welp, its march....guess what...

yep

Damnit man. That dude's gonna need a mobility scooter to get to the feeder if you let him live another year.

Want any advice?

sure

You should try to kill that deer.

Lol

The ghost of "Big" is back to haunt you. I wonder where he goes?

the buck in the back is the split ear buck ive posted before, he was a spike 2 years ago, he had his antlers as late as 3/26..

thanks

I'd just hunt his sheds

Keep feed out and let the place grow up.

well i did find one of those last year, we are going out there this weekend to mess around so i will have all the kids out there looking around.

thats what i do every year! and "keep the does around and the bucks will come around too," yeah ive heard that and it dont work either!

that place was hunted about 8-10 times last year, maybe, and most of that was me the first week and none of it was after mid-november IIRC, cameras on it the whole time and not one pic of a >3yo buck.

You did that and that green stuff is naturally generating?

oh, the plot? ive already decided i'm not going to do it again this year, the ROI hasnt quite been where i need it

thats the fall stuff from last year.

So going into this Fall, that dead brown stuff up against the tree line needs to cover those plots and be about waste high.

twill be done sir! we didnt plant the other half of the plot last fall and it already is grown up over knee high.

I'd let him die of old age.....probably gonna happen anyway

Hateful...just plum hateful.

if he does i hope i find his skull at least

Good news is the majority tend to die post-rut, so there's a chance he'll be working his way back when he lays down and doesn't get back up.

i hope the reason he lays down and doesnt get back up is because my grim reaper did its job. we shall see...once again.

What do you figure the age on this ghost to be?

I wish I had anything for you to help, but the deer were just like that at my lease last season, after opening weekend we didn't see a buck over 2.5 yo the rest of the season. It got to the point where I just gave up on it.

I do really hope this is the year BIG goes on your wall. I say that every year though.

Glad to see he is still around.

He just turned 21.5. Jshouse should put a blind up in front of the beer store.

I think he's 8, was probably 4 in 2011 when I first got pics of him.

He is old enough to out-smart most one hunter...

I need a cup today...sheesh

Sorry man, didn't mean to open up the

2015 = your year, amigo!

It's not easy being famous J.

What type of distinctive markings are you looking at that I'm missing?

Is it too early to start a "Good luck jshouse: 2015 edition"????

It's something about his head. And easily being the biggest bodied deer I've had on camera in 6 months. Am I 100% sure, no, but I'd bet a quarter on it being him. I had the same feeling last spring when I saw him, I just knew.

We'll know better In a few weeks when his brows show up real high above the bases

And this is the 4th spring in a row that a huge bodied old buck has showed up like this, and we all know how the first 3 turned out....

It's been quite the soap opera.

He's still around. He does have funky hours though

You just need to catch him before he flies south for the winter.

I really do think he is changing from summer/warm weather habitat to winter/cold weather habitat, and unfortunately for you BIG's winter habitat isn't part of your hunting grounds. Fortunately for you, it appears that his winter habitat doesn't belong to any hunter, so let's hope he switches up with his senile old age and this is the year

Yes sir!

This is "The year", Jack. Keep hunting him hard like you have been. He's gonna' make an awesome shoulder mount. Either that or he'll die of old age. Good luck. Again.

I think you should go full body mount

What a trophy that deer will be, even when he starts going back down hill. I have a feeling you are going to get lucky this year and nail him...and I did say lucky

and by nail him, he means by accident with a truck bumper.

He is farther West than you are, so I meant with a weapon. If we were talking about you on the other hand....

Do you have ANY hard horned of velvet pics of him to refresh us on what he looks like?

100's....1000's of without antlers, then in velvet and out of velvet from now till...well...then the Houdini part starts and nothing till now again

Barely. He's up North.

Didn't get any hard horned pics last year, these were a few of the last pics before he crushed my soul...

If the opportunity presented itself. ....

This isn't going to make you feel any better, but after talking to neighbors and finding out where my white whale was taken, he very deliberately moved about a mile away as the rut approached both years and basically only summered at my place.

Could be Big just isn't in your neck of the woods when you need him to be. That's actually basically proven at this point, though it only extends to you insofar as you're in your stand until proven otherwise.

That is an AWESOME buck! Stay after him!!! You never know......

yeah i have continued to strike out on securing any surrounding land, but i'm still trying.

Gimme their contact info and I'll try to help you out....

On the bright side he didn't make uncharted either.

its bad when you know a buck without even having to see antlers

Good luck again on him this year. Glad to see he has made it thru.

Nahhhh it's a good thing! Lay him out next year J and let that sports cry out buddy! y'all got history for sure!

low blow





but funny, and true





thanks fellas



no doubt, i was looking through them on the couch and just started laughing, my wife says "no way," yep, its him.



done tried, they hard to reach folks. i'm gonna put some faith in the old USPS and see if that helps.

Can't trust USPS, the Rifleman Express works. I just picked up land surrounding us just by being a charmer. Just cost me a dinner at Clear Springs.

bribes huh....does that work?

