Well, cold'n a witch's woohoo last Saturday, but it was worth it.
Seein's how he's bigger than the other mounts, my wife says I can bring them all down into her living room, now...course we'll have to paint and get furniture to make it all match.
Not sure who won in this deal...oh well. Buddy who scores for B&C, says rough & green around 174. Makes me proud!
Anybody else got any braggers to jaw about? I know, it ain't fish or pond related...just wanted to share!
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That my friend is the deer of a lifetime! Awesome and congrats. Unfortunately I am not going to get to do any deer hunting this year but starting next year I will be in the woods all through the very long Arkansas archery season.
Congrats again! Beautiful deer and feel free to pack up the back straps and send em my way, ;>)
Matt,
That will be a great looking mount - Congratulations.
Chip
Hey Jack...no back straps left. All that meat (field dressed 212#, BTW) has either been canned or jerkified.
Called the wife 10 minutes after I killed the thing (still shakin' like a dog peeing razor blades) and told her I better just give up deer hunting, because I'll never get a shot at one like this again.
I am happy!
At the Spirko house all contributions of jerky are welcome!
Seriously though I know all about the shakes, fortunately like you I always get them AFTER the shot. I have had a few guides describe me as one the the coolest heads they have ever seen followed by a blubbering, hyperactive (and many other adjectives) kid after the shot.
Of course that is why we do it though, isn't it.
Perhaps it is time to start chasing a new critter? Head west each fall and start chasing Elk or Pronghorns. Pronghorn especially can still be hunted without spending a fortune.
Either that or take up the bow, now that you brought home a buck like that switching to the bow and trying to hit 130 class could be your new challenge. I am still working on that one after more then 15 years.
With the bow I still get stoked over a doe!
Matt,
Now THATS a whitetail deer!
Congrats.
Ed
Matt, that sure beats the heck out of the trophy doe I shot last Saturday with my muzzle loader.
Very nice buck, hopefully I will see a similar one before our muzzle loader season ends at the end of December, I still have an either or tag to fill.
Congratulations. He's truly a very fine trophy and something to be proud of.
One thing you got wrong is your chances of getting another of that caliber. The genetics are there for him, so they are still there for another. His offspring could easily get bigger than he is with the right conditions.
Manage your land, let the small ones grow old and improve there habitat. Getting big deer is just like getting big fish!! You just have to work at it and be patient.
Eddie
Jack (and all):
I appreciate the congrats. Means a lot, though I've not personally met any of you.
His genetics are indeed out there, as he'd not one ounce of fat on him, which just proves he'd been out doing his "duty" prior to my seeing him.
However, we hunt on 80 acres of my best hunting/fishing buddy's son's ground...it's all he has. The neighbors all around with one exception, shoot anything that walks on four legs. For that reason, we didn't believe there'd ever be a way to manage for quality.
Two years ago, however, a guy who's been buying up land all over 3 counties bought 300 acres half a mile north of us. My pals got pissed because he doesn't allow much access, but he DOES improve habitat...built a 12 acre lake, planted thousands of trees (that's what he does for a living) and put in food plots. I've tried to tell them that means there's always the potential for a GREAT buck now. He limits deer hunting to a few friends who are then limited to taking does and poor bucks. As long as Randy doesn't sell his ground, we'll do all right. (He's got it on the market @ $275K - if some sucker walks in, we're done, but his retirement will be helped immensely - can't blame him as he doesn't hunt and bought the ground 20 years ago as an investment).
I'm just hoping that if/when that day comes, my 50 acres will be in good enough shape to support our hunting. If just might happen, as the 2 guys I let hunt my place managed to take a big doe on my place and a decent 8 point buck next door. They said he had come from my ground.
Let them trees grow!
Matt, I've looked 3 or 4 times now and over my envy enough to be civil. He's a beauty. I expect you had mixed emotions when you saw him down on the ground. I've never even seen a buck that size. However, we used to have some monster does on my land. That was in the days before does were allowed to be shot. Haven't seen one of them for 7 or 8 years. However, a neighbor shot one that went a shade over 200 lbs. That is extraordinary in Texas.
Lots of guys in Texas are trying, apparently succesfully, to improve their deer by feeding protien pellets on a year round basis.
