Think we're off to a good start!

[zachc]

Finally got the seed for the spring plot on the ground this morning, hoping the rain hits now. Knock on wood we've been getting deer in back by the plot every night and/or morning. Here's just a couple that looks like they might turn out to be something decent this year. Hoping the w1056310562ife gets to take her first deer this year!

[zachc]

10567 Here's another pic of the one on the left. My wife watched him for about 20-30 minutes yesterday evening.

[Big_Holla]

Gonna be a stud this year zachc!

[mrbb]

always love how huge they look for mass at the base when there in velvet
but that one has a LOT of time to gorw, should be a slammer, best of luck

[Mikebaker]

Awesome pics! That is gonna be a good'un for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zachc]

10586105851058410583 Here's a couple updated pics of the above, then 6 pointer. In just under a month he has grown from a decent 6 to a real nice 10. In my opinion he's absolutely shot up! Hopefully he'll just keep growing to, lol. We've been seeing him pretty regularly, even a couple times in the daylight.

[mrbb]

cool, this time of yr with all the new up coming food sprouting all over , gives them lots of thinks to help em grow antlers
stop growing, and its a long ways yet till Late Aug when they they stop growing
should be a nice one for sure by then!

[Strother23]

Let's like some nice deer already.. Good luck to you

[00buck]

Good looking deer how old do you think he is

[zachc]

Good looking deer how old do you think he is

I'm not the best at guessing age but I would say 3-3 1/2. I know he definitely has a couple more years of growing. His front end is still relatively lower than his back end, I've always heard once they mature their backs kinda level out. Problem is i'm not sure how everyone around here hunts, just moved out this way.

[zachc]

10587
And here's an updated pic of the one on the left (above). This buck is going to be a TOUGH one to kill. Earlier in the year we were getting pics of him regularly, but here the last month or so he's been hit or miss. Finally the last 2-3 nights he seems to be coming back around and...oh wow! I thought he'd be big but...wow!

[mrbb]

great buck, don't think he will have a lot of tines/points, but will have a big frame and the tines he will have should be impressive

as for him being hit or miss , I would just say that is mroe likely due to the food source has changed a ton in the past few weeks, making him be else where maybe more than where he was before

but come early season, where ever he is eating he will be very patterenable more or less,
they tend to be rather stuck to patterens that run on food, come first few days or even weeks of archery
soybeans being a big draw early, like clovers and other soft greens
good luck and please keep posting pic's as he grows
good to see them take shape, or I think so!

[00buck]

Very nice and I agree with mrbb food is where it is at

[zachc]

I was kinda thinking the same thing as far as food sources changing. I have my spring plot planted, 3 different clovers, rape, brassica, and turnips. Soon I plan on starting to get ready to working on my fall plot, try to have it planted by the end of next month, it has soybeans, rye, turnips, oats, all kinds of good stuff. Hopefully it'll turn out good and keep them coming in when all the other food is hard to find. And I actually checked my cameras today and saw what had to be his son. Same exact frame, not quite as big but still a shooter for sure and he's an 8 pointer. I'll try to get a pic on here.

[Big_Holla]

Holy brow-tines Batman!!

[zachc]

1060010601
Update to the nice 10 pointer and his big brow tine buddy! I watched them walk out at 9 o'clock last night, fed around the plot/feeder until after dark. I've seen the 10 a few times right before dark but finally got a good look at the "big nose" brow tine 8. Let me tell ya...wow! He's gotta be pushing 2 feet wide! Hopefully here in a couple hours I'll be watching them again. I got my main stand hung last weekend, have a lil trimming left to do but should work out perfect...as long as I play the wind right and what not. They were both standing 23 yards in front of it...eww-weee! Come on September!

[mrbb]

looking good
and another month plus to go yet!

[Big_Holla]

Very nice indeed!!

[00buck]

wow thats all i can say

[Stumpy]

Ohhh My.... Thise are some great looking deer.

[Weasel]

Very nice.