No bribes, went and had a dinner meeting with a guy about something completely unrelated and was told if I kept an eye on the places and didn't let the main rds get overgrown then just shoot him a text to tell him which one I would be going to.

bout to head down there for the best mexican food in the world, gonna try to check the cam and see if there is some growth, not sure if i will have time to shed hunt today though.

well, the mexican food did its part but the camera didnt, it didnt work all week, i'm usually pretty good about checking it before i leave so i am not sure what happened. it was working when i left yesterday so we will see next weekend.

welp, made it out last week and found that the cam batteries went dead on 4/16, nothing new to report, didnt even look through the pics. i will try to get out there either sunday or monday and see what kind of growth is goin on. its been tough to get out there with all the rain and my sons baseball.

the fall plot is still strong to quite strong, my little clover pacthes are lookin good too.

I see my birthday wish came true.

i am honored to know your bday wish involved me and my plight.

nothing mature on cam out there right now, I haven't been out there very much at all but I got the feeder going sunday and will keep it going the rest of the summer.

maybe this year is different...

...maybe so. Did you find where he shed his floaties?

Wish ya more luck for this year. That deer is a beast, looks like he is getting old, maybe a stiff hip/knee will keep him in your hood this year.

Looking forward to seeing more pics.

not yet, but most of the place was under water for 2 months so any evidence is likely gone

Best of luck, J. Keep your head up, put some time in this fall, and stomp a mud hole in that beast.

well hello


the g2 kicker and brows give him away




and this guy showed up last week too

bout dang time!

Yes!!!!!!

Skin is looking a lil saggy.

Well....even a blind hog can find an acorn once in a while....there are always going to be exceptions though

this hog will be digging till october!

the pic quality sucked, hopefully next week will be better.

Looking good!

It appears to me that he has either a forked or double row G2 on the right side from those pics???

I'm hoping senility has set in and he stays put this year.

jshouse or Big

Going to require a little for both.

Yeah it does look like a fork in that second pic doesnt it....there weren't many more pics of him but there were a few for several days after that, they were just all real bad quality.

No doubt.

that deer looks to be 10 years old - dang!

just keeps teasing you....

Pretty sure he's at least 8 this year, going off of him being 4.5 in 2011 when I first got pics of him.

I know it man, I would have loved to watch a similar thread on your ninja too

I like that 8pt!!

Yup. But when mine disappeared mine completely disappeared and hasn't returned. I can still dream and hope that he is still around and will make another surprise visit like he did the first year I got on the place

Welcome back big. Looks like there are a few others that are worth considering.

Time to break out the Black Magic from Deer Cane.

Eddie Walker says this brings buck into his place in Tyler consistently throughout the year. I bought some to try myself. The stuff is pretty cheap compared to other feed and attractants.

You gotta try some new angles.

i'll give it a go sir!



no kidding, he is going to be a great looking buck

still didn't get a good pic of the old one but that 8, DANG!





here is one from this time last year, tine length looks close, I think he might lose some mass this year

for grins and giggles, I tried to get the dates as close as possible...

2013, after he damaged his left side on my feeder



and 2012



the only 2011 pics I have are from september

Dont get excited about the 8...kill big. That's like starting a new book before finishing the one you were reading.

I'm not, and if my buddy doesn't start filling the feeder he wont have to worry about him either. be a mighty fine trophy for my 7yo's first..

Yes it would.

That's not the way it works though. Big will walk out for the "first".

no doubt

They are on their way, probably not this year but maybe next....this was yesterday with the marlin papoose I've has since I was about 9

Mine shot her first kill at 9 with a 22. Nice Tom turkey. It was during deer season and they came by pretty regularly.

Dead thru the heart at 50 yards. She wasn't quite ready yet for a shotgun or center fire rifle.

that's awesome, my oldest thinks hes ready, but not quite

He's ready....quit being stingy.

Hey, if I don't have a back up plan at this point I'm being just foolish

Looking good jack. Maybe this year will be "the year"!

Can't wait to see how he turns out this year...October can't come fast enough

Cant wait to see results! Unbelievable bucks! I have been so busy that i havent even gotten my feeders fully stocked or cameras up and running! My lease is 15 minutes from the house! Shame on me!!!!!

Good luck!

thanks fellas

I can't wait...so get some pics please

I put up pics from 5 days ago!

also got a camera up on my other spot the other day, should have some pics from there sunday or monday

he still wont get close but here are a few new pics






cool pic of that 8

Going to be the year!

2 months from today you better be showing off pictures of Big's body with you behind him, and a nice arrow hole through his vitals!

Hope

Put another cam to one side where he won't know where to hide

Lol, i moved the cam today so now we'll really see how smart he is!

Well do you really want me to answer this?

When he goes hard horned start corning in those tree tops in the plot. With any luck, he'll get stuck and you can feed him until bow season starts.

Oh my sides hurt!

Good luck jshouse!

We have a few ghosts to chase, fortunately or maybe unfortunately... im not sure which, they aren't nearly as photogenic as big. That sob just taunts you.

what do you think? check that right brow in the first pic...

I know man, I have close to 4000 pics of him since 2011, never seen him in person.

this may be that 8 too...

That 8 is acting dominant over Big. You have a head on of that big 6pt?

yeah he is, i'm gonna throw a camera on a chum pile away from the feeder next time I go out there.

lookin for pics of that 6....

this is not the 6 you're looking for, yeah it probably is

here he is from that year, I hate photobucket

I don't see any of those that just jump out at me as being that big 8..first one you posted has a dbl throat patch that I'm not seeing on the 8.

yeah, good catch

Beam shape would have me lean towards the one right of big in that last pic you posted if I just had to go with one.

that's the buck with the split ear, he will be something if he shows back up this year too. this is the only pic I could find from last year...

another couple

He was a spike once upon a time

"Once a spike always a spike" LOL kind of like the "once an 8 always an 8"

Anyone wanna make bets on how many pics I got of him this week?

