Solid buck!

shot first and ask questions later..nice buck

Plenty mature, I'd put him in my freezer.

The deer is mature, probably not going to get many more inches with years. Might get a little more mass and maybe even a kicker but don't see a whole lot more. He is a solid deer.

Whoa that's one heck of a brow tine!

Bang, WHOP!

In a heart beat!!!

Here are a couple of close-ups heading into the weekend...Taking my girls trick-or-treating and tucking to bed, then headed out tonight. Wish me luck...I'll update the thread with pics after the weekend, I hope!

Made it out to the stand about an hour before daylight Saturday morning and settled in. Weather was about as perfect as I can ever remember on opening day. 35 degrees and about as calm as it could be. About 15 mins into daylight, I see a young 8 point work his way up a fence line and trot out to the feeder to eat. I kept looking back down his trail hoping for this big brow tine and saw movement a few minutes later in the brush off the same trail. Once he hit a clearing I new it was a big, mature deer. He got to a point where I could see his head gear and I couldn't tell if it was him or not, but knew it was a shooter. After a few minutes of watching the young 8, he hopped right out and trotted in. I knew it was him now, from the brow tine. He ran the young'un off the feeder and started chowing down. His neck was swelling pretty good already, and I just sat and watched him for about 15 minutes. That young deer kept trying to get in there, and every time this one would push him out. By now the sun was up and he presented a good shot as he slowly started making his way out. I nailed him and he stumbled about 20 yds before slamming down.

I haven't had a plan come together like that ever before. This deer didn't look toward the stand once while he was out there. He spent the whole time fighting the other buck off and eating. After 15-20 minutes, he was done and ready to head back to the creek. I've passed on some good ones over the past several years only to find out the neighbors or other hunters got them a week later. Sometimes, they've just disappeared. I was always afraid of ending my buck season early, or shooting an immature buck, or missing out on the next monster that was going to walk out. I've shot deer that scored better, but I'm proud of this one. He is a 5.5-6.5 yr old, I believe, based on tooth wear. Had him on camera since this mid-summer. I still needed a little push from you guys and my buddies, but glad I took him.

23 inch mains, 11 inch G2's. That brow was 10.5 inches long. Enjoy the pics.

Awesome 8....congrats on getting him!

Thanks. Had some fun with that one.

That's a heck of a buck! Congrats!

Outstanding buck. Love to see a good plan come together. Congrats.