Starting to see a few nice bucks on game-cam





Cute Fawns too...

Looks good, Zep!

I have kicked up lots of does and fawns working at the farm the last few weeks. I am amazed at the binary color patterns of our deer.

We have a lot of ground that is in native tall-grass prairie. It has a red hue when it goes dormant in the fall. Our deciduous tree areas mostly turn gray in the winter since that is the color of the trunks and bare branches.

I have deer that are brown-red in color and others that are brown-gray in color. I see both colors in the same group when they are moving together in bunches during the winter.

The "red" deer are so bright now when you see them in the summer sun!

Have you started your feeders yet, or are those pics over a food plot?

White tail deer? Good looking.

Thats pretty cool about the colors. At this cam we just threw out some corn. We don't hunt, but like to see the deer and others attracted to the corn. We tell the big bucks to stay on our land and they wont get killed....but they don't listen...lol

Those are some nice deer!

Thanks RAH.....I wonder if the wild hogs being almost completely gone has anything to do with us seeing more deer? The guy that bought a large place next door to us is an organic dairy farmer and he says he grows some organic stuff to feed the organic dairy cows....he said he cant afford to have wild hogs eating up his expensive organic crops.....so he has done some extensive trapping with big traps that drop down and trap several hogs at once.....we used to see lots of hogs on our game cams and we have not seen one hog in months.

It's great that your neighbor is hitting the hogs so hard. I hear they can really damage the areas that they invade.

Yes they can do a lot of damage to crops. We are covered up with mostly sows and young.... we work on the boars to the point where the boars are getting smaller and smaller

Nice bucks, Zep!!

You could just install some of these for the hogs. They do a fantastic job of eliminating our deer population. I'd imagine they'd clean up hogs too!!

They do a heck of a job on the Elk too.........

Been seeing a few on the game cameras,
Wow them cats can clean out some deer fast, the ones they dont eat get out of dodge.

Mark, I keep forgetting to tell you how nice those bucks are. We had a buck roaming around here last year that was near the size of the big one on the second pic. Once the acorns fell, we never saw him again. I was at one of my neighbor's house right before Christmas, and there was 4 of us who had recorded the same buck. Miles of roaming, and he's still around here somewhere.

wb,

Do you know a good supplier for those?

I need the ones that are "feed trained" to clear out coyotes - but leave the deer. Will I need to pay extra for those?

Beautiful critters,(cougar) I picked off a coyote off the back porch the other evening.... one less deer fawn eater... on the the plus side coyote probably help some withe the abundance of pigs here

There are some good-looking bucks but that one is really nice looking. I will see two or three of those nicer bucks each year but I only got one opportunity at those better bucks a few yrs ago but he busted me while trying to take aim with my bow.

Nice bucks, Tbar!

I think you also need to create a "buck-shaped" pond to go with your nice "big bull" pond!

Not the biggest guy but pretty good for my little farm. He appears to be still fairly young.

I got him tonight at 4:30. I couldn't believe it.

Nice! Saw this 9-point three times now but am letting him walk. Should be nice next year if he builds some mass (and survives), Saw my first shooter yesterday in the middle of the day, but I had just climbed into my stand and had not yet pulled up my crossbow. Its a fun time of the year!

here are a couple pics of a pretty decent buck that has shown up on the cameras pretty regular the last coupla weeks.

Wow!!!

Good Lord!!!! What a stud.

Nice Missouri buck!

He showed up last yr after the season was over with a pair of matching kickers off each side
Ill see if I have any pics of that.

I’d take him. This is the biggest guy we have running around this year. He’s been an 8 for the last three years. I guess maybe he’ll always be an 8.

Am I doing something wrong and failing to "hold" the deer on my farm?

I seldom see the same big bucks more than twice on my game cams. Last year I set up a platform stand on some of our high ground with long views. I watched deer moving more than a mile on some days, and they didn't look like they were done walking as they went out of view.

I have water (running creek and small ponds), dense cover (heavy shelter belt, plum thickets, and some areas of tall prairie grass), and open travel paths. I keep a number of feeders going from October through the season.

Yet it still seems like my deer are just "passing through". Any advice from the experts?

Rod, do you see deer or deer tracks around your feeders?

Yes, on the deer around the feeders.

However, the raccoons also eat a fair portion of the corn.

Unfortunately, the farm is 45 minutes from my house so I usually have the timed feeders on pretty light settings.

I actually have lots of deer. I am just amazed at all of the people on Pond Boss that are "old friends" with their deer and see them for several seasons.

