No Swollen Necks....

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Kingston

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Blue Ridge Mtns
Between myself, brother and a couple of friends that all killed decent bucks last Friday & Saturday, not a single one had a swollen neck yet.
Seemed odd.
 
The one I got yesterday while chasing a doe, neck was swelled pretty good. When I tagged him in at a near by processor/taxidermist he measured his neck at 26".
 
Bucks necks don't "swell." Before the rut, increases in testosterone and other hormones produce rapid muscle growth, especially in the neck.
 
I've noticed cruising in Williamson, Wilson and Dickson counties but no chasing yet. None of the bucks I've seen had that typical swollen neck look. I think this weekend through Thanksgiving will be very good in middle TN.
 
I saw chasing opening day of ML in Rutherford Co. since then nothing but lone small bucks. Today I had a small 6 nose to the ground trotting right down a gully in the woods in front of my stand. His neck did appear to be somewhat swollen. It appears that despite what I thought last weekend, we are still on the front end of it. Should be real good opening day of rifle.
 
I killed a nice 8 pointer in Maury County this past Saturday that had a 31" neck. It was the biggest bodied deer I've ever killed - well over 200 lbs. He was trailing a doe in a dense thicket and of course ran straight down into a dry creek bed with 8' embankments. Needless to say, I deboned him and packed the meat out in my backpack, along with the head/antlers for a european mount.

On this farm and another farm in Marshall County, we've seen very little chasing except from small bucks. All of the older bucks seem to just be trailing does at this point. Don't think the estrous chases have started quite yet.
 
Bone Collector said:
I saw chasing opening day of ML in Rutherford Co. since then nothing but lone small bucks. Today I had a small 6 nose to the ground trotting right down a gully in the woods in front of my stand. His neck did appear to be somewhat swollen. It appears that despite what I thought last weekend, we are still on the front end of it. Should be real good opening day of rifle.
Click to expand...

Think so? I was thinking by the time rifle rolled around it would be slowing down a lot. But this is just from what seen in South Mid Tn Sunday.
 
Last 2 mornings I have seen 38 deer. Of those deer there were 12 different bucks all of them were chasing/cruising. Killed 2 bucks both of them had swelled up necks and glands were black and rank.
 
Marlin308 said:
I killed a nice 8 pointer in Maury County this past Saturday that had a 31" neck. It was the biggest bodied deer I've ever killed - well over 200 lbs. He was trailing a doe in a dense thicket and of course ran straight down into a dry creek bed with 8' embankments. Needless to say, I deboned him and packed the meat out in my backpack, along with the head/antlers for a european mount.

On this farm and another farm in Marshall County, we've seen very little chasing except from small bucks. All of the older bucks seem to just be trailing does at this point. Don't think the estrous chases have started quite yet.
Click to expand...
Holy smoke post us a pic!!! Ive never saw a buck with a 31" neck, not even from dozens of huge Northern bucks.
Congrats on a giant buck!
 
Winchester said:
Marlin308 said:
I killed a nice 8 pointer in Maury County this past Saturday that had a 31" neck. It was the biggest bodied deer I've ever killed - well over 200 lbs. He was trailing a doe in a dense thicket and of course ran straight down into a dry creek bed with 8' embankments. Needless to say, I deboned him and packed the meat out in my backpack, along with the head/antlers for a european mount.

On this farm and another farm in Marshall County, we've seen very little chasing except from small bucks. All of the older bucks seem to just be trailing does at this point. Don't think the estrous chases have started quite yet.
Click to expand...
Holy smoke post us a pic!!! Ive never saw a buck with a 31" neck, not even from dozens of huge Northern bucks.
Congrats on a giant buck!
Click to expand...
Indeed that's a monster of a neck. Where was the measurement taken? I'd love to see pics!
 
Hunted Giles yesterday with a buddy of mine.......I saw 15 deer, 12 doees, 2 lil spikes and a lil one horn buck. Mu buddy saw the same one horn, a lil spike, a 5 pt and a lil 2 1/2 year old 8 pt. No signs of chasing at all.
 
Moore Co is seeing half and half. Big boys swollen and chasing but little ones not swollen. This is last two days in woods. Although full moon has kept sightings way down.
 
Neck size during the rut is a good indicator of age. If bucks are not displaying large necks at this time of year, they are just young bucks, who won't put on much neck muscle during the rut.
 
GaMtnCurs said:
Kingston said:
Between myself, brother and a couple of friends that all killed decent bucks last Friday & Saturday, not a single one had a swollen neck yet.
Seemed odd.
Click to expand...
might just be that "decent " is a highly subjective and dubious form of qualitative measurement when more factual and quantitative measurements should be in order.
Click to expand...

Is this a good enough "qualitative measurement" of decent? :whistle:
 
Got a 9 pt opening weekend of ML season and it's neck was swollen. Got in in NE Lincoln county. starting to see the young ones doing a little crusing. Does starting to get a little jumpy when ever a spike or 4 pt walked thru their feeding area.
 
OK, here is the buck I killed in Maury County during the muzzleloader opener. It is not the biggest racked buck I've ever killed, but certainly is the largest bodied deer I've ever taken. He was following a doe through a thicket when I shot him at 70 yards around 8 am. They were the only two deer I saw that morning - she slipped through by herself and I just held my binoculars on her backtrail waiting for him to appear. After about a minute or so, there he was. The first thing I noticed was his antler mass then I moved down to his neck. After seeing his neck/shoulder, I dropped the binoculars and shouldered my MZ. He stopped behind a tree and I pulled the trigger. He ran straight down into a dry creekbed and I had to debone him and pack out the meat due to his size.

I can't remember the exact measurements, but his bases were 5" and he scored 125.5". As stated, his neck measured 31" near his head. Probably would have been even larger about midway down, but I had already cut it off high since I wasn't going to mount him. I'm guessing his weight around 250 lbs. I'm 6'0", 220 lbs. and I could barely spin him around to take pictures and debone. Here are the pics:











 

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