Anyone still deer hunting? Bucks are moving during the midday hours down here the last several days. I might go shoot some more does, but we’re “trying” to save a few bucks lives for the next 3 weeks when the season ends. We’ve been feeding trying to keep them on the property and hoping we have a great Spring and Summer and they grow some nicer headgear for next season.
Got a couple buttons living at the stands. One is where the doe was taken and the other showed up prior to anything being shot on our property. I can walk in with a bag and by the time I return with a second bag they’re munching down, lol. If nothing else, they’ll taste good in a few years eating nothing but peanuts and corn during the rut months. They’re getting the peanuts again now.
Here’s a few bucks we hope make it through the season.
A nice 8 that we had all intentions of taking until we saw him in person.





A decent “9” (mainframe 10 without a brow)





And a nice 10 with a split G2

Do GA deer get much nicer?

Both of those will be much nicer in 2 or 3 more years. They do not appear to be fully mature to me. I'll bet Georgia isn't much different than most states, whereas different regions have better genetics than others. It's hard for a fella to pass up a deer like those two, but if you want to kill a monster, you need to let the ones like these walk until they reach full maturity.

Oh yeah just getting started here the rut is very close.I am off the rest of the week plan on being in a tree as much as possible.

WB,
That split G2 buck is an older buck...I'd say 5.5...if not older.

… this is animal husbandry… not hunting

One of my former officer's 10yr old daughter had never killed a deer b4. This past Thursday morning her and her dad were in a ground blind looking down a farm lane when a buck stepped out. She shot (with a .223 bolt action clamped in a tripod vice)..buck jumped into woods. A few min later a buck comes out of woods where that one went in. Thinking it was same buck (and that she'd missed 1st shot)....dad says to shoot again....she does. Dad walks down there (about 75 yds) and the 2nd buck is lying dead right across from the 1st buck.....a nice 10pt and an 8pt with an odd tine. Her 1st and 2nd buck down!

I don't have his permission to show his daughter's face on the internet.

My son got a 8 point out of my stand on Saturday, with his muzzle loader. I mat try to hunt next weekend, but will hunt in a blind. By then, I will be 4 weeks post back surgery. I prefer a treestand , but I will not be climbing!

Here in Iowa we’re down to muzzleloader and bow to finish out the season, and just had at least one inch of rain which is odd, around here shotgun seasons were a bust for most as the deer were scattered and very few were shot so there will be quite a few that will make till next year.

Wanna be, if either of those bucks pass in front of me they are in trouble. Muzzle loader season just started......jk

We have bucks shedding.

The thought of deer hunting now doesn’t even get me excited. A season for everything and by the end of it I’m wore out and glad it’s over.
It’s trapping and ice fishing time now!

Animal husbandry involves artificial insemination or at least controlled breeding.
Choosing which bucks one would like to eventually kill over time, how is that animal husbandry.
I personally prefer to fill my freezer with deer whose spots recently have fallen off, and every once in a while some will have spots are still on.
I am prejudiced against devil horned deer. I'll shoot whatever is destroying crops under permit.
I do like to, every once in a while, shoot a mature buck. If I would have shot that same deer 2 years prior, I would have cheated myself out of that thrill.
I am not burdened by tight limits where I live, so I have an easier opportunity to pick and choose what I want to shoot without worrying about eating tag soup by passing up on deer.

Swamp, we couldn’t come to an agreement so we decided one more year. I said 5.5 my son said 4.5. Another issue is he had a drop tine last year and not this year. He kept the split G2, but no drop. Next year it won’t matter what he has, lol.

Savell, I don’t think this is husbandry. We have no control over these deer (no fences). All we can do is “choose” to pass or take deer. Yeah we run cameras about 9 months out of the year for deer and decide what deer we’d like to take and what deer we’d like or hope to see make it just one more year. So there’s a “hope” factor for all our deer. The neighbors could kill it or even one of our own hunters. It’s just a personal decision. With that said, I shot a 4.5yr old 8pt we didn’t think would really become anything.
I had another buck I REALLY wanted and had one opportunity, but too many other deer around for a safe shot. Everytime I drew back on him there was another behind him or one would step in front of him. I told my other son he could use a rifle to take him when he got time off of work. Well, that didn’t work out as he disappeared and a coon hunter found him dead about 450yds away.
I couldn’t stand the thought of him just wasting away to nothing so we got the head and had a Euro done. He deserved to be remembered.

Here’s that buck…







Here’s the 8 I killed…




We enjoy hunting and play havoc on the does. I’m almost to the point of breaking out the rifle for a few more does. We archery only hunt the bucks (my son and I) because we’ve both shot really nice bucks with our rifles, but with does, bullets are a lot cheaper than broadheads and arrows.

And yes, we have real good genetics and a lot of Ag in our county. A lot of properties have realized to have larger deer (antlers and body weight) it’s beneficial to take out plenty of does each season. I guess that helps with the quality of bucks we have and see. Less mouths to browse, more food for the rest to enjoy.

… feeding deer year round.. constantly monitoring them.. know them by name… animal husbandry not hunting

.. those deer are man fed cradle to grave… just calling it what it is

.. now I get to trap a lot for those types… but they ain’t hunting… they’re deer farming

You southern boys have a way different hunt scenario then I do 45 minutes north of Detroit. Awesome!

Im still trying to get this one. Ill give it to him he’s smart. I haven’t physically seen him once this season.

WB,
Folks that have only pressured public land or small tracts of private land (with non-selective neighbors) to deer hunt will never compliment the quality deer management concept. Most degrade the idea.....example: those that say "you can't eat antlers", etc....all the while, deep down, they'd like to have a better place or a better setup to kill bigger bucks.

I know that if I no longer had access/control to the tracts of great properties I currently have, then I would not give a rip about any aspect of singling out/managing for a mature buck. I'd also have a lot of hunting & food plot
equipment for sale.

Ours are in full rut just started chasing last week.