Year to year buck comparison

[Jmed]

Just one of several nice bucks we have to return for another season. My daughter named this one "Antler Annie" a very unique buck. Check it out:

 

[TheLBLman]

Nice pics.
:)
How do you (yet) know "Antler Annie" is one of the same bucks depicted in your 2016 pics?

 

[Jmed]

I've had cell cams out for over 12 continuous months on this property. I've got 5 different 3.5 year old bucks in this same area and when you look at pics of the same bucks every day for a year, they are pretty easy to distinguish.

 

[Jmed]

Here is another one: Nemo

 

[tree_ghost]

That's cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheLBLman]

Here is another one: Nemo

LIKE the pics :)

You must have a lot of "history" with these particular bucks,
as just based on these two pics, no way would I be able to conclude these two year-to-year pics are of "Nemo".
Saying that in large part because in the most recent pic, the antlers are not as developed (yet),
but mainly because there was no left brow in the '16 pic.

Enjoy seeing the pics and hope you'll post more as the antlers become more developed.

 

[Jmed]

The bucks on this farm are really home-bodies. Most are in the same areas they frequented from late season last year til now. Also, their body shape and running buddies helped us identify them. I got one thats gonna be a show stopper. He is not as predictable and seems more cautious, but Im 95% sure its him....meet "sweet 16". I'll post a '17 pic when I am 100% positive as am the ones above. Here he is last july:

 

[wobblegobble]

I don't think Nemo pix are the same

 

[Jmed]

Got a pic of that buck every day since he grew horns last year. I'll promise you it's him. 3 of
Us let him walk last year and we are hoping one of the kids gets him! He is the same area he was when he dropped his horns last year.

 

[Jmed]

Here he is a couple hours ago:

 

[Jmed]

Got a pic of that buck every day since he grew horns last year. I'll promise you it's him. 3 of
Us let him walk last year and we are hoping one of the kids gets him! He is the same area he was when he dropped his horns last year.[/quote

I'd be more tickled if it wasn't him because it would mean I got a new buck. But like I stated I've got year round pics of these guys.

 

[wobblegobble]

That's not the same deer...his only brow on left side is totally different...n and he left side now has a brow and horn configuration is totally different.

 

[Jmed]

Trust me it's him. We went back fourth about the brow. But, he is on one of two cameras every day since we put cams out last year and he is running with the same little 8 from last year, that is now the "lil 10" that's with him. Unless something changes, and based on actual sightings of this buck last year, we hope to get one of our kids on it. But I understand your disbelief. Keeping my cell cams out has been an incredible learning experience. Some bucks are roamers, but some never leave, even during the rut, this buck stayed in the same 150 acre area.

 

[TheLBLman]

Some bucks are roamers, but some never leave, even during the rut, this buck stayed in the same 150 acre area.

On that we agree :tu:
I had one a few years ago, that I could purposefully seek out and find, even get a high-probability shot at him most any day of the deer season. His antlers changed very little (other than slightly more mass each year) from 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 (when he got himself killed).

On the flip side, I've seen some that were such wide roamers I had a hard time believing it.
Many, not just the exception, will regularly travel 2 to 3 miles nightly, putting them more "off" most hunters' hunting lands, than "on" those lands. Yet, most hunters will still think of those identifiable bucks as "theirs", not realizing another hunter 2 miles away is thinking the same buck is "his", with both hunters thinking this buck spends most of his time on "their" land, while in reality, the bucks spends the majority of his time on some 3rd party's land.

Saying this in the context of most TN hunters living on and/or hunting on less than 300 acres, while noting that a regular 3-mile roamer is touching on over 9 square miles or parts of nearly 6,000 acres, regularly. If a buck "roams" only 1.5 miles in each direction from his most "core" area, we're talking 9 square miles he's covering.

 

[Jmed]

Oh, Im sure they roam. That buck "sweet" left within a couple of weeks of shedding velvet, and we didnt get another pic until early january. I imagine he will do the same this year, so we plan to make an effort to get him early.

We have a small farm road that cuts our place in half and it was crazy how some of these bucks swapped which side of the road they stayed on when the rut hit, but Nemo stayed on the side he has been on ever since we got the first pics of him last year. His running buddy before season was a 157" toad my buddy shot on opening weekend, he quickly hooked up with the "8" thats now a 10, and they have hung out in that area ever since.

I think deer in agricultural areas deer don't have to roam as much as the deer in say my TN property, that is in the middle of thousands of acres of vast hard woods and mountains. We had one of our bigger deer get killed miles away last year. I think those woodland deer have to travel more for food, and does.... Im enjoying watching and I will keep posting pics as these antlers continue to grow.

 

[Rjratliff1975]

Great pics!

 

[Boone 58]

Awesome, I had a buck like that with the weird antler configuration a few years back. first year on one side he was as slick as a doe............the next year he had a beam that went straight up for about 14 inches and barely forked. it was him................never saw him again, never saw him taken. very odd.

 

[Jmed]

Up date on "Annie", "nemo", & 'Sweet 16" with 40+ days of antler growth left, im excited to see what the final product is...

 

[Jmed]

Here is Nemo from this morning

 

[Jmed]

Hard horn pics of Sweet and Annie from '16 for comparison:

 

[Jmed]

Had a fantastic surprise last night. The one buck we were missing from last year "Diez" was a nice mid aged 10 point. He came home yesterday before sunset to find his old mineral holes and he has been upgraded to mature in my books and definitely makes the list;

 

[Jmed]

Photos of "sweet" over the last 3 years. Whats your guess on age?

 

[TheLBLman]

4 1/2 or older (Fall 2017).

Just based on those pics,
about 50/50 on him being 5 1/2.

But you never know for certain unless you've had a way to monitor them since yearlings (or since fawns).

Very doubtful this one could be older than 6 1/2 (imo, unlikely he's 6 /12).
Very likely he is 5 1/2; almost a certainty he is 4 1/2 (or older).
Almost a certainty he is no younger than 4 1/2 (can't be a "certainty" just based on those pics).

But I'm off a year or so all the time :tu:
Even worse at estimating age during summer.

 

[tree_ghost]

Awesome pics! I think "Sweet" is a safe 4.5 yo buck...

Also a side note to "nemo" and his changing rack from year to year...Bill Winke killed a buck a couple years ago that was a typical on one side and trashy on the other side. In the course of 3 seasons his rack alternated between the left and right side being typical! Guaranteed it was the same deer but the trail cam pics would have told another story altogether...thanks for sharing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jmed]

"Nemo" has been fun to watch. We intentioanlly let him walk last year, wondering if his rack would correct itself, and it definitely improved but I dont think he is gonna do much better than he is now. He is on the list, and i would love to get my little girl on him. Here is an updated pic of him and his "little" running buddy.

I know its the wrong time to age deer, but thanks for playing!