[zachc]

10616
So after a month or so with no pics of the "big 8's" son we finally got a bunch last night of him, and about 4 other bucks. But anyways what do you guys think...father and son? Both of these pics were taken last night.

[Mikebaker]

Deffinitly studs! Not sure if it's father/son but deffinitly same genes. Really nice bucks!

[Weasel]

Wow, nice to have choices like that!

[Big_Holla]

Wow, great similarities on the two!! Just one's def younger!!

[zachc]

106221062110623
Just a lil update on the big 8 we've nicknamed "big nose" due to the lump on his nose. Anyways with this heat wave that's hit us movement has been fairly slow until midnight or after and dies off before sunrise. Have been getting some good pics tho. The wife woke me up a lil after 6 this morning and we watched the big 10 and a lil basket rack feed in the soybean field in front of the house for a bit. Just threw in the pic of the 4 bucks out in the spring plot cuz I thought it looked cool.

[mrbb]

man he's a great buck for sure
you have any guess as to what you think he will end u[p scoring??
I have to think he will be over 150 for sure, ?? r darm close maybe more, but they do loose mass once that velvet comes off LOL
but still an awesome buck, best of luck to you

[zachc]

I would say he's easy 150's, pushing 160". But maybe it's just my hopes as far as the 160, lol. But man it sure would be nice to get a Booner!!

[Dan]

Great looking bucks!

[Big_Holla]

Heck yeah, now that's an update!

[zachc]

1064010641106421064310644

A couple pics from last week, just for fun

[Genesis 9:3]

The past two years I hunted in a guys front yard in Milford... last year I moved up north near Findlay... they just don't grow them up here like they do down in Clermont County... :banghead:

[mrbb]

that's a great bunch of bucks there,
best of luck to you this season!
thanks for sharing!

[zachc]

The past two years I hunted in a guys front yard in Milford... last year I moved up north near Findlay... they just don't grow them up here like they do down in Clermont County... :banghead:

We just bought this property earlier this year and had no clue what was running around it and through it. We've hunted my uncles farm, not 10-15 minutes down the road for the last probably 10+ years and never taken, and rarely seen, any bucks this big out there. Don't get me wrong we've seen several nice bucks and have been blessed to harvest several deer there but it's just crazy how 10 minutes down the road the deer seem so much bigger. And thanks mrbb for the luck, gonna need it!

[Big_Holla]

The past two years I hunted in a guys front yard in Milford... last year I moved up north near Findlay... they just don't grow them up here like they do down in Clermont County... :banghead:

Met a guy a little while back through a family gathering who has a big lease up that way and they certainly have no problem growing big deer. Was saying their key was when they started hinge cutting a lot on the land it seemed to change what it was holding within a year or so. Think it has a lot to do with that and of course eliminating the killing of young bucks.

[zachc]

Has everyone else's trail cams been as slow as mine the last 2-3 weeks with the hot weather we've had? Hopefully these 70 degree days and 50-60 degree nights will help us out...

[00buck]

Haven't checked yet in last 3 weeks going to pull cards tomorrow

[bill.harbourt]

Yeah nothing cept a squirrel

[City_buck]

Man those are some great bucks. I have two weeks left living here in NH and have a bunch of Doe coming in at 2:30 and 7:30pm. Temps are getting down to 40's at night now and with opening day coming up Monday it's looking promising. Looking forward to seeing all the pics soon of some deer taking a dirt nap!

[zachc]

106641066510666

Well the velvet's off, all except a nice Lil 8 I've been watching. Only 2 weeks!!! Whoohoo!!

[Toke2]

Studs..... quite a fraternity you got there.....

[Dan]

WOW, very nice.

[Weasel]

Nice zach. Hope you get to see them from your stand. It's no surprise that there is better hunting 10 minutes down the road. The deer will be where there is the best cover and food and that can change from property to property let alone miles down the road. Good luck!

