A few habitat pics I thought you might enjoy

[Native Hunter]

Do you plant anything in your shooting lanes? How do you get them to stop there?

No, I just mow the lanes with a Bushhog. They will usually travel the lanes, because it is easier walking for them. They also like doing this since they can make one jump and be in thick cover if any danger approaches.

It would, however, be a good idea to have a long and narrow food plot in an NWSG planting. I do have a food plot at one location surrounded by NWSGs but it is a circular shape of about an acre. You can see the doe and fawns feeding in it in the pic above, and you can see a mowed lane coming in to it.

 

[Tree Spud]

Yes, I know. By this time next year I will be retired or semi-retired and should have the time.

You will definitely enjoy bow hunting, a whole different experience with deer up close observing their behavior.

 

[Native Hunter]

You will definitely enjoy bow hunting, a whole different experience with deer up close observing their behavior.

Yes, I used to bow hunt but had to quit due to lack of time when I changed jobs years ago. I really loved it and killed several deer - however, back then I didn’t have the quality deer that we have now. I will definitely love doing it again someday.

 

[Native Hunter]

I gained a new 10 point this week. Would like to get some better pics, but looks mature to me at this point.

He looks a lot like this other 10 point, but they are two different deer. You can tell easily by looking at the difference in the right G4.

 

[Bill]

Good luck with either of those.

Send some my way ;)
This year is slim pickings for us. But we do have some old warriors with shabby crowns.
I’ve got my eye on one that I should have shot last year or the year before but I was holding on to my tag.

Dang neighbors got into habitat management also. There is good and bad in that…
More good then bad.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

All looking great Steve! That loaded Yates sure makes me smile! Looks like you a have a buck for you, your son and the OL coyote slayer;)

 

[Native Hunter]

All looking great Steve! That loaded Yates sure makes me smile! Looks like you a have a buck for you, your son and the OL coyote slayer;)

Jordan, I just found the pictures you posted in the other thread and blown away at how your young ones are growing up so fast. Those are such great pictures. Thanks for checking in with us and glad to hear from you.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is another new one - a 9 point. He looks 4.5 to me.

Here are some better pics of the old deer that has only 7 points. He is a real porker.

 

[Bill]

Hamsters….

 

[Native Hunter]

Hamsters….

My son says that big 7 looks good to him. If nothing changes I may need to get the tractor out next week...lol....

 

[Native Hunter]

My son killed the oldest buck on our place this morning. We had named him the Toad Frog Buck. :)

We were hunting together and in the blind well before daylight. Just before legal shooting time, I saw what appeared to be a buck pushing a doe in one of the food plots, but it was too early to see well. Daylight came and we had a long dry spell of not seeing anything. The morning was wearing away, and finally 6 does came out into another plot to our West and started feeding.

We were watching these does but also looking at other places at the same time. All of a sudden I saw a single doe to the East in a shooting lane and she turned into the NWSGs. Right behind her was the buck, and he also disappeared into the NWSGs. I had another shooting lane about 200 yards in the direction they were heading, so my son got set and started watching there. We never saw the doe again, but sure enough, the buck popped out into the other lane, but then quickly went back into cover. My son waited patiently, and in a few minutes the buck reappeared. This time he was able to get on him and the rest is history.

The shot was roughly 266 yards. The bullet entered the lungs on the right side and exited through the shoulder on the left side. The deer jumped and cut off into cover fast, but we found him only 25 yards from where he was hit. I was glad to see him get this deer, and it was all the two of us could do to get him into the bed of the pickup. :)

 

[BenAllgood]

Heck of a buck!

 

[blueKYstream]

Love his mass! Congrats to both of you!

 

[Bassattackr]

Nice mass! Congrats!

 

[Troubles Trees]

What a tank of a body
Congrats to your son Native!!

 

[Tree Spud]

Nice mature buck ... congrats!

 

[Native Hunter]

12-23-21 Update:

Hello everyone. I haven't posted much for a while but wanted to catch up a little. After my son killed his buck shown above, I continued to hunt some. We still had meat in the freezer from last year, so I didn't have an itchy trigger finger. I ended up seeing some good bucks but decided to pass them in hopes that they would make it through gun season - and the good news is that most are still alive. I hope this gives us some good options for next year.

This first buck shown below is the one I passed a shot at on the first Thursday of gun Season. He may be 4.5, but I still felt that he could gain some by next year. I have recent pics, so he has survived.

This next one is a deer that I had my crosshairs on during late muzzleloader season - at least I think it was him. He came to my farm late in the season, and I had no previous history on him, so I thought another year might help him too.

This next one is a mature deer that I knew and probably would have shot if the opportunity had presented itself. However, he seemed to have a rabbit's foot in his pocket. One evening when I was hunting, I got a call that a relative had died. I came right on out of my stand and headed home after that. That same evening, the deer was out in a shooting lane before dark. The next time I had a pic of him, was the day of the funeral. Maybe next year, I will have the rabbit's foot and get him.

Here is a deer that I think is only 2.5 years old. He has survived too. Anxious to see what he becomes. He is a mainframe 10 and already has stickers on both sides.

I've also been doing some miscellaneous habitat work, and have recently set 10 more fruit trees to see how they do in the south. All of these are proven varieties in the north, and I'm going to give them a whirl down here. I will give some more details on these trees later on. I'm double tagging these trees just to make sure nothing gets confused or lost. I will use the cattle tags as backups and keep notes on an Excel Spreadsheet each year.

Below are just a few more pictures from this fall for your viewing enjoyment. My next habitat work will be doing some mowing for turkey hunting next spring and also doing some hinge cutting to thicken up the woods in a few more areas.

 

[Bassattackr]

Native - Do you find that some of those late season bucks show up (that you have no history of), stay on your property? IE - Do you pick up bucks during the winter and have them be permanent residents due to the food, cover you have?

I've had this happen both ways (some briefly over winter and then go back to home range) and some stay due to food, cover. Curious your experiences here as well.

Love the photos, thanks for sharing.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native - Do you find that some of those late season bucks show up (that you have no history of), stay on your property? IE - Do you pick up bucks during the winter and have them be permanent residents due to the food, cover you have?

I've had this happen both ways (some briefly over winter and then go back to home range) and some stay due to food, cover. Curious your experiences here as well.

Love the photos, thanks for sharing.

I’m like you and have had it both ways. I will say it runs about 50 / 50. So far I’ve had excellent luck passing resident deer. There are some exceptions to that, like two years ago when we let a 148 inch 3 year old go and it got shot by a neighbor. I’ve also had a 157 inch deer that showed up for 3 years only in December, but then we killed him in November the next year.

The strangest thing we have ever seen was a nice 3.5 year old that disappeared but showed back up on camera for 2 weeks at 7.5 years old. After that 2 weeks he was never to be seen again. I have pics of him at 2.5, 3.5 and 7.5.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Native -
What's the plot seed mix in post #871 after your son's buck pics?? I see brassicas of some sort and maybe partridge pea, rye ...?? It looks like a super plot, whatever's in it!!!

Those bucks in the pics look a bit scrawny .......... maybe try feeding them??? !!!!! Some of them are SLABS - real tanks. The one buck looks bloated, it's so fattened up. Nice work!!!