Sure...what's the wager?

You don't count

I'll bet if it gets me a chance to sit on your property for just one hunt

How often are you checking your cams?

About every 7 or 8 days. That 8 is there everyday morning and night but the old one didn't make an appearance last week.

is this the big 8 from last year?

That 10 is a great looking deer

Brow tines seem to be the same, I would guess that is the same deer.

....maybe.

finally able to upload pics from my phone again, the ol man has been pretty regular lately, I wish I could have given him some dentures back in march...

That big 8 gets my blood pumping.

Hallelujah!

no doubt, he's a beast

I had to clear all the cookies and cache but I tried to upoload something after uploading those 3 pics and it gave me an error message again...boo

Make sure it doesn't meet the file size limit.

ive never had a problem before...it has to be an update or something my kids did to my phone

Sho is showing his age. Being elderly might make him stick around longer this year.

Looks like he could have used some extra protein this year.....

and a straw

I would have had to figure out hydroponics...that place was under water for 2 months this spring

His age might be in your favor this year. Hope he sticks around

The saga continues. Hopefully it comes to an end October 3rd.

You have some studs!

yes sir.

You wait... your gonna see him this year and feel bad for the old monarch and not be able to put him down!

Good luck sir, looks like he has lost some inches from last year, but still a hell of a deer!

haha, no sir! I cant promise i'll hit him, but I promise he will be under attack

That's no way to treat a deer that has obviously developed dementia.

got some good daylight pics of him...does he look like an 8yo+ deer?

Heck that feeder looks like it was on the Ark with Noah....and yeah he looks old in the last 2 pics.

ha, I know, its seen better days...I am starting to wonder of that really is the old ninja...seems like his brows always started a little higher above the bases, but it could just be old man shrinkage I guess

His body condition and size is way down from the past couple of years. You right about his brow tines though.

Need help killing that 8pt phone A THF friend... STX only has a rotary phone so best to just call me.

might not be him. If you kept the velvet he tore off on your feeder you could do DNA matching if you see him poop in a pic.

\
He has his sheds from a few years ago.

See..even better. You need to start collecting droppings for testing.

I started doubting it a while back, there are some similarities but there are a few things throwing me off too.

He looks an awful lot like a 10pt I haven't seen since 2013, an awful lot like him, but that deer had the weird skinny front leg and had foundered a bit

I was thinking the same thing about that other 10 point also.

Brows like that big 8.......

Need a head on pic of him from the seasons before. This buck has a notch in his right ear in this pic.

Page 2 of this thread has one...

Wrong one

There is one common mark on both years of him in these pics. The small bump/beading on the left burr below the browtine. He could have gotten the notch in his ear from fighting last year. This buck also has the rougher/beading on the bases up to the brow that the 8 point lacks.
Some similarities but a lot of things that do not match up also. Lack of supplemental feed and his age could be the reason his body size is down also. In the next month he will show his age much better if this is him.

I am almost 100% sure the the buck I posted to start this thread is him, I recognize his look, and I see it in a few pics of the new buck here and there but I also see some pics where it doesn't really look like him...

good lord they are looking good.

Have you ever seen him live and in person?

not once, but I may have looked at his pics a time or 2 over the years

and the more I look at that split g2 buck, the more I don't think its him, he's just too small, body and antlers. obviously I don't have near the experience watching deer as most of you guys, but that buck has been noticeably larger than any other deer out there since Ive had cameras going and last year was no exception. with the wet spring its hard for me to see him sliding like that...

just look at those last 2 pics you posted, I know the last one is from 2013 but he was just as big last year, I just don't see that being the same buck...even though in the 2013 pic he has the split g2 and the beginnings of a hook on the other one...lol

Now you are starting to doubt yourself...again

muy loco

I scored that one shed I found the other day, 75"...

Man, I would loose sleep if I had a buck that big and I could not even see him in the daylight....loose lots of sleep

well that was from the other "undisclosed location deep in the heart of NE texas," those guys are a lot more visible, especially in December.

I thought I showed you...its enroute

new buck showed up, the batteries were low and pics sucked, pretty sure its the split ear buck, Spike , them brows!

Just freakin kill a big deer already....



Your doubt about the other buck not being him made me look back through this thread and other pics. Frame looks different this year for sure. I know if it is him he is really showing his age this year, but if it's not him where is he?

Sitting at the gate checking pics now and all the shooters are still here. I am pretty sure my buck is still awol tho, I just don't think that 10 is him.

The wind is as bad as it can get for this place this weekend so I will not be hunting...

But 2 more bucks just showed up this week, it was a pair that ran together last summer, an ugly 6 and a nice 9, both are bigger this year and are monsters body wise...I'll see if I can get some pics up later. The 9 is probably my favorite deer so far...and I need someone to kill the 6.

This is them last year

the 10 is all over the camera, the 8 is more elusive, he is in the background quite a bit and I haven't rewally gotten a good hard horned pic of him.

this guy had an arrow sticking out of his back 2 years ago..




and this guy has become my target, for now, but I hope the old ones keep trickling in....



the 10

Man, what a spike!

