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2025 Deer Season Forecast
- Thread starter 356
- Start date
356
5 year old buck +
356
5 year old buck +
The Buck that needs no Embellishment
I recently posted a thread related to a successful hunt on October 30 that included a picture that modified by AI. While the picture is clearly not proportionate, an earlier picture of the deer on trail camera shot was included in the “live from the stand” thread. There’s a story behind both the photograph and the deer. Truly, this is a deer that needs no embellishment.
As followers of this forum know, I am very passionate about deer hunting, and the habitat improvement, food plotting and highs and lows that accompany this endeavor. I am blessed with a wife who is quite forgiving and allows me to spend time in the deer stand. Those who follow my posts in the “live from the stand” thread know that I try to spend as much time in the woods as possible each season.
Last year was a very challenging season, and at one point I spent 100 hours hunting without a single whitetail sighting (although I did manage to get my first bobcat). While the season ended up with on a high note with the sighting of one of a target bucks in January, I filled two antlerless tags early in the season and endured a three-month drought. Still, the highlights outweighed the challenges of the season and I was able to introduce several to hunting through the Field to Fork program. Toward the end of the season I passed on younger several bucks and was able to get my son on his first muzzleloader deer.
This season started a little different. First, I was seeing more deer. Clearly, the habitat improvements have made our area a more attractive environment for deer. We are also reaping the fruits of our neighborhood deer cooperative which is helping improve the sex ratio and age structure of our deer. One of our goals is maintaining good herd balance, and that is done by harvesting dose and all age classes of books.
Now to the story of this book. My first picture of the main frame eight was on October 29. I don’t recall having any other pictures this deer particular deer this season. Additionally, the cameras were revealing lots of movement. During an evening sit that night I enjoyed a spectacular rut season show of bucks chasing does and larger bucks sparing with the competition. That is when I decided it would be good to spend a home office day into a home office annex day in the deer blind.
The NW wind bode well for a tower blind that was just 100 yards from the house. This blind receives a stellar Wi-Fi signal, so despite the fact the day was filled with online meetings (meaning I was in my office cloths), after changing the Microsoft Teams background picture, I proceeded to the blind well before sunrise dressed for a day in the office. Though I wasn't fully focused on the outdoors, I glimpsed a doe and fawn darting through the food plot towards the end of my second morning meeting. As the meeting ended a fork buck was on her trail, and a minute later the main frame buck from yesterday showed up. I was able to put an arrow in him just before logging onto my next meeting.
During lunch break, I reviewed the hunt in my mind and went to the point of impact. I was unable to find the arrow or any blood at first. I found a good tuft of hair, so I knew that I had connected with the buck. Walking along the path I has seen him take I finally found a dark blood trail. Believing this to be a liver shot, I went back to the blind for an afternoon of meetings. After work I changed and tracked the blood trail for about 100 yards, at which time it stopped. Using the On-X tracking feature I tried to grid search but didn’t find any more blood.
At this point it had been over six hours, so I anticipated that the deer would have expired. I secured permission from our neighbors and started to walk the creek that goes through our properties, thinking the buck might have gone to water.
As I walked the creek, which is about 10’ down from the surface at most spots, I was startled when encounter the buck as I rounded a bend. My deer was lying in the water, still alive. He jumped up and settled back down a few yards from where I bumped him. I back out, taking a picture to mark the spot, and retrieved my bow, which I had mistakenly left on the bank where I entered the creek.
At this point, I figured it would be good to let him have a little bit more time, plus it was now completely dark, so went home, sent the picture to my son, and enjoyed dinner while I planned the retrieval. Returning to the creek with a headlamp and my bow, I was surprise to find him still alive, so I notched andarrow and he expired almost immediately.
After telechecking the deer, I began the hardest recovery that I have experienced to date. To get to the location required cutting some smaller trees and using some long ropes along with some old fashioned huffing and buffing (which at my age, comes easy).
I was proud to be able to get this deer, which had a live weight of 192 pounds, which for this area is very respectable. I estimate him to be about 3 1/2 years old. Definitely not a wall hanger, and no, his antlers were not grossly asymmetrical and exaggerated as in the photo, which was for my son, who laughed and said, “you should post this one.”
