2023 deer season regrets…
- Thread starter Howboutthemdawgs
- Start date
cavey
5 year old buck +
I regret thinking "I should just go back to the shed and get the four wheeler to drag my buck up the hill ungutted and out away from my stand - as to not spoil my spot .... I really regret thinking that that one little sapling looked small enough to just back over..."
It is actually a pretty nice little buck underneath there .... a good morning turned into a bad day really fast. In the end got lucky and walked away from this one. I just retired from the Fire Department and didnt want to see the boys and girls out picking me up so soon.
In an instant I went from tapping up against a little sapling to looking straight down at my deer, when gravity took over from inertia - my 4 year old's common saying when he gets into trouble kicked in "oh no, no, no, no, noooooo........." hitting the ground was pretty problem free, I split the difference between the stump and the buck, ended up sprawled out on the ground - gun still strapped to my back.... but I had time to think about what was coming next, and it did.
The rear rack took the brunt of the blow to me, I split that in half,... right leg was pinned for a tiny bit as I decided the gas and oil pouring down on me was not something I liked. Dragged my leg out, stood up and went ...."Ok that sucked but your not dead" shut the wheeler off and went around to see how bad the buck was... Rack was buried under the atv - figured it was smashed but when I untied him, He pretty much slid right out from under the four wheeler. It really didnt touch him. I drug him back a bit, flipped to machine back over... waited a bit and it fired right back up... still had enough oil in it. Went to move it and NO THUMB THROTTLE .... so back off to the shed I went, got the truck, (skid steer had a flat) ropes and pulleys and rigged up a haul system. After I pulled the machine to the top of the hill and coasted it down the logging road out to the field , went back down and gutted the deer and drug him up.
The day just kept getting "better" but at least I was still around to not enjoy it.
I caped him out and sent him off for a head mount, his name is "Polaris"
It is actually a pretty nice little buck underneath there .... a good morning turned into a bad day really fast. In the end got lucky and walked away from this one. I just retired from the Fire Department and didnt want to see the boys and girls out picking me up so soon.
In an instant I went from tapping up against a little sapling to looking straight down at my deer, when gravity took over from inertia - my 4 year old's common saying when he gets into trouble kicked in "oh no, no, no, no, noooooo........." hitting the ground was pretty problem free, I split the difference between the stump and the buck, ended up sprawled out on the ground - gun still strapped to my back.... but I had time to think about what was coming next, and it did.
The rear rack took the brunt of the blow to me, I split that in half,... right leg was pinned for a tiny bit as I decided the gas and oil pouring down on me was not something I liked. Dragged my leg out, stood up and went ...."Ok that sucked but your not dead" shut the wheeler off and went around to see how bad the buck was... Rack was buried under the atv - figured it was smashed but when I untied him, He pretty much slid right out from under the four wheeler. It really didnt touch him. I drug him back a bit, flipped to machine back over... waited a bit and it fired right back up... still had enough oil in it. Went to move it and NO THUMB THROTTLE .... so back off to the shed I went, got the truck, (skid steer had a flat) ropes and pulleys and rigged up a haul system. After I pulled the machine to the top of the hill and coasted it down the logging road out to the field , went back down and gutted the deer and drug him up.
The day just kept getting "better" but at least I was still around to not enjoy it.
I caped him out and sent him off for a head mount, his name is "Polaris"
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cavey
5 year old buck +
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bwoods11
5 year old buck +
That’s just it.. I have a locker in town if I need meat that bad , or I can shoot a doe … I’m not going back to shooting a fork or any young buck. My enjoyment is letting them live longer.
I had a blast this year even though I ate tags.
Plus my son got a Muley and my daughter in law was able to shoot her first buck !!
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
That’s a cool pic!
Bill
Administrator
I don't think so 100%. I've seen some old bucks with high and tight antlers. Also seen some old bucks with crap antlers.
Not accurate for all areas but we say if it looks like a hamster with antlers it's old enough. In N. MO and old buck has no neck and a rump as big as his neck at the base. They just look different.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I agree with that. With pics I can tell if old vs young (not exact age). I find it much harder in the field.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
The key is enjoying the hunt . There is nothing wrong with your choice.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
I think body is the best way to determine an age range. Determine age without history is a crap shoot but something 1-2, 3-4, 4-5 plus and the unicorn of 5 plus I feel like I can get decent with a few pics. Antlers only help to weed younger than 3.5 I’d say.
Always enjoy the hunt. Beats working.
Bill
Administrator
Posted this guy several times in the thread. He's an odd duck. Not the antlers but his habits. He lived on me all summer and early fall then vanished only to return 2 months later. Then Disappeared for about two weeks. I got a pic the night before last then this morning on cameras that are 1.25 miles apart. I know they travel some but this dude is a drifter. He didn't walk that 1.25 miles in a straight line either.
He may be a tough cookie to put on the ground.
He may be a tough cookie to put on the ground.
g squared 23
5 year old buck +
I ran a bunch of cams on public this year and was surprised at the enormous home range. Now public might select for outliers, meaning only the roamers tend to make it through.
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I have a roamer - 6 yr old. He is on cameras a mile north and a mile south of my place. I thought the way he roams all over the countryside, he would be easy for someone to kill. Now, I think he is going to die of old age.
roymunson
5 year old buck +
I hunted hard, stuck with it, didn't have a single shooter buck on the property.
Shot my 4 does and put the kids on some deer. 9 year old shot a buck after a bunch of heartache and mess ups this fall.
Worked hard to get a doe killed for my 11 year old, but he got it done.
Shot a bull moose
Had a blast
Have a good crop of shooters for next year.
I did all I could control this year. On to next year. No regrets.
Shot my 4 does and put the kids on some deer. 9 year old shot a buck after a bunch of heartache and mess ups this fall.
Worked hard to get a doe killed for my 11 year old, but he got it done.
Shot a bull moose
Had a blast
Have a good crop of shooters for next year.
I did all I could control this year. On to next year. No regrets.
Bill
Administrator
That's an interesting observation. But I guess you can't pastern something with little to no pattern.
MN Slick
5 year old buck +
Our new farm has taught me how much they move around. We've had it for 3 seasons and it's more of an island of cover vesus the one we sold which had lots of connecting cover. They likely aren't any more nomadic on the new one ,but it's now clear that when they are "gone" , they are truly gone . Like a mile or 2 away across open pasture or crop ground, rather than "just next door in the neighbors cover" which was always my perception. Based on home range sizes it makes sense and shows how hard it is to protect bucks on smaller farms.....unfortunately.
Interestingly, guys to the north just into Iowa seem to have more homebody bucks.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I had a nice eight point that I passed on numerous times to get him through the season. He was such a homebody. I got a picture of him the morning of the last day of season, and haven’t seen him since. I don’t have high hopes.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
The deer on the place I hunt are by far and away homebodies. We do get 1 or 2 every several years that travel a good distance but it isn't on the reg.