Those two are closer body wise to what I expect to see from the ninja, I'm gonna wait a bit and see if he shows up...but that 9 will be very tempting if he steps out first...and the wind should be good Wednesday

I am jealous... you obviously have some incredible, and i mean incredible genetics on your property. Most people would kill to have a single buck the size one of yours, and you have about 10.

I will finally get to hunt tomorrow, there has been a North wind pretty much every day the last week so tomorrow's steady SSW should be good, but then it's back a North wind until next weekend.

My buddy checked the camera yesterday and low and behold, all those bucks are still there...he said they are on the same pattern as last week, arriving between 6p and 7p and feeding off and on all night long until almost sunrise, so no morning hunts yet.

Since nothing new showed up, I've set my sights on that big 9 or the big 8, whichever shows up first...

Haha, well having them during season has been the ongoing problem..seems like for now they are sticking around though.

Obviously I'm still hoping that one more shows up but at this point I'm not gonna sit on my hands, if one of those others shows up in will probably see how good my aim is, and if the ninja shows up later, I don't know, maybe I'll raffle off a weekend hunt or something lol...or teach my wife how to shoot!

I bet we could work out a trade. Good luck, buddy.

Got in the stand about 430 and could hear an atv REAL close, sounded like it was in my woods and get me pissed off. It sounded like it got turned off but I couldn't really tell, I haven't heard it since. It's hot and the wind isn't as steady as I hoped it would be but we'll see what turns up. Magic time should be around 630 or so.

Good luck

A small buck and a doe passed through right before the four wheeler fired up at about 7 o'clock. Almost positive it was on my land but it drove away the other direction and I never saw it. We'll check the fence line next time we are out there.

Add that to the new feeder on my fence that I just noticed tonight and it wasn't a very pleasant evening.

I guess a talk with the neighbors is in store.

Any news?

They have a stand on the fence, not much I can do I suppose, although I do need a place to store a couple round bales....

I'm in the stand now and already heard his feeder go off, I expect to hear the 4 wheeler any time now

And it's not that he's on my fence that I care about really, this guy has already tried to lease my place from my uncle and said all the deer are on my side of the fence. His feeder is north of his stand, and he was hunting a South wind the other night, either he's dumb or he wasnt worried about watching his feeder, he was looking south...

I went out Friday and didn't see jack, I gave up on that place and am currently sitting in the St. Louis airport waiting to board a sketchy little prop plane to NE Missouri for 5 days of hunting with a few thf'ers. I've had 2 hours to waste so some beverages have been consumed to make this scary *** ride a little easier.

The big 8 and the big brow tine buck are still hitting the corn but haven't been there in daylight in a long time. There are acorns falling everywhere right now. Hopefully the rain will sour some and they will finish them off soon.

I will be back Wednesday night and hoping one of those guys will start slipping up...

Made it

Good luck in Missouri. Those bucks will be waiting on you here.

I hope you have better luck up there than you do down here....

Thanks fellas

Hope you kill a "Big"un

Good luck

Thanks guys, I've seen 2 real nice bucks, just holding out for one a bit older. It's warm tonight too but we'll see how it goes.

Tick tock tick tock...that clock is ticking

And the deer aren't moving....it is 72 degrees right now...

But we're givin'em heck...

Sounds like someone is second guessing letting a certain 10 point walk....

Not yet....

With your luck Big will show up at your stand during daylight while you're gone.

We ended up staying for 1 more hunt, in the stand now...saw a nice 8 this morning and a doe.

Still don't regret passing that 10 Sunday morning though, he wasn't full Midwest donkey status yet.

Goodluck!

But you mentioned him again

Good luck! You can't kill a giant by settling on a smaller buck Tag sandwiches are not that bad. I prefer to hunt till the last day if I can.

HUNT to the last minute.

Good luck!

I make the best dang tag sandwich you ever saw....I'd hit my limit on squirrels everyday if I wanted to though, they are everywhere.

Got blanked.

Back to home base to see what's cookin...

I am hunting Hunt co. as well, I'm sure this rain is really jacking with your hunts as it is with mine.

yep, the mosquitos have been worse than ever....we have had very little activity the last 2-3 weeks and haven't seen any of the shooters on camera since then, corn is piling up with the acorns all over the ground.

I went out sunday afternoon and jumped a nice buck that was bedded up with a doe, I hope the good ones are all tending does right now and will be back looking for corn after they are done and acorns are gone.

ive had 3 new bucks show up the last week on my lease though so things aren't too bad, except one that I was hoping to kill this year only has a large split on one side and the other side regressed, not sure what happened...

good luck man!

Hes legal

Nah, it's forked, he would get a pass anyway, hoping he blows back up next year

very, very little activity out here the last month, so Monday I went and hung a new camera at the very back of the property and was happy to see the split g2 buck showed back up with a doe 2 days ago. once it stops raining I will get some more corn on the ground back there and see what shows up...still holding out hope a certain someone makes a triumphant return...

the time is an hour off, he was there right at dark.

Waiting till it dries up a bit and I'll go corn that spot at the back, should be able to hunt either Thursday or Friday evening when the wind shifts..

nothing but dumb out there. I sat out there last night and got blasted by mosquitoes to see a spike at 4 oclock and nothing else. I sat at the back where those last pics came from, my buddy sat at the front with his bow and didn't see a thing. there are tracks everywhere and I walked past 2 scrapes last night.