[zachc]

Thanks I hope to see them from the stand too! But the way things have been since Friday night...not looking good. I have had my cameras all spring and summer and still do, literally every day/night I have had pics and for some reason starting Friday night and through today I have not had 1 pic of a deer on any of my 3 cameras. Still trying to figure out what's going on. Could be a couple things, the neighbors let their cows graze in the property that butts up against mine (keep in mind we have 5 acres so its more of a "pass through" property) and I've always heard that feet don't really like cows that much, could be that Friday the neighbors were cutting wood and a whole bunch of stuff and might have messed up their travel patterns, could be there's no water ony property and its been so hot and dry they have to be going to water at night, and then tonight we heard 2-3 dogs yelping across the road and they slowly worked their way down the road in front of the house and up the side of the property and then back barking the entire time so maybe they're chasing the deer off! But hopefully they will get back to their normal travel patterns real soon!

[zachc]

108551085610857


So I checked my cameras earlier today and found a couple of studs that look familiar. The big 8 and the 10 pointer we were watching all summer and disappeared opening day! I have only had a couple of pics here and there of the 10 and I have had absolutely 0 pics of the big 8 since the end of September! Thought he was long gone by now, either relocated or someone filled a tag with him. So needless to say when we saw him on camera today, we were estatic! But both of these bucks have had a ROUGH couple of weeks/months. The 10, as you can see in the pics, someone made a horrible shot on him and he still has an arrow sticking up out of his back. Judging from the arrow placement in the pics, looks like that it was a fairly long shot and he was walking almost directly away from them when they decided to pull a terrible shot. Good news is a have a few pics and a handful of videos of him throughout the last week and he seems to he walking around ok. The big 8, I'll have to post another better pic later, looks like he has lost his left eye. Have a couple pics and videos of him and he never has his left eye open, left side of his face is all roughed up, and left ear is always drooping down. Plus side is he seems to be getting around ok too, and HE'S BACK! Can't tell you how stressed out the big 8 has had me. Went out earlier and dumped some corn and some Antler King Final Feast (compliments of Bowhunting Ohio, lol) and about to hit the stand here very soon to see if I can't put him down, pray for me please...lol

[mrbb]

well best of luck getting that 10, as he looks like he's not doing that great, seems to have a lost a lot of weight, and teh har isn't as it should be
as for being LONG shot, maybe, maybe not, many folks don't hunt that high off the ground, or pending where and how it was with the terrian, too many things could make a shot like that happen, to just say they took a far shot
BUt I do know, a BIG buck will some times make a person take a shot they might not other wise, stretching there range or, taking a questionable angle shot??
it happens a lot more than I think a lot of bow hunters want to admit!

I hate seeing any deer with a wound, I think I used my only buck tag now about 15+ times taggging/killing a buck someone else already wounded. many times less than size I hold out for, but has always just bene the right thing to do in my eye's
I have even targeted doe that had wounds, to end there suffering and give em a quick death, over slow and I have to think painful at times!!

Good luck

[zachc]

Like I said I have a few pics and a couple videos of the 10, and he seems to be walking around like nothing is bothering him to much. Yeah the hair is a lil messed up around the arrow but it doesn't seem to be affecting him a lot, he's still moving through here eating on the corn and my block. As far as him losing body weight, I agree but a couple things there, he has never been a big bodied deer and also we just recently came out of the peak of the rut and during that time, as you prolly already know the bucks only have one thing on their mind...chasing does. So that would prolly explain the biggest reason for him dropping weight. Now that the rut is pretty much wrapped up, time to hit the food sources and put the weight back on.

[zachc]

1091610917109181091910920
Well checked the trail cameras this morning here's the results. The pics of the one with the droopy left ear and messed up eye is the Big 8 that we watched all spring/summer. If you've followed this thread you know the one I'm talking about. As I posted a while back he's obviously been in some fights earlier in the year. So he's a lil tore up but at least he's still out and moving around. The other pics are just a couple bucks with racks still on, just for fun. When the weather breaks definitely gonna do some shed huntin!

