I see some potential

hickslawns · Jun 1, 2012

I have about 4-5 bucks showing up on one farm this year. Two are just starting to grow which is a little puzzling to me. One other it is obvious he is going to be a basket this year. He just has no mass whatsoever and you can tell how small his body is standing next to the "big boys". One of them is decent, but I can tell already he will not be a shooter this year.

Then you have Mr Potential. I don't know where this one is going to end up. . . but I like the start he has so far. I am not seeing a B&C deer this year, but it will be interesting to watch him grow and see where he goes. If I had to guess, I'd be wrong, so I will just wait and see. lol

Before anyone says anything, I need to add one comment about the weeds. On May 2 this camera card was changed. From May 2 to May 16 that sucker grew 3'. Honest to goodness. It went from around 18" tall to 4-5' tall. It has been cleared out again and I look forward to seeing what the next card change brings. The weed blowing in the wind filled up the card in two weeks. The farmer has mowed the lane since and I cut down the ones right in front of the camera. Should be interesting.

Mike R · Jun 1, 2012

Defiantly looks like he will have a split brow tine on his right side.

hickslawns · Jun 1, 2012

That is what I was thinking, but I was not positive. Split brow is not something I see around my hunting spots. This would be the first. Most of them on this farm are either half racks or typical. Not a lot of abnormalities around here outside of the damaged racks or half racks.

Rutin · Jun 1, 2012

Def a split brow and im gonna say High and Tight! Gonna be a good deer it looks like. Keep tabs on him for sure

cotty16 · Jun 2, 2012

Looking good so far!

hickslawns · Jun 2, 2012

Rutin said:
Def a split brow and im gonna say High and Tight! Gonna be a good deer it looks like. Keep tabs on him for sure

Could be. Seems many of our mature bucks are typical with good mass and not terribly wide. Many of the ones I would consider shooters might only be 16-18" but are mature deer. Probably why I drool over wide racked deer.

Here are some examples of what we see in this area to include the one I killed in 2008 (only a 17" inside spread but without a doubt he was a shooter to me!). The one I killed was 4-6miles down the road, but the rest are all on the same property as this trail cam picture.

finelyshedded · Jun 2, 2012

Looking good so far to me Phil. He'll be fairly tall but I agree he'll be narrow TOO....but spread ain't no big thang! IMO.

"J" · Jun 2, 2012

I can see some irony in a landscapers trail camera get blocked by weeds Phil lol.... looking forward too his growing season and ultimate demise ..... good luck with him Phil....

hickslawns · Jun 2, 2012

"J" said:
I can see some irony in a landscapers trail camera get blocked by weeds Phil lol.... looking forward too his growing season and ultimate demise ..... good luck with him Phil....

Literally LOL on that one J! I had not even thought about it that way. :redface:

finelyshedded

Looking good so far to me Phil. He'll be fairly tall but I agree he'll be narrow TOO....but spread ain't no big thang! IMO.

Thanks for the input Ric. I would agree in it not being a big deal. Don't get me wrong, I like a wide rack, but in overall score, the difference between a 17" or 22" inside spread is only 5" in overall score. Not a huge deal. After reading the recent decisions made by B&C club on the King buck. . . starting to think score is less and less important.

Rutin · Jun 2, 2012

Spread is nothing when it comes to mass.... like you said the score is becoming less and less important! Ive killed 6 P&Y bucks over the past few years and have not entered a single one, including OBB.

hickslawns · Jun 2, 2012

There you go Rutin. In the end, the score doesn't really matter. For me it is just a way to reference the animals. All that really matters is if it trips your trigger. This is why I use score as a reference. My goal is "bigger than the ones on the wall." Eventually, I will watch a mature deer which is not bigger, but I know is mature and i will take him.

That is going to be on my goal list this year: Either bigger than the one on the wall, mature with crazy character, or mature and on his way downhill. To me, any of these three would be trophies.

finelyshedded · Jun 2, 2012

Ron and I were hunting a stud of a buck about 5 years ago. I had him within 45 yards two years in a row. Got him on video during both bowhunting encounters. The first year I had him at 42 yards for over 13 minutes. I rattled him in and he locked up at 42 yards and stood there scent checking for over 13 minutes looking over this ridge I was set up on. I had my 8mm camera resting on my upper limb of my bow cause it was so long. He was a typical 10 point right at 170 gross that year with only 16" on the inside. Then the following year I video'd him on the same ridge about 60 yards from the first location on the exact same day. He blew up to a hefty 195" main framed 6x6 with stickers and forks. His spread was still around 16"! A local guy among an orange army killed him then Ron scored him. It just goes to show you that although spread is impressive it's just one measurement.

Ron found one side of the near perfect typical 10 side about 1.5 miles away from where I filmed him the winter after the guy killed him. It was laying in a cattail patch in a slough between two cornfields with narry a chew mark on it. Just stained from laying in some water.

finelyshedded · Jun 2, 2012

This buck still was around 170 net typical but with the 25" of abs pushed him up to 195" non-typ.

hickslawns · Jun 3, 2012

Dang impressive buck Ric. If I am not mistaken, I think Gern has one on his wall similar. Deceiving as it is a dandy of a buck, but I was thinking 15-17" inside spread. Maybe he will chime in. I believe this guy has potential, but I just did not get many "good" buck pics on this farm last year. Not sure which one he is yet. Not sure why they disappeared last year and are back this year? This will be my third year hunting the property and my only logical assumption at this point is crop rotation. Then again, it is early. Time will tell which ones stick around or return to the property.

Big_Holla · Jun 4, 2012

Great pics!! Up close and personal, gotta love it watching them grow!

Jackalope · Jun 4, 2012

.

I think it's this deer.

bowhunter1023 · Jun 4, 2012

That was my guess TOO Joe...

hickslawns · Jun 4, 2012

If that is the case (and it is quite possible after looking at it again), I don't think he will be a shooter this year.

hickslawns · Jun 16, 2012

This is going to make you guys all scratch your heads. I know I am right now and I have been studying these pics for a couple hours. The "Mr Potential" buck is now what I am going to have to refer to as "Right split". Why? Because he has been joined by "Double split brow" and "Left split." I have NEVER had a split brow tine buck on camera. This property suddenly has three different bucks with split brow tines. I could be wrong, and some of these could be the same buck in different stages of growth. After a lot of zooming in, flipping between pics, and studying them, I think it is three different ones. From what I can tell, there are 7 different bucks running this farm right now. Half are youngsters, but that still leaves me with 3-4 on the "watch list" to see where they end up. Maybe they all fizzle out? Maybe they all turn out to be shooters? I don't know, but that is what is so much fun about cameras!

Here is "Double split". Is it simply wishful thinking on my part, or is it possible these are two different double split brow bucks? I am leaning towards just different angles and wishful thinking on my part.

hickslawns · Jun 17, 2012

I believe this is a rear view of "Right split".

194 6-11-12 crazy rt and right split together.jpg

Since "Crazy Right" is in one of the pictures, I will show a couple more of this young buck. It will be interesting to see what the heck he turns into down the road.

Here is one I am calling "Left split". Obvious reasons. Just trying to separate them at this time and identify. One of these is left split and double split 10 together.

559 6-13-12 left split and double split 10 together.jpg

I see some potential

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