I didn’t realize anyone would take this seriously, as I had previously posted the picture of the deer and the AI photo is clearly different. I’ll be sending some individual apologies to some of the folks on the forum for my mistake.
I’ll conclude by saying October 30th was a most memorable day in the office. I believe my son is going to use this method the next time we have a north or northwest wind.
BTW, for the past three seasons my son and I have an annual “weight per deer” contest, so that is why you’ll often see pictures of weights, which are required if both parties are not present for weigh-in. The purpose of this “contest” is to promote the harvest of larger does and bucks. So far, I’ve taken 2 of the past 3 years, but this year’s management hunt might hurt my averages (that story is in this thread)
I recently posted a thread related to a successful hunt on October 30 that included a picture that modified by AI. While the picture is clearly not proportionate, an earlier picture of the deer on trail camera shot was included in the “live from the stand” thread. There’s a story behind both the photograph and the deer. Truly, this is a deer that needs no embellishment.
As followers of this forum know, I am very passionate about deer hunting, and the habitat improvement, food plotting and highs and lows that accompany this endeavor. I am blessed with a wife who is quite forgiving and allows me to spend time in the deer stand. Those who follow my posts in the “live from the stand” thread know that I try to spend as much time in the woods as possible each season.
Last year was a very challenging season, and at one point I spent 100 hours hunting without a single whitetail sighting (although I did manage to get my first bobcat). While the season ended up with on a high note with the sighting of one of a target bucks in January, I filled two antlerless tags early in the season and endured a three-month drought. Still, the highlights outweighed the challenges of the season and I was able to introduce several to hunting through the Field to Fork program. Toward the end of the season I passed on younger several bucks and was able to get my son on his first muzzleloader deer.
This season started a little different. First, I was seeing more deer. Clearly, the habitat improvements have made our area a more attractive environment for deer. We are also reaping the fruits of our neighborhood deer cooperative which is helping improve the sex ratio and age structure of our deer. One of our goals is maintaining good herd balance, and that is done by harvesting dose and all age classes of books.
Now to the story of this book. My first picture of the main frame eight was on October 29. I don’t recall having any other pictures this deer particular deer this season. Additionally, the cameras were revealing lots of movement. During an evening sit that night I enjoyed a spectacular rut season show of bucks chasing does and larger bucks sparing with the competition. That is when I decided it would be good to spend a home office day into a home office annex day in the deer blind.
The NW wind bode well for a tower blind that was just 100 yards from the house. This blind receives a stellar Wi-Fi signal, so despite the fact the day was filled with online meetings (meaning I was in my office cloths), after changing the Microsoft Teams background picture, I proceeded to the blind well before sunrise dressed for a day in the office. Though I wasn't fully focused on the outdoors, I glimpsed a doe and fawn darting through the food plot towards the end of my second morning meeting. As the meeting ended a fork buck was on her trail, and a minute later the main frame buck from yesterday showed up. I was able to put an arrow in him just before logging onto my next meeting.
During lunch break, I reviewed the hunt in my mind and went to the point of impact. I was unable to find the arrow or any blood at first. I found a good tuft of hair, so I knew that I had connected with the buck. Walking along the path I has seen him take I finally found a dark blood trail. Believing this to be a liver shot, I went back to the blind for an afternoon of meetings. After work I changed and tracked the blood trail for about 100 yards, at which time it stopped. Using the On-X tracking feature I tried to grid search but didn’t find any more blood.
At this point it had been over six hours, so I anticipated that the deer would have expired. I secured permission from our neighbors and started to walk the creek that goes through our properties, thinking the buck might have gone to water.
As I walked the creek, which is about 10’ down from the surface at most spots, I was startled when encounter the buck as I rounded a bend. My deer was lying in the water, still alive. He jumped up and settled back down a few yards from where I bumped him. I back out, taking a picture to mark the spot, and retrieved my bow, which I had mistakenly left on the bank where I entered the creek.
At this point, I figured it would be good to let him have a little bit more time, plus it was now completely dark, so went home, sent the picture to my son, and enjoyed dinner while I planned the retrieval. Returning to the creek with a headlamp and my bow, I was surprise to find him still alive, so I notched andarrow and he expired almost immediately.