I may try again tomorrow evening.

this place continues to make me its *****.

A spike? A legal...spike? And you let it walk?..... well, there's what happened to your herd, he showed up and the rest didn't want to stick around.

Going in the morning, captain morgan be danged....gonna have the rifle, hoping for something to show its face. There was a new pretty wide and decent looking 8 on the corn recently, he would usually be safe but right now, he better be able to duck, with quickness.

At least these 2 freezes should knock down those mesquitos. Good luck my friend.

I'm sitting under a cedar watching a big corn pile, just had a doe almost walk right up to me. She got to about 15 yards and figured something was up, she hasn't ran off yet but I can hear her walking circles out in the trees.

Duck hunters are wearing it out right now somewhere to my south, and not very far.

Thanks Marc

Probably around that big body of water to your South...just a guess.

It's possible....sssshhhh no deer in hunt county! Like, for real.

the doe had her sister with her, the milled around for a few mins and wandered off towards the gunfire

Buck! They do have antlered deer in hunt county! Young 8, probably a 3yo, head down looking for them girls...

Good luck

Back again tomorrow....had something big on cam yesterday morning, bad pic and couldn't tell who he was, maybe he'll show his face.

I lost, again. No shooters on cam since thanksgiving, better than past years but still frustrating as hell.

I'm gonna utilize more of the property next year and try to set up closer to the neighboring property that I think they run off to. I don't really know what else to do at this point. I'll put a few small plots and a feeder back at the back and see if that makes a difference.

question for those that have followed this BS for the last 5 years, if this year goes the same, good bucks on cam through September, would you think about holding off bowhunting for a couple of weeks? or even for the month? leave the place alone while at least 2 of my neighbors are bow hunting and see if something stays close till late October and/or into rifle season? since 2011 there have only been 2 mature bucks taken between myself and 5-6 other neighbors so its not like they are hammering the deer as soon as they leave me...

last year was the first that they have been there into November and I attribute it to one of the bigger neighbors being sold and unhunted.

obviously not hunting in October is probably going to be impossible, but would it be a good move? or should I just keep banging my head on the wall hoping one of the good ones sticks on a pattern in early October?

Man I don't know. I know it would be hard, but maybe doing random hunting days versus weekends only. Deer pattern the weekend hunts and a couple random groups of Tuesday-Thursday might pan out something. Looking back at your pics this year when the Bucks were showing up, did they appear more commonly during the week days or was it just random? Also, I noticed more buck activity during the solunar peak times during November, of course these days always fell on the weekdays too, but maybe concentrate a couple days around those peak times.

One other thing to try to get a better feel, would be getting some cell cameras and placing them on the property. I know they aren't cheap, but having near real time feedback regarding deer activity not only when you aren't there but also when you are hunting a different location on the property might be helpful.

It was a tough year as far as weathe goes too. Too warm during bow season and then really wet after that, kept a lot of deer away from feeders and such. Might not need to change a thing?? Next year might be better, looking like a hot dry summer which could lead deer to hammer the feeders as the summer drags on.

yeah the weather sucked out there for sure, and with the acorns everywhere I had sour corn all over the place. on the cell cameras, I just cant justify the cost when I usually lose at least 1 camera a year out there.

as far as pressure, we don't hunt the place hard at all IMO, we usually lose the bucks so early and have other places to hunt that we hardly ever even go out there after the first 2 weeks of bow season.

I haven't looked at the days close enough to see if there is a pattern there, maybe I should.

This has consumed you hasn't it


Been there Amigo

wait...... its been 5 years

not really, only the last 5 years or so....and I am 37, so there were 32 good ones before I met him...



yes sir, September 2011 is when all this nonsense started, it was my first year back out there hunting since I was a kid and the first year I saw the pics of that damn deer.

1 year is 52.1429 weeks

so Jhouse has endured 312.8574 weeks of pure anguish

Thanks, amigo

maybe its his purpose in life

Well I want to end his purpose, and end his life, HARD.

that was a bit dark



i like it

Don't run any TC all year and just go hunting. No pressure hunting. If something shows up you like, then kill it or pass for the next one.

Give up deer hunting on the place for ducks and throw 100 decoys in that puddle you won't drive through.

I like this.


And while you're sitting there in the stand, don't even worry about if he's still alive, if he's declined or managed to blow up to 200 class proportions. Don't even let it enter your mind.

Hmmm, interesting

Or plant & pull feeders & just let cameras catch cross traffic on the plots.....while you duck hunt.

I would just hunt dove and squirrels. According to some, wouldn't hurt a thing

I actively do both where I hunt...really doesn't hurt anything bc I have none.

This was considered as well. No feeders has worked well on my lease. Then again, from March to October every buck around is under my feeders twice a day, even within an hour of me filling them. It's something about mid September that changes everything out there...maybe they smell the anticipation in my teetee or something...



Haha, there are usually some duck hunters to my south a tick or so, but they should be pushing deer to me...nope.

Hormone changes going into pre-rut...you should wear sparkly jeans and roll around in doe pee before you go out there from then on.

Who could I talk to about finding some of these "sparkly pants?"

Amazon.

Or kingwood...you got any old 34x32s? Heavy starch please...

FIFY

Oh my bad, he and TX twins?

