Prodigal Son Returns!

[Ski]

I had a nice up & coming 2yr old back in 2019 that I was looking forward to following. He was easy to recognize because of his sweeping beam shape, as if it was blown into shape by the wind, except his brows were perfect. Brows didn't seem to fit the rack. But as often the case he disappeared. I figured he must have gotten shot but turns out he just relocated. He showed up this past week and I immediately recognized the beam shape, albeit much larger and he grew an extra tine on his right side. I'm used to monitoring progress from year to year. Skipping a year to see 2yrs worth of growth was pretty neat.

First 2 pics are from 2019. Second 2 are from last couple weeks. I'm a deer nerd so this stuff is fascinating to me. I've heard about bucks returning home but never had first hand experience of one staying gone two years before returning.

 

[Snake]

Awesome that he returned .

 

[BSK]

Always cool when a buck returns!

That guy is dandy!

 

[th88]

Pretty cool rack. Love seeing antler progress pics, thanks for sharing.

 

[Wrangler95]

That is great he returned,good luck next year!!

 

[DoubleRidge]

Cool to build a history with a buck like that....good luck with him!

 

[Ski]

Thanks for the good luck wishes, yall. Hopefully he stays around & I get to hunt him. I don't get many bucks of that caliber on that property. As for history, I like keeping tabs on all the bucks using the properties I hunt, starting at 2yrs.

Here's one of this buck's old running mates that has stayed around the entire time, although not quite as impressive. I called him "Lefty" for obvious reasons. He showed a lot more potential at 2yrs, and at 3yrs old it's apparent something weird is making his antlers crooked, then at 4yrs they straighten out but aren't terribly impressive for his age. In 2019, between the two bucks, this is the one I thought would've turned out to be the big guy at maturity. I was wrong. The runt took the cake.

 

[megalomaniac]

I always wonder what do those bucks do for a year when they disappear and show back up... did they shift away, and what kind of adventures did they have?... OR Did I just not capture them on camera the year they disappeared? But it's such a great feeling to see them return!

 

[redblood]

No better feeling.