Sounds like your wife set you up for some new furniture. It's worth it.
Hey Dave...my wife is pretty sneaky that way.
Mixed emotions...yeah, I suppose. Although he won't go to waste.
You know, the IDNR has been HEAVILY focused on getting people to kill does to help thin the herd for about 5 years now. It's been a few years since anyone I know has killed a really big doe. Always seems like its these miniature does/buttons that get shot. We killed 2 other bucks, decent, not big. Average weight to slightly small. The fourth was a doe, about the size of a dalmation. Course, Gene says they always shrink immediately upon hitting the ground. Similar to the shrinkage I experience from time to time in my livewell.
Knew somehow I'd turn this back to fishing...
Matt,
Did you say that the guy has 300 acres for sale with a 12 acre lake and improved habitat for $275,000?
That sounds too good to be true and one heck of a deal!!! Did I miss something?
Eddie
Nice deer. Wish I had seen one like that. I too will have to settle with a doe I took with my muzzleloader. Cant wait to get the summer sausage back!
Eddie...naw, that's 2 separate properties. The one I hunt on os 80 acres and is on the market for about $275k.
The 300 acres is the neighbor's who only bought it a couple years ago. He's the one with the lake. I believe he's in the process of setting up some future hunting lodge, etc.
jg74...hey, doe meat beats eating a tag. Much juicier, and I've had to settle for that a time or 2 myself.
Here's Jeffs big'un from a few years ago...10 pts from NE Missouri.
Keep trying, Jeff. It ain't all that hard to load photos...not if I can do it.
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Thanks Matt
Gotta love the outdoors,... fins, feathers and furs!
Well, I know I'm going to open myself up here, but those pictures are exactly why I don't hunt.
Poseidon, what do you mean?
I'm just too much of an animal lover. It doesn't bother me much to gut a fish, but the deer are just for lookin' at in my yard. Not trying to start anything, though. Just my 2c.
Yes, I'm sure everyone draws their own comfort line in different places.
its ok poseidon, one of the things i like about pondboss is the spectrum of folks involved and how each add value contributing from different walks of life.
in our case (foothills of CA), the black tails overpopulate because primary predators (i.e. cougars/mountain lions and big coyotes) were decimated long ago as ranching took hold in the area. when it gets dry in summer, there is almost no forage, the deer starve and get diseases. the only way here to keep a healthy population is by folks occassionally taking some and thinning the herds. That way eveybody is happy, cause no one likes looking at diseased deer. wildlife mgmt i think its called.
edited post.....p.s. matt, awesome buck.
Poseidon,
As you can see in my picture, I'm a hunter. I love to hunt just about everything all over the place. Some say it's an obsession, but to me it's a passion.
In the four and a half years I've owned my land, I have not shot a single deer and don't plan on ever shooting one. My wife wants to shoot one and when that happens, it will be the only one killed here. I would rather see them alive and walking around my land more than anything!!!!
Hogs are a different story. They get shot up all the time and it seems every year there are more than the last year.
Eddie
To each his own. I hunted deer growing up and enjoyed it. Now other family members keep the deer herd healthy by hunting and land management (food plots and game mgt. plan) and that lets me focus on the ponds. The worst sight I have ever seen wrt wildlife (worse than a week old fish kill) was the mass sickness and starvation of deer as a teen. The area we hunted had lots of deer- way to many. The State had ask for years for help in culling does but no one was interested. The herd got some kind of disease and hundreds of them were walking around completely disoriented all skin and bones while some others were healthy. Game and Fish supervised hunters with our help had to shoot several hundred sick ones to stop the suffering. The bodies were put in a pit and then buried. It was an appalling situation. I am glad for those today that manage the herd (as DIED noted) so that I don't have to experience that again.
I don't personally deer hunt, but I respect others right to do so, and am thankful for their participation in a sport that I know keeps the deer herds healthy and viable. I also appreciate a forum where Poseidon can state an opinion. Good forum, good country.
This is “old fogey” talk, so bear with me.
Growing up in East Texas during the years of the “Great Depression”, folks lived off the land. Trapping, fishing, and hunting when a person could scrounge enough to by shotgun shells. Rabbits, squirrels, possums, coons, and quail for the rich folks.
I remember being in the woods with a 22 rifle as early as six years old.
