Kentucky Report

Native Hunter

5 year old buck +
I've been hunting every day since our gun season came in on Saturday and having a ball. The warm weather, abundant acorns, sporadic rutting and full moon has kept deer movement down, but it's been fun anyway. My son hunted with me through Monday morning but had to go back to work and lives two hours away. He will get to come back again on Saturday. We passed some 2.5 year olds and a 3 year old, but that was about it.

This afternoon the movement picked up some with the rain and cold weather moving in. The deer below and another buck came out in the plots about an hour before dark and fed pretty hard. I saw another buck coming to my place across the neighbors green field, but didn't see him again after he entered my switchgrass. I've aged the deer below at 4.5 and plenty old enough. I let him walk hoping my son gets to see him on Saturday. I think its his best chance, since this deer is a homeboy and doesn't seem to stray much. I'm back out in the morning looking for his granddaddy...LOL.

 
Good luck to you and your son. Can't wait for the Wisconsin gun season to arrive.
 
Good luck to you and your son. Can't wait for the Wisconsin gun season to arrive.

Thanks. I don't think you guys are going to have to worry about the weather being too warm.:) And after tonight, I won't have to worry about it any more.

Good luck in Wisconsin!
 
How old is your son, that would be a great young kid buck if he gets it! Good Luck!
 
I've been hunting every day since our gun season came in on Saturday and having a ball. The warm weather, abundant acorns, sporadic rutting and full moon has kept deer movement down, but it's been fun anyway. My son hunted with me through Monday morning but had to go back to work and lives two hours away. He will get to come back again on Saturday. We passed some 2.5 year olds and a 3 year old, but that was about it.

This afternoon the movement picked up some with the rain and cold weather moving in. The deer below and another buck came out in the plots about an hour before dark and fed pretty hard. I saw another buck coming to my place across the neighbors green field, but didn't see him again after he entered my switchgrass. I've aged the deer below at 4.5 and plenty old enough. I let him walk hoping my son gets to see him on Saturday. I think its his best chance, since this deer is a homeboy and doesn't seem to stray much. I'm back out in the morning looking for his granddaddy...LOL.

Good luck to both of you! That buck will look nice on the wall.
 
How many deer in KY and how many hunters ? Annual kill?

Would guess the body of that deer as 2.5 in MN
 
How old is your son, that would be a great young kid buck if he gets it! Good Luck!

He's a grown man. Killed a few when he was young, moved away and lives 2 hrs away. He is getting interested in hunting again now and I can use a partner!
 
How many deer in KY and how many hunters ? Annual kill?

Would guess the body of that deer as 2.5 in MN

These are rough numbers: 144,000 annual kill with a pre hunt herd of about 900,000. The western part of the state is the best because it has the cover and the ag. My area in the central part lacks both cover and ag, but we do occasionally have a good deer around. Eastern part is a wilderness, but not much ag. Also lots of poaching over there in the mountains.
 
He's a grown man. Killed a few when he was young, moved away and lives 2 hrs away. He is getting interested in hunting again now and I can use a partner!

Sweet! Good Luck to you guys!
 
Here are a couple more deer we have on camera recently. The first one has a busted up right side. Can't seem to get a good pic of the second one, he is always moving fast. Looks like he may have a decent rack, but may be young.

Interesting thing here is I seem to pick up more bucks in the second rut (December) than the first, and they tend to stay the winter or most of it once they get here.



 
Good up and coming bucks right there. What can you do habitat wise to get them out and about in the daylight? Just wondering.
 
Good up and coming bucks right there. What can you do habitat wise to get them out and about in the daylight? Just wondering.

I have tall NWSGs and some fairly thick woods. I try to do all my work early in the year and remove the human presence as much as I can before hunting season. Last year was the best year for mature buck movement in daylight I've ever had. For whatever reason, its hard to get mature bucks to move in daylight around here except for the rut. The cover I have provided seems to have helped more than anything. The bucks today were out very early, but the front was moving in, and you know how that can affect them. It generally gets them up on their feet and feeding sooner.
 
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