Freak buck from who knows where

[neonomad]

Was thinking back to a buck I shot in 2011, NE Ohio... I ran several cams on 100 acres back then, in 25 years I can think of only a few bucks that went 135+, and I’m not talking some 155s, more like 136s. One day mid October I was walking and spooked up the biggest deer I’d ever seen, from a small unmowed section of a field. He eluded me through bow season but I finally got one pic of him in late November. I had never seen him on cam before that. In desperation - I never hunt bait - I put a corn feeder 75 yards from the thickest remotest bedding I knew of. Last day of gun season - my one and only hunt on that feeder - minutes before end of light he came out of bedding to that feeder and I shot him at about 5 yards. A cam on that feeder showed he found it the day prior. How often does a plan actually work!? Scored 172” net with a large brow tine snapped off. Turns out the neighbor had been hunting him hard as well and saw him in a field at night frequently all through the season. What I wonder is where does a freak buck come from at probably 5.5 years old, setting up what I think is a whole new core area - not just passing through. Glad he did, but it’s a mystery to me.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I think many times it is a local buck that blew up because of reduced social pressure from a “bully” buck being harvested the year before.


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[jsasker007]

Bucks like "social distancing". Sorry I couldn't resist. That is a great buck though!

 

[Troubles Trees]

That is a solid buck, congrats bud!
In my experience most bucks 3+ years old I have on camera or see at a distance during bow season, feel pressure (especially during gun season) and hide in caves or under rocks. At least that was my theory until I read this story :) I don't have a lot of acreage to hunt so I never know where they go, I just know they disappear from my areas I can hunt.

 

[neonomad]

I think many times it is a local buck that blew up because of reduced social pressure from a “bully” buck being harvested the year before.


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Yeah good thought wonder if this was the fringe of his area, and once some other buck disappeared he decided it was a more relaxing piece of acreage. Or maybe his previous core area had a change like activity, dogs, etc. One side of our farm is busier... house, driveway, tractors, but as far as I know he was always on the distant quieter end.

 

[Mortenson]

Congrats on a dream buck. That's what worries me and what I sometimes see, at age 5.5 they pick up shop and move. I started running cams in '12 I believe, and in all those years, I've never observed a large 5.5 class deer to move in on us, but have seen many move away, or just vanish. A few are likely getting shot and kept secret. This year will be a good test at our place. Looking for the early fall return of a shooter 4.5, 5.5 & 6.5. Believe I have confirmation of life from 1 if not 2 of them, but they aren't regulars yet. I think the bean leaves in the region need to yellow and then we'll see some moves being made.

 

[neonomad]

Congrats on a dream buck. That's what worries me and what I sometimes see, at age 5.5 they pick up shop and move. I started running cams in '12 I believe, and in all those years, I've never observed a large 5.5 class deer to move in on us, but have seen many move away, or just vanish. A few are likely getting shot and kept secret. This year will be a good test at our place. Looking for the early fall return of a shooter 4.5, 5.5 & 6.5. Believe I have confirmation of life from 1 if not 2 of them, but they aren't regulars yet. I think the bean leaves in the region need to yellow and then we'll see some moves being made.

Did any come back!?

 

[bigbendmarine]

5 yards???!!!

 

[Mortenson]

Good question. My year hasn't gone as hoped. The 4.5 showed up on a couple of my cams in October, but I didn't know that until after he was killed by the adjoining neighbor to the south, on Nov. 17. I think that was truly his preferred core area for most the year, just a couple hundred yards past our fence. He was a 160 class 10. The 5.5 was my heartbreaker. He was solidly in our farm the duration of the rut, after having spent most the summer and early fall in a drainage ditch surrounded by fields. He was a resident of our farm his whole life. I have found 3 sets of his sheds, with last year's set grossing mid 180's. The prior year he was 143". 1 week before the shotgun opener I had him come in with his doe and bed down in the weeds at 35 yards. He never offered a shot I wanted, so I waited him out and sat 11 hours just to have it turn dark. Then my dad and I made the call to stay out of the farm for the week leading up to the slug opener. It was a gamble, and in a sense it did work because he made it til the 2nd morning. Cameras showed he was in our center around 5am as we were coming in with our trucks. Adjoining neighbor got him a couple hours later in his cattle pasture. He'll score 200" give or take. A good member here named Swiffy told me to hunt him harder. Wish I would've listened.