I was fortunate being the kid of a schoolteacher. There wasn’t much money, but teachers were highly regarded in those days.
I loved to shoot a rifle – after WWII with an Expert rifleman qualification, I had a love for firearms. Loved to restock and covert military rifles to sporting arms, reload ammo, and bench rest shoot at the local rifle range.
Never had much chance to hunt while raising kids and making a living, but loved the sport. Hunted pheasant in N. Kansas/S. Nebraska area, and a couple of trips to Wyoming for pronghorn and muleys.
My sons are all avid outdoorsmen.
My “pondboss” son moved to the country a few years ago to raise their sons – all avid hunters and fishermen.
There is a lot to learn from hunting; self discipline for one, and respect for other persons and property - and above all, safety that carries over to everyday life.
When I got too old to prowl the mountains in a jeep – I bought a boat...
Just my 2 cents worth.
My outlook: Poseidon, I think most of us have some of the same feelings. When I see any type of wildlife, I pause and watch. If I ever walk up to a deer that I have shot without a twinge of regret, I'll quit hunting.
That said, I consider myself a carnivorous predator and the top of the food chain. I hunt a lot but seldom shoot anything. At 64 yoa I'm a trophy hunter who rarely sees what he is looking for and more interested in passing on my enjoyment of the land and wildlife to my Grandsons. It's something like the fish in the pond. I'm really interested in growing the herd and hoping it stays healthy. Over the Christmas holidays, I intend to teach my Grandson how to backtrail a deer to find where it stays during the day and why it stays there. Admittedly, once we invade his home, he will move but I will have accomplished my goal. One of my greatest thrills is in seeing the results of my game camera.
Like others, I have, in the 60's, seen starving herds of deer. It was on Possum Kingdom Wildlife Refuge during an extended drought. Seeing dead and dying deer gave me my first understanding of resource management and a concern about artificial vs PROPER resource management. They were too weak to even run away. I don't mind shooting excess deer, selling off cows, neutering cats or reducing predators in the pond. It is also why I don't fertilize my water holes or use tilapia. I just don't believe in pushing the environmental envelope. Through resource management and help from most of the neighbors, I think we now have a balanced deer herd with a buck/doe ratio of about 1 to 1. Next year, we will absolutely have to take out some cull bucks. Wish I could be as proud of my drought ridden ponds.
BTW, my 8 year old Grandson/Pardner has, in the last month, taken a hog and a cull buck. He's pretty happy but didn't tell his friends about it. He feels like other kids might not understand. Prior to the hunts, we had the talks about the finality of it all and it's not like a video game. We also had the talks about blister packed meat from the grocery store and having somebody else do your killing for you. My 10 year old Grandson will never hunt because he doesn't believe in harming animals in any way. Though young, they respect each others feelings and are very close. I wish my Granddaughters enjoyed the country life. Oh well, they have chosen to be Princesses.
Poseidon, I'm glad you provide a refuge for wildlife. They do need a haven that they won't get on my land.
Sorry, this got longer than I thought it would.
poseidon, it almost impossible for a nonhunter to understand why we hunt and then get enjoymnet out of showing the killed animal. I bowhunt and on most occasions I do not get a shot but enjoy just seeing them. However I enjoy also taking an animal that God has provided me the opportunity to hunt. It is not a macho thing (although admit some hunters might feel that way) but more spirtual. I just LOVE taking does with the bow a big buck is just a bonus. See hard to explain. I Love the fact that you Love watching them.
However some nonhunters are also antihunters and this is where I have a problem, try to not fully get on my soap box. But for them to not understand but yet try to put an end to our heritage is wrong. To call me as a hunter inhumane and cruel to animals is so far from the truth. One example here in GA we pay for the Wildlife Management Area with our stamps. Bikers, hikers, horeback riders, birdwatchers, etc. can all use this land leased or purchased by hunter dollars. They pay nothing, yet some of them get applaud if it is shut down for a weekend to allow hunting.
The anti hunting groups such as HSUS that claim to love animals spend millinos on antihunting campaigns and less than 5% on land accusations or improvements. Compare that to conservation organizations that suport hunting. They spend 100's of millions to help wildlife both gam and non game speceis. So who loves widlife more anti hunters or hunters, seems clear to me. BTW currently 9% hunters, 4% anithunters and remainder (87%)are non hunters so Posiedon you are the majority.