Our farm has pretty light human occupation during the deer season. I do catch pictures of two of my neighbor's dogs running around on the farm frequently. Perhaps that is my biggest problem?

We have some deer that we see season after season and others that pass through. We feed year round . Corn in sling feeders and free choice 20% protein, and 5 acres of winter wheat to try to hold them close. Some are quite tolerant of us when we put out feed. Which is every 4-5 days with 7 feeders

IMO, dogs are a definite problem for holding deer. We have 5 German shepherds but they are restricted to about 40 acres so that they do not run off the deer in my prime habitat.

Pat,

Thanks for the advice. Yes, our deer are also surprising tolerant of humans on occasion.

I didn't know what "free choice 20% protein" was, so I looked it up. It appears to be a medicated cattle feed. Are you deliberately giving the medicated feed to your deer for the parasite control?

RAH,

I have several barbed wire gates that are so old that they definitely would be a risk to hold cattle. (There are no cattle on the farm at the present.) I think that is where the dogs are going in. I probably need to check for footprints after the next soaking rain.

I doubt I can make them "dog proof", but maybe one extra strand in the bottom 18" would help. However, the dogs could still easily go through the rest of my fences.



*** I suppose tiger pits with punji stakes at the bottom are too much?

The term free choice down here means they eat all they want when they want . We use purina Antlers Max 20 or Antler Plus 16 or 20 by cargill. Not any medicated feed, those feeds are for deer

Fishinrod, roaming hounds are a huge problem for deer to hang around for any period of time, you will definitely not have any deer long term with roaming dogs, they will keep your deer moving all the time, especially the old bucks, they tend to bed down in the daytime and dont want to be disturbed, seldom show themselves other then after dark, run them, and any deer, out of their beds a couple times and they will move on to find another place. I would guess the dogs are the major portion of the problem, I had some dogs come through on my cameras about every 2 or 3 days till I left a little note in the owners mailbox, along with a picture of his dogs burning thru the woods, I let him know if he cares about the well being of his dogs that he needs to keep them on his property, they arent safe on other peoples property. never seen them since.
I feed straight corn a little in the winter but cater more to the turkeys, I have the feeders go off about 9 am, that way the turkeys have all day to eat what they want before the deer show up, doesnt work real well because the deer learn the time and hear the feeder. I have resorted to putting out cracked corn on the driveway gravel, that way the deer arent able to clean it up in a few minutes.

Another way to perhaps keep the hounds out is to allow a trapper access to your place and let the neighbor know it.

This is excellent advice IMO.

Opening day of gun today. Targeted this one because he was old and in decline. Taken before 8 AM.

Nice deer, RAH!

And also a good cull.

That is a good idea!

I was going to have a trapper out 2 years ago to get a family of beavers that were cutting all of my trees along the creek. We then had two massive floods and I have not had any beavers since then.

I also have bobcats on my farm, but I think they may actually be improving my upland bird populations. My neighbor used to have at least 20 barn cats, which I would sometimes see on my farm. After the bobcats moved in, I no longer see the barn cats on my land, or even around my neighbor's buildings.

My bird populations are going UP! I think one family of bobcats does much less damage than a large number of semi-feral housecats.

At this time, I don't think I should have any trappers on the property. I do not like to tell little lies in life, because that makes it easier to tell bigger lies.

However, some warning signs at my gates about ongoing trapping operations might be very helpful!

I have a beaver right now cutting down trees, but the trapper has been stymied so far. Its a bit cold for sitting out there at night waiting so I have not done it.

Rah a thermal scope helps at nite, scan and go home if nothing there. My son-in-Law has one for hog hunting. Also good for tracking at nite. They show up really good

I set a trail cam over a beaver area and never got an image. I think that the cold water in fur does not give a good signal.

My son in law got the one pictured above. My neighbor across the gravel road got this monster. I elected not to shoot. Haha!

Beautiful critter!

Rod, you really don't know for sure if any trappers may have snuck in to your place. So the warning isn't really a lie, it's more an abundance of caution & consideration for the well being of would be trespassers. Remember, it's not a lie if you believe it!

This one made it past Mrs. Augie Saturday morning, but his luck ran out when he showed up in my corner of the woods.

Hard to believe he made it past Mrs. Augie when he was carrying that rifle across his back!


Nice shooting, Augie. That looks like a good one to re-stock your meat supply in the deep freeze!

Yep not a bad one. ~225lb on the hoof. The stilyard leveled at 205, but his head and front feet were still on the floor.

