Let Him Go so he can Grow; The Acorn 10 Point

[roymunson]

I saw the other post, wanted to do one of our own...

This buck we'd seen as a 2 year old, had a weird knuckle on his G2 that looked like an Acorn. Thus he was dubbed "The Acorn 10"

I can't find my 2 year old pictures, but This is him at 3... Nice deer, but not a fully mature buck



This is him as a 4 year old, some growth, but not a ton...


As a 4 year old, some of us woulda shot him, some wouldn't have. But he made it...

Last year he was 5 and it was time. He was a homebody who lived in our sanctuary...




A tribute to holding capacity of a property (hinge cutting, sanctuary, etc), staying out until they're killable, and this buck was shot on Tuesday at 8:30 am during Ohio's shotgun season... within bow range

My hunting partner was sitting with his daughter when he strolled out... Cool to see full circle. 149" deer

I'll see if I can put together a montage of a couple of the other bucks we've watched for years before killing. Have 1 now that took this deer's place as far as dominant buck on a certain piece of turf, he's probably 150-160", and a 5 year old... This is the fun part

 

[roymunson]

If anyone has other history stories with certain deer and we can watch them grow, please share it here, that's very interesting to me.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

If anyone has other history stories with certain deer and we can watch them grow, please share it here, that's very interesting to me.

Deer I called Cal.

First year I had the farm so 2 seasons ago-



Last year. Unfortunately he disappeared early bow season. Neighbors got him in November but to my knowledge he wasn’t killed. Unfortunately never showed back up this year

 

[DJN]

Have a deer we call Tripod, because he has a front leg that is locked up and unused. The first time I saw him was late March of 2019. He was in a cut corn field, midday, and looked terrible. I was out killing groundhogs and nearly put him down to end his apparent misery but didn’t. Told myself, let nature take its course.

Was surprised to get pics of him that fall, seemingly to get around ok with just the use of three legs. He wasn’t much to look at, but pics of him around the farm



The following season, last year, we didn’t get any photos of him until late Dec/Jan. He had grown sizably. Only a handful of pics but glad to see him show up.


This season he has been very photogenic. Pics of him as soon as we hung cameras in August, and nearly weekly since. Put on some more inches, and still skinny as could be. With the high speed continuous photos (don’t run video) he really appears labored when moving, but obviously gets around and has avoided predation. Hopefully we get to see him in person at some point in the next few weeks!

(Realized these are the only two pics of him this season that are on my phone. Rest are on the computer yet. Obviously date is wrong on the last pic. That spypoint like to reset itself randomly. Lol)

 

[Mortenson]

This big boy was/is pretty mysterious. He didn't come around very often, at least based on my cameras and zero actual sightings. His rack never grew bigger, just fluctuated a few inches every year. He either had no brows or short brows. I think I have pics as a button buck and as a yearling also, but I'd have to access the cloud for my old 'puters pics. These are just what I have on my phone still. A 350 pounder?? Built like a Canadian.

If I indeed have the same deer throughout, this would be him as a likely 3 yr old. We got a shed that winter:



Following year:



Following year:



Following year (last fall), thanks to a neighbor for sharing the pic. As far as I know he's still alive. Hoping for 1 more pic this fall to keep the legacy alive: