Do you really name them? Like real names or just characteristics names?
I’m gonna find one to name. Only issue is I’d hate to shoot one named and text someone and say, “Hey, I just shot Bob!”
We have given names like, Wide 8, Tall 8, Split G2, Piebald, and that deer with the funky rack. I would really love to find one that earned the name, The Big 6!!
We did have a doe named “Granny” she was about 10ish and had a pure grey face…easy to recognize from 100yds away.
As far as public land is concerned, I don’t hunt it for deer. Grew up doing it though. Used to have some awesome bow spots. 50/50 chance on a deer or hog about every sit. Back then brown it’s down baby!! Or legal and it’s down!! Never killed anything huge, respectable maybe, but not Savell caliber. And back then even those swamp pigs tasted pretty decent.
Got into a few leases and still never killed anything huge, respectable but not huge.
It wasn’t until my some started dating his future wife and hunting where I now hunt that I saw pics from a trail camera and was like holy crap there’s shooters everywhere!! Don’t know when my son passed me on “management” but he was quick to inform me those aren’t shooters, lol.
Well, not gonna lie, when I got the invite I thought I’d hit it big! It took me a year or two out there passing deer bigger than I’d ever killed in my life and watching deer to realize what a big deer was and if we let them go, they would grow. The good news was if you still have “blood lust” running through your veins, does abound like fleas. Shoot your hearts content, lol.
My son and I have both killed what we consider trophy deer or our personal best ever deer. So now, we want to either top that or shoot an old buck. I’m at the advantage because while we both have one with the rifle, I don’t have one with a bow yet. His personal best archery buck scored 154” so now he’s wanting one bigger. I’m wanting 150ish. Just want a P&Y. Net would be nice, but gross is fine too. Where we hunt we can be somewhat selective. Does it always work out? Nope, but it works out more often than it doesn’t.
So said all that to say this, We’re hunting premium fairly large acreage properties that can and does grow big deer. They are just “personally managed” to get pics like I get. Our county is sorta known for big bodies and pretty decent antlers. And yes, I spend probably 300+ days a year out there and could walk you to a covey of quail or show you a particular deer or turkey from a distance. Now getting within archery or shotgun range of that deer or turkey is an entirely different matter, lol. They’re all still wild animals and have made me lose sleep and time chasing them. So my pics do not represent public land or lease land really, it’s just a private managed low hunting pressure property and I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to hunt it, work it, trap it, and just have access to it.