After telechecking the deer, I began the hardest recovery that I have experienced to date. To get to the location required cutting some smaller trees and using some long ropes along with some old fashioned huffing and buffing (which at my age, comes easy).
I was proud to be able to get this deer, which had a live weight of 192 pounds, which for this area is very respectable. I estimate him to be about 3 1/2 years old. Definitely not a wall hanger, and no, his antlers were not grossly asymmetrical and exaggerated as in the photo, which was for my son, who laughed and said, “you should post this one.”
I didn’t realize anyone would take this seriously, as I had previously posted the picture of the deer and the AI photo is clearly different. I’ll be sending some individual apologies to some of the folks on the forum for my mistake.
I’ll conclude by saying October 30th was a most memorable day in the office. I believe my son is going to use this method the next time we have a north or northwest wind.
BTW, for the past three seasons my son and I have an annual “weight per deer” contest, so that is why you’ll often see pictures of weights, which are required if both parties are not present for weigh-in. The purpose of this “contest” is to promote the harvest of larger does and bucks. So far, I’ve taken 2 of the past 3 years, but this year’s management hunt might hurt my averages (that story is in this thread)
I just thought it looked “soft” if that makes any sense.
356
5 year old buck +
2025-26 Update:
While the first doe was not lactating, she was not the "spinster" doe I was after. I've not seen "spinster" around like I did the last several seasons. My assumption is that she so is dead, as her pattern was pretty predictable and she was easy to identify on camera. At 126# she was about average for this area.
Deer two was the first buck tag filled since 2024. While not a wall hanger, he was a nice deer with a great story and weighing in at 192#, above average for this area.
Deer three and four were antlerless harvests during a managed hunt at the State Park 8 miles south of our farm. Their combined weight was likely under my first doe....at least that made for easy loading, and the harvest supported the management objectives.
During the early youth season the gun my granddaughter and her dad used had a light-stick, causing them to miss a chip-shot at 35 yards on this buck....OUCH! After seeing a spike and this deer in the first hour of the hunt, they didn't see any other deer that day.
What's next? Firearms season opens November 15th, which provides a second buck tag that can be used for any method. I'll be at deer camp for 10 days and will be moving around more than in previous years, hunting a combination of the established blinds on private and exploring the nearby public.
Eleven, our "now" 14 point target buck has been on camera several times, as have two unnamed bucks that are mature. The fact that five neighbors are also targeting this buck was one of the epiphanies of our fall deer coop meeting. A curveball to the season is the construction of a "barndomenium" on the corn/soy field immediately to the west of our property. I believe this disturbance is changing some patterns as the owner has removed some edge and bedding areas for access and his yard. He will continue the soy/corn rotation.
While the first doe was not lactating, she was not the "spinster" doe I was after. I've not seen "spinster" around like I did the last several seasons. My assumption is that she so is dead, as her pattern was pretty predictable and she was easy to identify on camera. At 126# she was about average for this area.
Deer two was the first buck tag filled since 2024. While not a wall hanger, he was a nice deer with a great story and weighing in at 192#, above average for this area.
Deer three and four were antlerless harvests during a managed hunt at the State Park 8 miles south of our farm. Their combined weight was likely under my first doe....at least that made for easy loading, and the harvest supported the management objectives.
During the early youth season the gun my granddaughter and her dad used had a light-stick, causing them to miss a chip-shot at 35 yards on this buck....OUCH! After seeing a spike and this deer in the first hour of the hunt, they didn't see any other deer that day.
What's next? Firearms season opens November 15th, which provides a second buck tag that can be used for any method. I'll be at deer camp for 10 days and will be moving around more than in previous years, hunting a combination of the established blinds on private and exploring the nearby public.
Eleven, our "now" 14 point target buck has been on camera several times, as have two unnamed bucks that are mature. The fact that five neighbors are also targeting this buck was one of the epiphanies of our fall deer coop meeting. A curveball to the season is the construction of a "barndomenium" on the corn/soy field immediately to the west of our property. I believe this disturbance is changing some patterns as the owner has removed some edge and bedding areas for access and his yard. He will continue the soy/corn rotation.