I second the notion that hunters put more money into conservation than anyone. I think it's true. Also, most of us hunters are also avid animal people, we like to own pets, watch wildlife, and promote conservation (which includes maintaining healthy populations). As far as some of the so called conservation groups, unfortunately money corrupts. I have personal experience with the Humane Society here in MN. They have gotten to the point where they routinely steal peoples pets so they can "place" them in good homes. Of course their is a healthy charge to the person who wants one of these "lost" pets. So they aren't a conservation or animal loving group any more, they just want the money.
I won't go so far to say I'm anti-hunting. I have never seen what ewest describes above, and hope I never do. I guess if I had seen it I would probably join in and help thin the herd myself. But the animals in the pictures look a long way from starving or sick. The whole point of the post was that this was the biggest healthiest buck in the forest. I would rather get years of enjoyment from watching this guy out by the pond than by shooting him.
But that's just me, and I understand that everyone doesn't feel this way. I'm just a soft hearted animal lover that doesn't have a problem buying a big T-bone at the store.
I didn't want start a battle over it, I know I'm in the minority on this one. Rather, I was just expressing my 2c, and wondering what kind of replys would result. No one can expect to change anyone else's mind on hunting. I am glad to hear y'alls side of the story.
...and we're glad to hear yours.
And now...Back to ponds.
Your 2 cents is acknowledged and sincerely appreciated. My hunting doesn't end with the season. I just quit carrying a gun.
I love hunting, Poseidon, but if you don't give me any grief for that, it I'll try and keep these guys off your back.
My carrying a gun doesn't end with hunting season, I just stop shooting quadrupeds.
Poseidon, I'm always glad to meet any animal lover even if they don't hunt when they have an equally respectfull view of other's perspectives. I come from the same perspective as someone else here who said that he'd quit hunting if he stopped having a little remorse over the kill. It's hard to explain, I have a real respect for wildlife which is still there even after they are killed. Us hunters need to have enough respect not to be wasteful and appreciate what we've bagged by using it wisely. I like to eat mine.
My father-in-law was a hardcore hunter, travelled every year, got permits and licenses to shoot whatever there was, his family ate it all, bear, elk, deer even a moose one year. On his travels he found paradise for his retirement, 80 acres up on the hill over looking the lake, one neighbor within 300 Weatherby range. He could taste the deer well before he moved there, talked about them a lot, 4 point this, 3 point that. He retired and moved on the property, never fired another round. Some how when the deer became his, he changed. He closeted the guns and broke out the binoculars, put out a salt lick and even warmed up to his wife's cat.
It will probably surprise you to know that I got my 11 year old a 20g shotgun for his b'day and my 8 year old is pretty good with a 22 pistol. We love to go shooting.
BZ makes sense. If you are going to eat what you shoot, I can justify that. I just know too many people who are in it for the kill, and nothing else. I just can't understand that.
I've got to give credit to this forum and all the people on it, though. I stuck my neck out with my post and this has been a very civilized discussion on an emotional subject.
Poseidon,
I think you have hit on what makes this forum so unique. Every one is civil and, myself aside, think before they write. Good job! as we say in my neighborhood.
Eddie Walker and I do think alike. We both hang our trophies in a group within a shop atmosphere. The only difference is most of my trophies were likely bred in China.
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Eddie's trophies:
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My trophies:
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Yep, Poseiden...I can't hide when I'm developing a parcel named Liberty Nature Preserve. I stalk the aisles of Menards, searching out my prey, armed with a shopping cart.
Poseidon, I know people like that who use live animals for target practice. Not for me, but I don't know of any who just cut the horns off. They usually have someone who will appreciate the meat.
I do not care for the taste of venison. I have it made into sausage and we eat it. If I really had to eat the venison, I'd probably stop hunting.
Brettski, that's a disgustingly clean work area.
I can't tell Brettski's OSB from Eddie's OSB.