[mrbb]

well its always nice to see a few good bucks make it , and get them on cam, raises the hope for next season and that droopy ear one, must be a fighter LOL
looks like he's seen some better days!
I seen a few bucks today while plowing snow, still holding onto antlers here too
I really would have thouyght all the darn coeather we have would have dropped them early this winter, hasn't been above freezing here since like mid Dec. so a cold winbter here this yr
the 2+ feet of snow isn';t helping any either!

[zachc]

I agree nice to see some good bucks made it so far! I actually took the pic of the droopy eared one from a trail cam video I have of him. He looks pretty rough as far as his face and what not but seemed to be walking around ok. Actually in the video he walks in towards the corn pile, 2 more deer come into frame heading towards the corn pile and he walks away, went from dominating the area to seems to be very submissive, for obvious reasons lol. Anyhow hopes he makes it until next season, should be a giant. Which brings a question, I've heard that if bucks get injured it can mess up how their racks grow the next year (non typical in some cases) think this will effect it at all considering its to his face?

[mrbb]

yes they do say that, and its normally the oppisite side as to the injury the rack gets funky on
say breaksa right leg, left side of antlers gets funny

I have seen a bunch of bucks where I hunted alot, get shot, and such, and never have any racks grow funky?
BUT I have always had a few bucks every yrs that grew messed up racks, and were just very young 1.5 yr olds, so maybe it can be passed on thru genes too!
most bucks in my old hunting area, never lived long, to see them a few yrs later what they MIGHT have been/
only time will tell
he doesn't seem to have any BIG injuries that jump out , just looks like he's gone a few rounds on both the winning and loosing sides! LOL
in the vid, was he limping at all or???
if so, maybe a betetr chance of a non typ rack then ?

I personally think the antler deal, happens more when they break a bone , or a BIG trama
and then some how that transfers growth into the antlers, just my opinion!

[mrbb]

here is a droopy eared one I got yesterday!
BUT I think its just getting ready to fight , as its on a BIG food pile
and got a lot of pic's of them with pinned ears back eyeballing each other LOL

[zachc]

1102111022

So the big 8 is back (nicknamed "Big nose"), can tell its him by his messed up eye and droopy ear. Already by far outgrowing the other bucks I have on camera. Very anxious to see what he going to turn into this year! Also been trying to post this other pic since April but my phone was acting crazy. Anyways, I got this pic of a smaller buck in the beginning of April with complete hard horns, no velvet what so ever. I'm figuring that maybe he never lost his rack last year...I don't know. Anyone have any other guesses?

[mrbb]

I have seen many bucks hold there antlers till the end of march, so , I have to think its possible he just held on really long and more likely did shed them soon after your pic of him
I hope the big 8 gets even bigger this yr for you
cool to be able to have traits that stand out and get to know a buck and see him develop
I haven't seen any bucks at all up my way yet this yr??
I think I have too many bears this yr, and the deer have been staying away from my yard, so far seen 11 different bears here, and there here almost daily some times 3-4 at a time
plus the one mother bear with her 3 cubs has been running up and down trees making a LOT of noise, SO< the doe's with fawns I know will avoid my yard for a while, as bears in PA eat a lot of fawns, being able to smell them before other predators(coyotes and such)
PA did a study a few yrs back and found MOST all fawns were eaten by bears than any other predator , by a huge margin.

here is the mother bear, and her cubs, I got them a kiddie pool too LOL, since there here so often, makes for a fun evening show on sunny days! LOL

[zachc]

1107011071110721107311074

Pull the cards today, just thought I'd post a few for some fun...and conversation since its so dead on here, lol. Big nose is still coming through pretty regularly (knock on wood), we watched him out in the clover plot last Monday shortly before dark. The wife said he came out a few more times throughout the week before dark. And then last night about 20-30 minutes before dusk he stepped out with a yearling and 2 smaller bucks, they fed about 70 yards from my front porch until I lost them when it got dark. With any luck he'll keep this pattern up through at least the first couple weeks of the season so I can slide an arrow through him with the new BowTech! I want this deer so bad its crazy! The pic of the one buck is going to be a pretty good deer it looks like and then the smaller buck just has a crazy rack. I have quite a few videos of him hitting up the 30-06 mineral, which by the way that stuff is amazing! On his right side he has 4 points that shoot up straight out of his head like spears and his left side is funky too! Can't wait to see what this dude grows into! Anyways anyone else having any preseason luck?

