Got kind of a weird question for you guys, I got on a deer lease this year that has a lot of deer on it (real good ones too) and theres rules regarding what age deer can be shot. I am pretty good at comparing a young buck to a mature buck just by looking at the body as opposed to the horns, but in addition to age I also have to make sure I shoot deer that are within certain horn points too. This type of management hunting is very new to me and I really want to stay on this lease for years to come so I dont want to screw up and shoot chit I am not supposed to. The stands are elevated and the feeder distances are between 100-140 yards from the blinds. What do you guys that hunt under similar management goals use for optics to make sure you count points in addition to body size and age? I am almost thinking that high mag power binos would really help me to see the specifics that I have to follow by the rules as opposed to standard 8x binos. The other thing I havent figured out is how to handle the Rut when the sons of bitches usually appear running after does and you dont have but a few seconds to make a decision if hes a shooter or not. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Trail cams will be your best friend. Video/still cameras will be your tools in the blind. No better way to learn to age than to take vids/pics of bucks you have seen and you have aged. Go back to camp and get a group discussion from guys who have been on the lease and know the deer. Minimum 10-12x binos and a spotter with tripod can be helpful. Hard to hold 10x or bigger binos without a great rest or tripod. Study your pics and videos and learn you deer. No better teacher than to have road full of bucks of various ages to show you how old they are.

Trail cameras are what the guy on the lease reccomended too, will be picking up a couple cameras this week to put on the feeders.

X2 on the video camera. Take video and review it. From the sound of it you'll probably be looking at a deer a couple times before you pull the trigger. also on the tripod. Get a full size one for the video camera. The quality will be so much better where you can actually see detail you need to.

Edit: just out of curiousity, where is this lease in general?

Kyle the lease is in Val Verde county.

Question for stxranchman

The camera pics are great and they have really helped me to get to know the resident bucks that visit the feeder regularly after a month plus of pics. But what I am concerned with is when the bucks start chasing and I can see a lot of country from the my elevated blind and I am a little concerned about seeing a good buck say 300 yards out that I havent seen on my feeder before and being able to make a quick analysis of his age and points to make sure I am not taking a deer I am not supposed to. Just having a hard time understanding how guys can quickly assess the deers size and age with optics and making the shot on a buck thats on the move. I have hunted a lot with a spotting scope but the animals I was hunting didnt move like bucks do during the rut. I normally dont like 10X+ binos but am thinking this will be the only way for me to get a good look at a buck in a hurry.

In that case I would invest in a spotting scope and restrict myself to only shooting things I knew were ok till I felt comfortable making the call based on my own judgement.

matt

My best tip to you is dont study the antlers untill you have determined an age...looking at a huge rack will make you want to think they are older than the truth.... same goes with women

^^^ good advice!

I use a compact pair of 10x Nikons that i wouldnt be able to do without...im not a fan of carrying huge binos around either... an optic harness is a must as well

I am with you, the body tells the whole story not the rack. I may be thinking in to this too much, its just that I have never hunted a ranch that his this many bucks on it and I just want to have a good game plan as the season begins and the temps start to drop and the bucks start running around. I think I am just gonna pick up a good pair of 10X binos and give them a whirl.

Body charateristics first, antlers second. Also, if you are not sure, don't shoot him, no matter how big he is. This has happened on my place a few times, guys harvesting 140"-150" deer that aged out at 4.5 yrs old and each time it was either a shoot first and ask questions later scenario, or they thought the deer might not have been mature but shot him anyway. Look at some pictures of mature deer that have been harvested in the past on this lease to give you an idea of what an old buck looks like.

Once rut starts things get alot easier...you will be able to watch their dominace show as well.. love watching a 5.5yr old dominant buck come into an area and draw the attention of every deer around...

If you are blind hunting and have a good rest then go with 10x or even higher. They will allow to see more detail. Canon Image Stablizing binos are great for someone who wants higher power and use them for blind or stalk hunting. Deer age a lot like humans do in many aspects of body features. The book that Al Brothers and Dave Richards put out is a good one- "Observing & Evaluation Whitetails". The THF allows you to see many deer in the photos and deer hunting sections as guys post pics of deer and ask for aging help. Aging then on the hoof is not an exact science. Many will just try to group deer into a bracket-young, middle-aged or mature. Another great tool is to take pics of bucks harvested and then have the jawbones aged. This give you a basis for your lease or area to work from. Every region of the state has different size deer and they all look a bit different due to that when aging them.

Good optics on your rifle too
Seeing a "shooter" at 300 yards at 28 minutes after sundown with good binos or a spotting scope then not being able to pick him up in the scope is what makes guys go out with better glass the next year.

I am on a tightly managed lease and sure don't want to screw up either.
The true monsters usually only get seen once in the daylight all season.

Cameras help to know what kind of deer are on the place.

Hunt under similar parameters in S. TX., expensive binocs get cheap if you avoid a mistake. As said above, age before you score. Easy suggestion on point counting is 2 up = 8 pt; 3 up = 10 pt; etc.