Two bucks I have questions on

[Kurt]

This first one seems to be fully mature and not likely to really put on rack inches. But new to being able to watch them like this. I think he is 4 or more years old. If we get a crack at him in daylight planning on dropping him. Thoughts on age and removing him from gene pool? The one pic shows his size compared to a 2.5 year old.




And this buck, I think is also mature but possibly a year younger. I love a big 8 but he has some trash on his brows and wondering if it makes sense to pass him. Only have 80 acres so also have to be realistic about management goals. For me I kind of think he'd be shoulder mounted on my wall if given a chance. Is he 3.5 year old or hard to say from pic?

 

[catscratch]

I'm not a great judge of age but I do know it's unlikely that you are going to have much of an affect on the genetics or management of the area by either letting them live or not. I say kill whatever gets your heart pumping and walk away with no regrets.

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[Kurt]

Been fun watching them this year. If I am lucky enough to find one in bow range in November I'll be quite pleased. Just wanting to not shoot a younger deer with potential to get huge. I think these are both mature enough.

 

[catscratch]

You've got that chunk of creek bottom that is probably a hot spot during the prerut. I would be willing to bet that both those bucks become scarce within the next 3 weeks and a new crop of bucks become regulars... with the occasional single sighting buck coming through. Just my guesses.
Hope you have a great season and good luck!

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[Mennoniteman]

I agree with your age guesses, the only way to get a more accurate age is to send a jawbone away to be aged. Since they are both mature and with only 80 acres to hunt, I say try to take one and see if the other makes it to next year. Being realistic and hunting the size bucks that your property seems to be able to grow makes way more sense than setting the bar too high and never harvesting anything. Every hunter needs to bloody his knife on occasion. Otherwise, what is the excuse to carry a $300 blade?

 

[30-30]

Both are mature deer if that is your criteria.
As said above, with 80 acres you aren't affecting the gene pool either by shooting or letting them walk. I have a small parcel and my main objective is to attract does because when the rut is on, the bucks will go where the ladies are. Look at your bedding habitat and food plots.
I agree that 8 would be a nice wall hanger.

 

[KSQ2]

The smaller racked buck looks like a bull! As a fellow owner of 80 acres with pressure around, I face similar decisions every preseason, then the situations I envision never actually come to fruition. New bucks arrive and I rarely see the ones I plan to pass or shoot if given the opportunity. I’ve learned to follow the above advice, if a buck shows and my heart is pounding through my chest I shoot, if not, I don’t.

 

[Deadeye]

I'm not a great judge of age but I do know it's unlikely that you are going to have much of an affect on the genetics or management of the area by either letting them live or not. I say kill whatever gets your heart pumping and walk away with no regrets.

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This

 

[Deadeye]

The smaller racked buck looks like a bull! As a fellow owner of 80 acres with pressure around, I face similar decisions every preseason, then the situations I envision never actually come to fruition. New bucks arrive and I rarely see the ones I plan to pass or shoot if given the opportunity. I’ve learned to follow the above advice, if a buck shows and my heart is pounding through my chest I shoot, if not, I don’t.

And This.


It don't matter much to me about How Big they are or will get, It matters to me if when I see them I get excited and want to shoot---or not.

But I was raised back when a 3-Inch Spike was a Legal Buck and you shot the First Buck you saw and were happy to have it. I have since passed over some real Nice Bucks that I never seen again and shot Tiny Bucks that had my heart pounding and my body shaking. Like my First Florida Buck after trying to get one for almost 15 years. Was only a small 3-point but man he had me shaking like it was the first time I ever had a Buck in sight!


I also have 80 acres. We simply Can Not Control what the Deer do on that small of piece of Property. We like to think we can by adding Food and such to draw and hold them, but they will go where ever they choose to go and there is NOTHING you can do about that. Last year I had a Real Nice Weird Rack Buck that had a Big 4-5 on one side and a Giant Thick Spike Dagger on the other. He was running with a smaller 6-point all over mine on several Cams.

My neighbor about 20 minutes away shot it walking through her back yard. I shot the 6-point. I was happy for Her and Thankful for Mine.

You Do You and you'll never be Wrong.