[mrbb]

well thanks for adding something to the site, its sure slow here anymore
and yes looks like you got some nice bucks there
best of luck with him keeping his pattern for the first few hunts and getting that arrow where you want it!
I haven't seen many bucks this yr up my way, But haven't been looking much either
last yr all I got mostly was doe and fawns in the yard, well that and bears and other critters, but deer wise, seems all I get are non bucks
lots of fawns this yr and young animals of all species here

should be a good yr for hunters
ME< I gave up hunting I think!, just like running cam's and enjoying the outdoors and others hunters stories and hunts!

[zachc]

Well as luck would have it, Big nose was out again this evening. As the rain let loose (once again) I just happened to look out the bedroom window and he stepped out of the woods and heard straight for the soybeans...at 8:25, about 45 minutes before dark! I finally broke out the video camera and got some really good footage of him as he fed 100 yards from the house with plenty of daylight. He eventually fed across the field right in front of the house and fed right off the driveway. I'm gettin' the itch fellas!!

[nomad_archer]

good stuff zach. I havnt been out in the woods to do any scouting yet this summer. I have been buried in yard work and getting firewood ready for next year. Busy busy busy but the yard looks great and I am starting to free up finally. May have to go for a walk in the woods that I want to put a stand in. 5 min from home. Hopefully it is promising.

[Big_Holla]

Looking good with some mass!

[zachc]

Big nose and the crazy rack buck came out yesterday evening at 7:55, fed out into the bean field in front of the house. Of course I grabbed the tripod and camera and snuck around the back of the house to get some footage of both of them. I was able to set up about 60-70 yards from them and got about 10 minutes of video...before someone fired up a 4 wheeler and they weren't having that! Took off back into the woods.

[zachc]

1108611087

So I haven't had many pics of different bucks this year and big nose is about the only big buck I've had on cam so far. Well I checked the cards today and was pretty stoked to see big nose in the one pic by himself but then to see 2 big bucks in the next pic was great! In the pic with the 2 bucks first thought that big nose was the deer walking (due to his size) but after looking, big nose is on the mineral pit and the deer walking has both ears sticking up, which means its a different buck...and he's big. Now I have a cam set up on the mineral pit but of course for whatever reason it stopped taking video 3 days before they rolled through in plenty of daylight, oh well I guess, hopefully I get another chance at seeing them together.

[mrbb]

looking good there Zackc

[Mikebaker]

Looks like your going to have a great year!

[zachc]

Looks like your going to have a great year!

I sure hope so! But if it goes like last year, these deer are going to haunt me all season. My praying that I can get back into the woods behind the house earlier this year than last. I'm going to try to catch the neighbor here soon about getting permission and setting a stand...once I find out where big nose is traveling, bedding, feeding, etc. I was able to finally get some video of both of the 2 big bucks and wow, if that doesn't give you the itch I don't know what will! Wish me luck and we'll see what happens...

[zachc]

110931109211094

Just a few updated pics...woohoo!

[mrbb]

looking good, haven't seen a decent buck up here to date, then again haven;t been looking at all
Man seems like this summer is flying by and haven't done crap for hunting or even scouting for bucks
only trail cam's I even have out are in the backyard and all I seem to get are doe, foxes, bears and raccoon, and a few rabbits

this makes two summers now NO bucks been here, odd as niormally have a lot here? NO monsters but a good mix of both bucks and does/fawns
just does and fawns now???