Dave Davidson - the key to palatable tasting venison is to get all of the silver skin and fat off the meat before cooking it. The presence of silver skin and deer fat will give the meat a very off taste for most people. Just like a cow there are certain muscle groups that are much more tasty and tender than others. Those "other" muscle groups are better suited for the grinder and making sausage. I highly recommend butterflying the backstraps and grilling them just like steak, comments from my friends have been, "This is better than any beef I have ever eaten". There are other factors involved in palatabilty too, such as did the meat get cooled down quickly in warm weather, and did the deer hang for at least 24 hours before butchering. There are a number of factors that can affect the quality and taste of venison, if everything is done right then vensison is extremely delicious, if not done quite right then it is not near as palatable as it should be.
a) i hope eddie's wall is built well, thats a lot of weight on there......wow
b) brettski, my God man, how do you find anything in that workshop
Brettski's workshop may be even neater than Dwight's; it certainly shows "fewer operations in progress". Although both demonstrate immeasurably higher project completion and put-way-tool percentage scores than I have achieved.
I would post a picture of one of my working areas at home, but it would end up for sale as a motivational poster at
some heartless, mercenary website run by a mad scientist. Probably at an insultingly low price.
Brettski,
I showed you the wrong side of my shop. My other trophies are on this side.
Eddie
PS, the bass on the wall by the door weighed 12 pounds and I cought it at a public lake in California. It was my first bass!!!
run by a mad scientist and his family??
cool website.......b.c., i like those jigs.
i have rocks all over my work bench
great thread matt, its all over the place but full of quality
edited post.......aw c'mon eddie, you can say the name of the lake, i wont mind
Sorry,it wasn't a secret. It's called Lake Chabot in Castro Valley. It's more of a park than a great fishing spot, and I just got lucky.
I had been watching some fishing shows and wanted to try bass fishing. My buddy talkes teh talk, so I asked him to take me. He said they had been spawning at the lake and were biting.
We walked along the paved trail on the East side until he spoted some bass along the shore. They were not very far out at all, but didn't look very big to me. In fact, I thought they were small looking and wanted to go to a better spot, but he said they were big and we should fish there.
I put a black rubber worm on a hook and tossed it in over them and reeled it in. On the third cast she bit. The reel started spinning when the fish took off. It jumped a few times and really gave me a show!!!
I half reeled it in, half draged it in until she was on the shore. My buddy grabbed her and brought her out. He was totally freaked out at the size of her. I didn't know if it was big or just a decent one, but by his reactions, I started to realize it was a really good fish.
He had a scale in his tackle box and we weighed her at 12 pounds, or just a hair over. I can't swear the scale is 100% accurate, just that's what it showed.
Since I'm so into taxidermy, I already knew I wanted to get it mounted, but didn't want a skin mount. I've seen way too many skin mounts and all of them have oil issues. You just can't tan a fish skin.
I could have brought her in and had my taxidermist make a mold of her, or I could take measurements and have him order one already made. I chose to measure her, take allot of pics and throw her back.
She swam away just fine, so hopefuly she lived.
Eddie
OMG, another incredible Eddie/Brettski coincidence! This PB forum is just WAY too spooky.
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Eddie's first bass, 12 lbs:
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Brettski's first bass, 12 lbs (without the box):
If they sing the same songs, I quit.
Nice buck. He's definitly a buck of a lifetime and one to be proud of. Funny how wives can do that. Just like you can't build a new house without buying all new furnature.
Wow...guess this post's been ridden seven different ways.
I've told my buddies that I don't care if I ever kill another deer. I go because, well, I always have and it's a couple of days each year that the 4 (rarely, 5) of us get together, eat breakfast, tell lies, bitch, moan and laugh.
The landowner's father is the closest thing to a dad I've ever had. His brother is a great guy, too, but they're 65 & 67. Not sure how much longer they'll keep at it, but, if necessary, I'll push their wheelchairs to a blind and put the shotguns to their shoulders.
My brother and I don't hang out, much, except during this time of the year. It's more about everything else, except the killing. This year, I was the lucky one, but each year I always hope ol man Redlinger and Gene get the big ones.
I can understand the watching part, because that's what I do 11 months and 29 days the rest of the year.
Poseidon and others...I respect your opinions and know you respect mine as well. My wife is of the same ilk. I've asked her to go, and told her I'd give up these days with "the guys" and concentrate on getting her a deer...she'll have none of it. Course, that doesn't stop her and the daughters from eating all my jerky.
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