I'm actually 30x32 or 32x32 depending on cut.

Dang boy, come on up here, I'll make ya a cheeseburger or two

I'm sorry Mr. Moderator sir.

What about doing the unthinkable and not hunting till November? I've known guys who do this for fear of pushing the one deer they're looking for. Keep tabs on him via TCs and keep the feeders feeding, but don't pressure him otherwise until he's feeling the call of love.

Yeah man, I see the logic for sure...

you just need to draw the early season tag for Texas

you actually may have a muzz season there next year i think.... may be some good in it!

Yeah I need a governors tag

I haven't taken the cams down, yet, but I did fill up my old protein feeder that hasn't been used in about a year now, its in the back close to some thick stuff and full of all sorts of goodies. this feeder was always a favorite among the old men so we'll see if it still has any mojo left....

Hard to get ....

Is this the one Big damaged his rack on?

Yes sir, it's worth the trade off

Well March is almost here....

i am gonna try to get out and check everything on sunday morning, we'll see

That'll still be Feb, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

The wide 8 was here for a few days about a week ago, I'll put some pics up in a bit.

I've defended my Wildgame camera pretty heavily, but your pictures look pretty rough JS. Just waiting on my camera to take dive on me since I've talked her up for the past 2 seasons.

Haha, that one is on year 3 I believe, it does seem to be having trouble these days around sun up and sunset though.

I will stick with cheap cameras though, I'll deal with a few bad pics over having a nice camera walk away, which they tend to do out there.

Now see if you spent more money on a top of the line camera... ...certain top of the line bucks would not be embarrassed to stand in front of it YEAR round

ha, I'll let my buddy put one of his new ones out there and see if it works...and I wont tell him about the camera of his I put on my other place that got flooded out last week

Think of all the times Big walked through during season over the years and the WGI cam failed to trigger.......

I would loose sleep knowing that had happened.....

Im not sure how he's slept a wink in 4 years. And not even working on that good karma thing by putting his buddies camera out to take pics of fish & wood ducks.

Well at least he knows the best place to fish.....

i thought this would be a cool spot for HIS camera...

this is where I have drug the last 2 bucks across the "creek".

as you can see, I take care of my equipment had to dump the baseballs out of that bucket to carry some secret feed







oops, see, that's another reason I don't buy nice cameras...there's your creek RM

Great, 6 years from now he'll still be trying to catch a big mudcat that shows up when it floods. How long do fish live?

haha, I love all the encouragement and kind words boys

Anything to help. Just let us know.

Haven't been able to make it out there in about a month but had a good day shed hunting today...found a matched set from a 7pt with small kickers off of both g2s and then found one that made me a little giddy inside...

The right side from big boy from 2012, probably walked past it 100 times



Which matches the left side I found 2 years ago






The wide 8 is still around and still had his antlers, as did about 6 or 7 other bucks, still hoping to see a few more old ones show up...

Great find, now have those sheds mounted out of frustration

I had a few pics from summer 2011 but didn't take killing "him" serious until 2012, I literally burned 200 hours of vacation that season

That's a great find. I can't believe nothing chewed on it all this time. I wish you the best of luck this season.

I seem to recall you spending a lot of time hunting him.

No, no, no...he was sitting the blind nature watching

Man, the height those brows are set on that 8 and the beam curls makes him look really familiar...how old do you think Big is again?

Oh, going on 9 this year...if he's still out there..

He's out there. His will be your year to tag him!

Wow! He's a fatty! Looks dang near as heavy as our deer here in Kansas. Love to see him with a swollen neck laying at your feet.

it looks like a rainforest out there right now and there are a handful of big bodies running around with nubs on their heads. couple more weeks and we should be able to start telling them apart....

and someone stole one of my SD cards, hunt county.

Sorry people man. They just wanted to see what you had coming to those feeders.

My buddy checked the cam yesterday and sent this, had me a little excited...

Could it be...???

those bases

going to be a big'un

Them brows sure do start high....

Hope he had a rejuvenation and throws more than an 8pt frame. :fingers crossed emoji not found:

Keep us posted!

He's a great, great, great, great, great grandfather by now. Certified ninja

RIGHT!!

That dude is almost as old as Dogcatcher!

Big 8 looks like he may be declining.

Ha, check the dates sir!

I am..talking about the top pic in comparison to what I remember last year. 2nd pic, deer on left kind of resembles that split G2 buck from last year.

Yeah, we'll have to see if that other 2 splits...still looking for the big 9 from last year too...

Would you just shoot Big so we can stop drooling every summer/early fall?? Seriously


I know you give it a go every year, so just harassing you, but dang, get him this year!

Man I'm gonna try....AGAIN!

Walking away in that last pic?

That's the same split g2 buck from the above pics

Go get em

Thanks man....came across this, guessing it's the same 2 bucks

Looking good!!!

I agree Jack, looks like the same two from last year.

Sure would be nice to get one of these suckers on the ground before going after one of those soybean donkeys up north!

Impressive. Always fun to track them through the years.

latest cam pull, the 2 old ones are there everyday, sometimes at 3pm. the coons knocked the camera down a bit and cut off the antlers in most of the pics







hoping this is just an injury, he will be fun to watch..


and this old guy is still out there, he usually shows up later than the others so we'll see...

Well, the 8 is going 9...that's good.