First time in half a dozen years that I got one before Mrs. Augie got one.

Augie
Is that a Remington Classic? Nice buck

Late 1940s Winchester 70. Grampa Wilkie bought it after he got home from his stint as a ball turret gunner on a B17.

I've owned it since 1986. I should retire it, but I have this irrational emotional attachment to the old thing that I just can't shake off.

That’s pretty cool. I’d keep using it. I doubt you’re wearing it out. I hunt with an old Belgian Browning from the 50s. I bought it used, and it’s pretty darn accurate to 200 yards. Beyond that I don’t trust myself. My dad and grandad never hunted. No firearms in our house. Maybe my grandson pictured above will want it. Here’s a picture of it with my buck from a few years ago.

Very nice! Quality firearms will last as long as someone wants to take care of them.

My old Winchester is more accurate than the operator could ever hope to be.

Two or three rounds a year is all I put through it. Haven't felt the need to shoot paper with it for over ten years.

Finally got my deer. Not a wall hanger, but ok for our little farm. Pic makes his antlers look bigger. Ha!

It was a great morning.

Congrats!

Congrats, SetterGuy!



"Pic makes his antlers look bigger. Ha!"

Who knew that the Condello fish photo technique also works for deer!

Do Moose count? I've yet to get out for deer this season and might not the way things are going whoever I did tip over a Moose with the archery gear in September. 15 year draw. Solo hunt with Iphone picture so it is not the best however... If this doesn't qualify I'll pull it down....

By my math:

Moose counts 2x.

Bow counts 4x.

Therefore, I calculate that an 8x "congrats" is the appropriate response.


Hey Incept,

8x congrats!




P.S. Are moose good to eat or are they more of a trophy hunt?

Thanks! It was a pretty swell hunt. To answer your question, Moose is absolutely delicious. Soooooo good. The trophy aspect is great and all however the meat is phenomenal. Ended up with 331 pounds in the freezer.

I agree with FishinRod. Amazing. 300+ pounds of meat!

Yes they count. Pretty awesome.

SetterGuy your deer too.

Moose counts x3 at least compared to whitetail.

Tastes better, too.

Thanks all! Super huge congrats to everyone else as well. Some dandy deer up on here. Wish I could find Whitetail like that round here more than occasionally.

I was thinking Alberta is where the giant white tail are.

A friend of mine took this one on my west Texas place in October.



A few hanging.

Oh, it is. There are some crankers in Alberta. Further North though from where I am is where you'll find them. I mean, we have some around my neck of the woods however they are few and far between. For more consistent big deer farther North is better. Or Saskatchwan. Monsters over there.....

Nice buck Tbar. Very nice

Very nice buck

Three types of deer:

Whitetails

Mule Deer

Texas Bat Deer!

Three good deer off our property this year. The biggest one is the largest shot on our place in the 15 years we have owned the place.

Chris,
Those are some really nice deer. That last one is amazing. Would love to see one like that some day.
Nice!

There are even bigger ones shot on neighboring properties every year. We never seem to hold the biggest deer for some reason. Got a biologist coming out in March to make a plan for us

Big deer from several years ago.


Big deer shot this year.

Very nice Chris...!!!

Nice!

This is the one I was after this season, had him a l bunch of times on the game cameras but never showed up during the season and only once ever during shooting light, and that was 15 mins before dark. a neighbor wound up getting him 3 weeks later with bow and arrow, scored 182.5 after he had lost the 6 to 7 in drop tine on the left antler.

Wow. Tons of mass.

You have some great genetics going! Very impressive buck!

We are currently in "doe season" in Kansas. I went out yesterday to re-fill feeders so my nephews can still get a deer this season.

I also swapped out my camera cards. I did not realize that my big bucks were capable of reading the Kansas hunting regulations!

I had a picture of one of our bigger 10-point bucks at a feeder at 7:38 AM. It is an easy 65-yard shot from the adjacent blind. He only fed during the wee hours of the night during the entire buck season.

Hopefully, he will be even bigger next season! I also hope he is slightly dumber next year and will feed during daylight hours more often.

(Is it wrong of me to root for him to suffer a slight concussion during next season's rut?)

LOL, nope! Best chance of getting him is patterning him prior to the first day of the season and getting him on day 1. BUT the big bucks here seem to have a calendar and seem to disappear the week before our bow season opens which is the first season - opening Oct 1 in non-deer reduction areas.

Same calendar thing here Scott. Actually they go nocturnal during the first week of bow season.