That leaves my mystery 6.5 year old 8. He's lived on our farm to some degree his whole life also. When I say that, realize we have 200 acres so obviously these deer are moving in and out. We got his sheds last year. He grossed 150ish with his 26" beams. I have gotten only 1 set of 3 pics of what I'm 99.9% sure is him, on Oct 2. I'll attach those pics. My camera tipped forward slightly the day prior to getting the pics, and I can only see his bases, but I know what he looks like pretty well. He looks at the camera, then I never saw him again. No idea if he's dead or as a wise old 6 year old, has he shrunk his core area down into like something under 40 acres? I'm trying to safely move a few cams around, but nothing yet. Maybe he moved. I always theorized the old ones move eventually. No clue. Outside of a completely unknown deer showing up, he's all I want for Christmas. A hope and a prayer. Lots to analyze and think about this year.

 

[neonomad]

Good question. My year hasn't gone as hoped. The 4.5 showed up on a couple of my cams in October, but I didn't know that until after he was killed by the adjoining neighbor to the south, on Nov. 17. I think that was truly his preferred core area for most the year, just a couple hundred yards past our fence. He was a 160 class 10. The 5.5 was my heartbreaker. He was solidly in our farm the duration of the rut, after having spent most the summer and early fall in a drainage ditch surrounded by fields. He was a resident of our farm his whole life. I have found 3 sets of his sheds, with last year's set grossing mid 180's. The prior year he was 143". 1 week before the shotgun opener I had him come in with his doe and bed down in the weeds at 35 yards. He never offered a shot I wanted, so I waited him out and sat 11 hours just to have it turn dark. Then my dad and I made the call to stay out of the farm for the week leading up to the slug opener. It was a gamble, and in a sense it did work because he made it til the 2nd morning. Cameras showed he was in our center around 5am as we were coming in with our trucks. Adjoining neighbor got him a couple hours later in his cattle pasture. He'll score 200" give or take. A good member here named Swiffy told me to hunt him harder. Wish I would've listened.

That leaves my mystery 6.5 year old 8. He's lived on our farm to some degree his whole life also. When I say that, realize we have 200 acres so obviously these deer are moving in and out. We got his sheds last year. He grossed 150ish with his 26" beams. I have gotten only 1 set of 3 pics of what I'm 99.9% sure is him, on Oct 2. I'll attach those pics. My camera tipped forward slightly the day prior to getting the pics, and I can only see his bases, but I know what he looks like pretty well. He looks at the camera, then I never saw him again. No idea if he's dead or as a wise old 6 year old, has he shrunk his core area down into like something under 40 acres? I'm trying to safely move a few cams around, but nothing yet. Maybe he moved. I always theorized the old ones move eventually. No clue. Outside of a completely unknown deer showing up, he's all I want for Christmas. A hope and a prayer. Lots to analyze and think about this year.

View attachment 32802View attachment 32803View attachment 32804

Man, roller coaster. Sounds like there’s some big deer there. Nobody who doesn’t hunt could realize the gap between deer on cams and actually getting on them. Yeah every year there are lessons to learn and analyze, some of those lessons I remember and some I forget and relearn the hard way. Need to keep notes.

 

[neonomad]

5 yards???!!!

Yeah. On the 26th I hauled the feeder and the corn back there. I had to put waders on and take it across a river and then haul it way back in the woods. I put a camera on it - no deer hit that feeder all week, that buck finally found the feeder on the 2nd.

On the 3rd my cousin and his son went in with me, my cousin setup about 200 yards away and I took his son - who wasn’t comfortable in a treestand - and put him up a hill about 25 yards away. I planned to be a backup gun.

At that point I realized how close I had put the feeder to the only tree I could climb. Oh well wind was favorable so I went up the tree.

It had to be in the last 3 minutes of shooting light I heard that deer walking toward us... I waited for my cousins son to shoot... kept waiting. Finally the deers at the feeder maximum five yards away from me. I’ve got the open sights 20 gauge pin on him as tightly as I’ve ever held a pin on something. I waited for a bit more to see if my cousin was going to shoot... Finally I pulled the trigger and he dropped right where he was. Turns out the kid never had a good clearing through the briars to shoot.