 

[Kurt]

I started deer hunting when I was 12. I would get dropped at a tree lol and left to fend for myself. I finally shot a buck when I was 16 hunting by myself. I have been blessed to shoot some nice whitetails, no giants, over the years. These bucks both fall into the nice size group for me. Just never having hunted Kansas was wanting to make sure I wasn't making wrong decisions. And during the rut it all gets turned on its head. Actually had a new buck show up last night.

Hunting is hunting always and the way it should be. This is the first place I ever owned so pretty excited to see how November goes. Either of these two come by and I'll try for them. Thanks for the feedback. Nice to talk with others about hopes and plans for the fall. Good luck to you all.

 

[Mennoniteman]

And This.


It don't matter much to me about How Big they are or will get, It matters to me if when I see them I get excited and want to shoot---or not.

But I was raised back when a 3-Inch Spike was a Legal Buck and you shot the First Buck you saw and were happy to have it. I have since passed over some real Nice Bucks that I never seen again and shot Tiny Bucks that had my heart pounding and my body shaking. Like my First Florida Buck after trying to get one for almost 15 years. Was only a small 3-point but man he had me shaking like it was the first time I ever had a Buck in sight!


I also have 80 acres. We simply Can Not Control what the Deer do on that small of piece of Property. We like to think we can by adding Food and such to draw and hold them, but they will go where ever they choose to go and there is NOTHING you can do about that. Last year I had a Real Nice Weird Rack Buck that had a Big 4-5 on one side and a Giant Thick Spike Dagger on the other. He was running with a smaller 6-point all over mine on several Cams.

My neighbor about 20 minutes away shot it walking through her back yard. I shot the 6-point. I was happy for Her and Thankful for Mine.

You Do You and you'll never be Wrong.

(Weird Rack Buck that had a Big 4-5 on one side and a Giant Thick Spike Dagger on the other) I've seen bucks like this numerous times over the years, and was always baffled by the source of these weird genetics. But this year I got a definitive answer on our game camera pics. We had a nice rack buck growing a set of antlers, mostly filled out, but still in the soft velvet stage, when he bent the one antler down beside his face. A few days later this bent piece fell off, and the rest of the growth energy went into the broken stub, pushing a long spike. If this had happened a little sooner in the growth stage the remaining spike or brow tine would probably have been even longer. Having witnessed this in pictures has me now wondering if this condition is way more common in whitetail bucks than I ever realized.

 

[Deadeye]

(Weird Rack Buck that had a Big 4-5 on one side and a Giant Thick Spike Dagger on the other) I've seen bucks like this numerous times over the years, and was always baffled by the source of these weird genetics. But this year I got a definitive answer on our game camera pics. We had a nice rack buck growing a set of antlers, mostly filled out, but still in the soft velvet stage, when he bent the one antler down beside his face. A few days later this bent piece fell off, and the rest of the growth energy went into the broken stub, pushing a long spike. If this had happened a little sooner in the growth stage the remaining spike or brow tine would probably have been even longer. Having witnessed this in pictures has me now wondering if this condition is way more common in whitetail bucks than I ever realized.

In my case, it must be an Area Genetics thing.

Reason I say that is I have at least One every year like that an on a Panhandle Hunters FB page I’m on several people posted pics of Bucks on their property’s that had the same aspect.


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[Mennoniteman]

In my case, it must be an Area Genetics thing.

Reason I say that is I have at least One every year like that an on a Panhandle Hunters FB page I’m on several people posted pics of Bucks on their property’s that had the same aspect.


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Yes, that's exactly what we thought, since there's some around every year. But our pictures have us thinking differently now.

 

[Kurt]

Unrelated to the deer, my son killed an antelope buck we had watched for 3 years. He had broken is right side horn right at the skull. Each year the black horn would grow back as a black mass with no definitive shape. When my son shot him, he was 16.25" on the left side and the right side had unfortunately fallen off. His uniqueness was tied to an injury of course.

Enjoyed those pics MM.

 

[Drycreek]

I'm not a great judge of age but I do know it's unlikely that you are going to have much of an affect on the genetics or management of the area by either letting them live or not. I say kill whatever gets your heart pumping and walk away with no regrets.

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I have 80 acres here at home to hunt and these are my exact sentiments. We have a 13” inside spread rule in my county and if a buck is 3.5 or older and makes the spread, then he’s in my freezer. We hardly ever get to watch a buck more than two years in a row.