[zachc]

So there's good news and there's bad news (for me, lol). Good news is I was able to talk to my neighbor and he is letting my wife and I bow hunt his woods behind our house, which is great! He said that his 2 buddies will also be hunting it but I'm not sure how much...hopefully not a lot tho. But I was able to throw my game can out back there last week, checked it yesterday and only had a fawn and a smaller Buck so I moved it. Anyways which leads to the bad news...I haven't had a pic of big nose since the last ones I've posted on here, about 3 weeks. Like I said in another thread, we have a corn field that bitts up against the back of the woods this year so I'm just hoping that that's where he's hiding out the last few weeks. But I'll check the camera next week to see...fingers crossed!

[Huntaholic247]

Any updates?

[zachc]

11177

HE'S BACK!!! So I checked my camera's this morning and caught a video of Big nose! I think the last pics I had of him were around the end of July and he finally showed himself again! So I'm thinking my speculations were right, he's holding up in the corn on the backside of the woods. I think he may have slipped out to get a drink in the small water hole that sits in the middle of the woods. Video was at 9:43 pm this past Friday. Anyways, only had the 1 video but its enough to show me that he's still around, not gonna lie I was starting to question myself and starting to believe that maybe he was gone (knock on wood). Now they still have the corn up but should be running it any day now and hopefully I'll be able to meet this big guy...along with my BowTech and grim reapers! Lol

[mrbb]

well good to hear he\s still kicking
corn will soon be getting cut if not already
SO< maybe he will start spending more time on your side of his home range again
best of luck

[Huntaholic247]

Awesome man, best of luck!

[zachc]

1119711198

Checked the cam back in the woods yesterday and every night for the last 5 nights, I have several videos of big nose (and a few smaller bucks) chasing does. Unfortunately all the videos are from about 8 pm-4 am. But just proving that the rut has started around here, at least the seek stage has started. Oh yeah and apparently he has done a lil fighting cuz if you notice he has broken off one of his 6-8" brow tines. I have vacation Nov 7-10 then 14-17 so we should be able to get something done then...if not hopefully before.

[zachc]

Anyone else been seeing any chasing?

[zachc]

1120611207

Got this guy on my cam last night about 5:16pm (pic says 6:16 but I forgot to change the time on it). Have a few videos of him eating some corn I dumped last weekend. And quite a few does and a couple small bucks but rest at night. Also if you notice the straps on the tree behind him to the right, yeah that's my stand 15-20 yards away! Lol. I was getting a bunch of pics of him earlier in the year and posted one in here back in August. Turned out to be a decent buck.

[zachc]

11251112521125311254

Got a small break in the rain yesterday so I ran out and switched out camera cards. Been REAL slow here lately! All of the pics/videos I have are at night, as most of the season. Anyways a couple weeks ago I moved my camera over a big historical scrape that seemed to be getting a lot of activity this year again. Had a few does and a few small bucks hit it up and then on the 19, I had a couple of small does walk through and pee in it, and after them 4 different bucks came into the scrape and opened it up (2 shooters). One is a decent 10 (last pic) and the other is a very nice 13 pointer with kickers off his g2 and g3, got video of him just ripping up the dirt! Besides that here a there deer movement on cam. Last pic is the lopsided 10 that I had in daylight in front of my stand a while back, good to see he's still around. Almost no movement over the last week on the scrape so I relocated the cam over a few hot scrapes and rubs on the edge of a big pine plot. Very anxious to see what I get there...

[zachc]

Anyone getting trail cam pics...??

[mrbb]

I get a few hundred every week if not more
mostly doe, yearlings , squirrels and birds, LOTS of rabbits, and then got this buck the other day, NOTHING big,
but been a very odd yr here for critters
have piles of apples sitting since Sept, and NOTHING will go near them>>>
NO idea why, tree's are right where the apples have fallen, I just raked them into a pile??
there just rotting away I guess? deer and bears and all sorts of critters walk past them all the time too!
never NOT had apples cleaned up as fast as they fell in all my yrs here??

don't get it?
and one apple tree is still pretty full of apples yet, never fell off??

Crazy yr here LOL