I didn’t check the camera until after the hunt and it told the story. I shot him several yards to the right of the feeder so that was out of frame for the camera. I still can’t believe that plan worked. I wish I had aged his jaw, to me he doesn’t look that old...

 

[Tap]

Sometimes bucks can have their rack drastically change in just a year.
Last year, we had a beautiful 10x6 hanging around. Yeah, he had 16 legitimate points. My neighbor found his sheds and they grossed out ~162". I knew this buck very well. I watched him from my window, I videoed him and also had a ton of trail cam pics of him. He had a very distinct trait...his left pedicel was uneven from the right side. The left base was very low on his head compared to the right side. I could recognize this buck even after he shed his antlers because of that trait.
Fast fwd to this year and he went from a non-typical 10x6 to a straight 5x5. I realize an injury can cause abnormal growth, but how does a buck go from non typical to a typical?
I think this is an example of us thinking we see a "new" buck. I wonder how often the new buck is one that his rack just changed significantly?
BTW, this buck was killed in November. He reportedly scored 168+.
I will try to attach some pics in an edit.

 

[Tap]

1st pic is from June 1st 2020. Notice the low pedicel on the left side.


This was him last year. Lots of abnormal growth.


His 2019 sheds. ~162"



100% positive that this is, or was :-( him this year.
The average guy would not believe that this was the same critter. I really wanted him to survive one more year so we could see what next year's rack would be. Was his real form a typical or a non-typical? We will never know.

 

[Catscratch]

I've seen similar things happen Tap. Always wandering what caused the changes, why they happened, and will they go back. We had a real even 10 point change into a 7 point this year. For the last 2yrs he was as even and symmetrical as could be, then this year he only had a total of 2 points on one side. I figure it had to do with age (he seems to be going downhill overall) or injury.

That's a darn cool deer! Too bad you won't get to keep track of him another year.

 

[Tap]

I've seen similar things happen Tap. Always wandering what caused the changes, why they happened, and will they go back. We had a real even 10 point change into a 7 point this year. For the last 2yrs he was as even and symmetrical as could be, then this year he only had a total of 2 points on one side. I figure it had to do with age (he seems to be going downhill overall) or injury.

That's a darn cool deer! Too bad you won't get to keep track of him another year.

It was heartbreaking when I got the news that he was dead. I watch deer daily and it just isn't quite the same since we now have no chance to see him anymore.
Btw, he was not an older deer like those whose racks are losing points due to advanced age. He was still relatively young.
We are confident that he was 3.5 last year as the 10x6. I assumed he could be on track to break 200" if he lived long enough, but then he went to 5x5 as a 4 year old. Kinda frustrating to never know what his potential was.
But even as a 4 year old, he had a scrawny body. I doubt he weighed much over 180 on the hoof.

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[Catscratch]

It was heartbreaking when I got the news that he was dead. I watch deer daily and it just isn't quite the same since we now have no chance to see him anymore.
Btw, he was not an older deer like those whose racks are losing points due to advanced age. He was still relatively young.
We are confident that he was 3.5 last year as the 10x6. I assumed he could be on track to break 200" if he lived long enough, but then he went to 5x5 as a 4 year old. Kinda frustrating to never know what his potential was.
But even as a 4 year old, he had a scrawny body. I doubt he weighed much over 180 on the hoof.

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I get it. We had a deer that the neighbors shot this yr. 2 yrs worth of sheds and a very consistent visitor to our yard plots. He wasn't going to make 200 but we certainly was used to seeing him and wanted to know what he would turn into with age. I'm happy for the guy who shot him... was a big deer. Still sad to know he won't be back this summer.

 

[neonomad]

1st pic is from June 1st 2020. Notice the low pedicel on the left side.
View attachment 32825

This was him last year. Lots of abnormal growth.
View attachment 32826

His 2019 sheds. ~162"
View attachment 32827


100% positive that this is, or was :-( him this year.
The average guy would not believe that this was the same critter. I really wanted him to survive one more year so we could see what next year's rack would be. Was his real form a typical or a non-typical? We will never know.
View attachment 32828View attachment 32825View attachment 32826View attachment 32827View attachment 32828

Great deer both years! But yeah he sure did change. Wonder what the big mystery variables are that could switch a deer back and forth typical or non.

 

[Belchertown Bowman]

Impressive!