perfect monster 12 pt. He was a ghost, I could barely get photos of him and I saw him 1 time and accidentally passed him up. I had told the other hunters on that farm I would not shoot another deer that season unless it was him, because I had already killed a big buck with my bow that year. I slipped into where I thought he was bedding and hung my camera on the way in. I heard a deer get up and walk extremely slow toward my camera. When he came into my view I could not see his head. I knew it was an old deer and in most cases I would have shot the deer without seeing his rack but I had to keep my word with the other hunters. Low and behold he tripped the camera right below me and was absolutely sick. I had passed him up on accident. A neighboring hunter missed him that year in some thick cover. Then as a 6 year old he was 100% a ghost. I thought he had died and I could not find him. On a hunch I moved a camera to the exact tree I had passed him up on 3 years before and he showed up the next day as a 14 pt. I couldn't hardly get any pictures of, I mean none that year. I started to narrow down areas moving cameras around and finally decided he was bedding in a bowl that we just couldn't get to. I used the creek in the bottom to get in and hung my camera up again to see if he would trigger it. I sat on the ground and low and behold he stood up in a down tree top just 60 yards from me but had no shot. He stood there for 30 minutes just looking around and started to move out of his bed when 2 dogs busted in and ran everything out of the bowl. He just laid back down where he was still standing in the tree top. I sat there until well after dark and finally heard him get up and slowly walk off. I checked my camera a few days later and he was right in front of it at 12:00 in the middle of the day. I knew I had him then if I could hunt him properly. I waited about a week before conditions were good and was going to start at daylight in the creek that fed up into that bowl. I'm walking to the creek down a treeline in the rain and I look up and he is standing in the creek at my starting point. We saw each other at the same time and he just lowered his head and ran over trees into the woods. I took off running to circle him. I ran up a rise to get above that creek in the bottom and to get the wind in my face. I was working my way down a draw that fed the creek and I heard an old fence twang that was right in front of me. I hid behind a tree and the cover was very thick where I was. It was him coming right to me. I shot him at 5 yards on the ground and I sat in the rain probably 30 minutes beside that deer just in disbelief that I had finally got him, and I was also just soaking in the moment.
I thought from that trail camera photo that deer your hunting looked like a 4 year old. I guess you have to decide if you want to risk not ever seeing him again or if you want to take him. I knew when I saw that deer I was hunting with his rack broken off I'd rather him breed does than me shoot him with half a rack. Yesterday I killed a big old 9 with my bow off that same farm that had the same marbling and shape antlers of the 14 point and I had to wonder if he was from his genetics years and years later.
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Great story! Thank you for sharing. I had a similar experience with the buck I killed last year. He was 6 or 7.
This broken buck is on his second doe that i know for sure as of today. I set up where I last saw him the previous evening as he was locked tight with a doe, but never saw him last night. Had a doe with button fawn browsing under me most of the evening. Then this morning the button showed up in the bottom alone, which tells me the big guy is with his momma.
I'm pretty confident that he is the bully as there's not another buck coming to the property right now and does are popping hot seemingly waiting their turn. He's only 4yrs old and a booner, so he's genetically gifted. And if he's breeding all these does then this is where he'll be next year at this same time. I'm learning real time when a particular doe pops hot. That's information I'll use for next season as they pop same time every year in my experience.
So in short, I think I'm done hunting him this year. I'll leave him to service the girls and will look forward to next year. The info I've gathered over the last week has been incredibly valuable. Just need to process it all and start making a plan. Work starts as soon as season closes.
trout
Well-Known Member
Wow, thanks for sharing this awesome story!
Thank you. I hope so as well. He's the biggest buck I've ever purposely passed. I really thought it would be harder but surprisingly I wasn't as tempted as I thought I'd be. I enjoyed being so close to him. We'll see how it goes next year but I'm at peace not using my tag on him. Might be tag soup this year but that's OK.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Your day job is obviously not busy enough with this long post
Get in the woods and get another one. Unplug your dads gas line on his sxs and you'll be golden
. It'll be in the shop for atleast 2 weeksI got the November nopes, just picture Ron Burgandy in the office meeting saying Nope. That's me when people call to ask me to take on a project right now.Your day job is obviously not busy enough with this long post
Get in the woods and get another one. Unplug your dads gas line on his sxs and you'll be golden
I'm not worried about dad. I had a long conversation with him and showed him exactly what he did driving around last time. He hasn't been doing it since. Plus I just got 400 new acres that I believe has a booner on it. So I'll be there the rest of the season.
And.....I was pretending to be asleep writing that, hiding from the wife cause I couldn't hunt on Saturday cause the inlaws are in town.
And I was trying to give our brother Ski some hope for next year. SO I could have wrote a novel, thank you very much!!Well I appreciate you even if JCdeer doesn't 
If there is a booner on it I feel sorry for him because he won't be around much longer with you in there lol.