Yep, noticed that, you still think he's the ninja? You think the frame is close?

Yep. I still think that's him. He may get dementia and stick around.

Let me know if you need help with them this year.

Just hung a camera (back up) on a super duper secret spot a ways to the north...looking forward to seeing what's still hanging around up there...

Is that the corn bag crossing deep in the woods where you usually meet your very hospitable neighbor's laborer?

Ha, no, this where I met a buck named droptines and was teased with permisson to hunt him...I have permisson now.

I'm invested.

Well if history holds, prepare to see the same deer eating all my corn again next summer...

NICE

still the only 2 mature bucks to show up yet...

well the coons keep spinning my camera around so most of my pics suck this week, the 2 big ones were there this morning but you can barely see them on the side of the pic.

i needed to mow a little so i took the family out to ride 4 wheelers while i was on the tractor. so i finish mowing the food plots and start mowing a path through a waist high field from my stand/feeder area to my gate with my 6 year old helping me steer and my wife and 8yo son riding their 4 wheelers behind us. we are cruising along and i happen to look back and catch my wife running through the field, flip flops and shirt flying, towards the truck....she finally stops at treeline, with her hair sticking out all crazy everywhere and starts yelling "BEES!" i had kinda figured by then, but i'm like, "what? i cant hear you..." "BEES I SAID! ATTACKING ME!"

so me and Logan ride over and check out the damage, 5 hits on her back and one on her leg, plus a missing flip flop. we poured a little water on stings and she was good to go, and actually told me to ahead and finish mowing. i go back to the 4 wheeler she ditched and see that it is still being swarmed by bees, i dont want none so i get in the truck and go push it out into field away from them before i ride it back to the trailer.

after all that, i had a few new bucks show up this last week so that made it all worth it

this crazy guy has been around for a while but i never could get a good pic. he has huge brows and a good right side, he will get a pass to see what happens next year:






and this nice clean 8:




and this litte guy looks like he has some nice potential:






dang AR's



what do you think is wrong with this guy? his tongue has been hanging since last season and it looks like his nose was broke or something..

Nice

Nice

And the legend of Cain't Get Right (first one) begins.

.

My buddy checked the cam yesterday and only sent me pics of pics...sssoooo they are a tiny bit distorted. I may try to run out Monday or Tuesday and check again to get some better pics.

Forgot this one....I think it's distorted...

Wow!!!

Good golly! When u gonna shoot one of those dandy deer? Hehe

maybe some good foods plots this year will be your ticket.

Surely that WildGame camera isn't distorted

yeah, i think i know a guy with some decent equipment

i made a quick trip out there last night for some mexican food and grabbed the card..

Definitely a cool rack on that one guy. Keep em coming. I'll check cards for the first time this coming weekend and can't wait to see what is on them!!

I like that tall 9. He looks like he's only about 3-4.

Those pics are a little deceiving, that tall 9 is this guy Marc....

good luck, hopefully something good shows up

Appears to be an old buck.

What might you be insinuating, sir? Not gonna lie, the thought crossed my mind but with no experience with deer that old I didn't think they could go down that fast or change that much.

DNA can answer that question or a mysterious disappearance in late Sept...

Do you typically see them trash up that much as they hit really late years? He is very easily 9 this year, if not 10, and nothing definite to go off of from last year.

IME Some do but many just change their look and point count. Some change their look so much you have to look for face, head or body markings to identify, some you never can tell what they were.
Here is a buck that was a 5 yr oldish 5x5 typical buck around 170 based off of me finding one shed from him in 2005. The next year in 2006 he was a 4x5 with a fork on on G2 for 10 points(in first pic). He went downhill every year after that. Out of curiosity we sent off DNA from those sheds and this buck when he was killed to confirm that it was the same buck.
This was him in 2006 and still around low 170's guess from one shed found.

This was him on the left in both pics in 2009. If he was 5 in 2005 then he was 9 or older in 2009. We kept him thinking he would might rebound each year till in 2009.

interesting stuff there STX. What do you think caused his floppy ear? Trauma? He appears to have a misshapen head on that same side and his eye in the last pic is clearly misshapen as well. Looks like he might have had some skull fractures.

Some deer pin their ears back eating or it could have been from fighting in the past. I think some see the IR or regular flash on the camera and pin their ears back also. His head has that shape or look due to age I think. Bug eyes, loose skin, broken nose from fighting in the past, heavy bases, etc all show signs of age to me. He actually became harder to see in the daylight or even get TC pics of as he aged every year.

Great info, the brow tine change is one thing I was looking at on my buck, yours is totally different too.

gotta give a shout out to big TD, triple decker, tdecker22, for bringing out his big green tractor and putting in some work for me, even though he never even offered to give me a ride...

coons and dead batteries have been killing my picture gettin...these are really the only good pics i got of the 2 good ones, their heads are cut off in most of the newer ones, but they are still there everyday..




this would have been a cool pic






the most disturbing part of this check was this..




he was only there for a little bit on the 12th and then for 1 pic on the 15th. ive only seen a pig out there 1 other time, 2 or 3 years ago and it was the same deal, one lone pig on cam for a couple of days and then i never saw him again.

and then this fella showed up....

Looking good there!

Looks promising...except for the black blob, probably need to get to killing him

yeah, thats all i need, a bunch of those out there messing things up

You have a mess of good looking bucks!

Good luck again

Warning..........feeder in jeopardy!

That 9 put on some height this year...

Love his frame.

x2

Looking good bud.

Dang, son.

not many pics of the split g2 buck, but he was around.

Looking good!!

they are all still there, the split g2 buck has cleaned up, most have actually, except the big 9..

any early guesses on him?

3yr old 120 class....

If he ain't 125 I ain't shootin...

Can I shoot him then????

Yes, that's what the large 2pt will be.

That's STX's deer

Can't wait to see one of them ground checked in a few weeks!!!

Hahahahahahahaha....hahahahahahahaha


Now I'm wrestling with coaching my son's flag football game at 8am on 10/1 it wouldn't be an issue if I weren't missing the game before already and another in November going hunting...

Your son won't be this age again...those deer will still be waiting on you.

Or next year...lol

Agreed, and my buddy will get a free shot at the split g2 buck...he better not make a mistake on that 9

Some awesome deer! Good luck

the game got moved back to 850am....his window is 715a-8a usually...i can leave the stand and be at the game in about 30-40 mins....dilemma.

Sounds like you need to leave the stand at 8:10. No more dilemma.

Yeah, then he doesn't show so I get down and he busts me standing in the trees about to walk out...and he's gone...out of my life forever...

Well, at least until next year.

Just so you know jshouse...I have checked my schedule and you guessed it... ...I am free opening morning and all weekend.....I can go sit in your blind and scout for that buck

I was thinking about letting ol colt come up and match wits with them, you wanna double up?

Well I guess I could a big old like that then do some along with a little chillin' and ....but I ain't much on these days but will with the best of them

Game got moved back to 8am...all of our games will be at 8am on Saturdays. Awesome.

It was soccer games for me. She played all the way through high school and could of in college but she didn't want to play any more.

Traveled all over the place for tournaments. Cost a lot of money. But I wouldn't change any of it if I could. I missed it pretty bad when she went off to college.

However hunting has been a great way to fill the void. LOL! Now she has more time to hunt with me so it works out very well long term.

yeah man that's great, if i wasn't missing next weekend already for a trip and then our last game for the Missouri trip I would miss it opening morning.

That sucks

He's all cleaned up, still around but not much in daylight this last week.

Nice Buck!!!

Still to hot. He will move when we get some cooler temps in the daylight hours.

Yeah, they are all over the cams from 8p-9a right now, would be difficult to sneak in early. I might try to get lucky in the evening until it cools off. The neighbors will have them stirred up too.

Wonder if he learned anything from his "grandpa"?

Good luck!!

I hope he real dumb

Ninja 2.0

I still say you'd better dna check that deer.

I know its hard to tell, but its all i got...how close are these beams? What if they are two years apart?

They look extremely similar.........it could be

The tree limb in the background of the left one matches the one in the pic to the right.

Hey, deer season is almost here....AND I think that's my buck.

I have an explanational theory...but Survivor time

Was he waving bye? I would take that at solid evidence.

This whole theory rests on the intelligence of a pig....

Haha

Here it is...

So I've ran around this place for my whole life, almost 38 years, never seen a pig, until 2 or 3 years ago when I had a little black sucker on camera for a day or two then he disappeared. I figured he belonged to someone around there and just got out and probably got taken out by a neighbor.

Well this summer I get another black one on camera for a few days then he disappears, then shows back up for 1 night a few weeks later.

Then today my neighbor to the south sends me the pic of the buck in the trees and says he took it with his phone across the road on his neighbors place. This place happens to be a few hundred acres partly owned by The Man, and partly owned by an individual, and is high fenced and hunting is prohibited. How the two properties are separated I do not know, I've only seen it from the road.

So while we are talking I ask if he has seen the pig and send him a pic, he says he has not and never has seen one out there but that the owner of the land where that buck is has a big black one in the fence with some horses....

So is that pig sporadically coming and going through a hole in the fence? Did ol big find that hole last summer and just decide to live it out in there?

It's far fetched but those beams sure are close...

Bucks coming out between 6p and 630p every night this week, including last night....no morning pics because they are all at the neighbors till 830a

The wind is in my favor Saturday afternoon, I am planning on getting in the stand about 3pm.

Your struggles with this deer would be enough to drive lesser men crazy! Good luck.

I'm not up to speed on this ghost buck. How old do we think this guy is?

the ghost would be roughly 9 or 10 this year. I do not believe that buck above is the ghost. the ghost is running around with a pig behind a fence these days.

I wish you the best of luck Jack.

Thanks Marc

Does Vegas have a line on this yet?


Btw, shoot the hog and figure out if it's the same one.

Good luck. Can't wait for pics!!!!

thanks man, I hope I can close this thread out in a day or two

Neighbor took the funky one...

You owe him a case of beer for that.

Rumor has it one has been hit this evening.

Split G2 buck is down.

Whoop whoop

Thanks fellas, I've hunted this place hard for the last 5 years and we know how that's gone. It's cool to kill a deer on a place you've worked so hard on and cool to kill one you have some history with.

I didn't get any good pics tonight, we have baseball real early so I will try to get down here and get some tomorrow afternoon with my boys.

It's so much easier to kill them in the morning

Congrats!!! Long time coming

I just remember I had put my blessing on your place this year. Might just have to keep that tradition going. For some reason I seem to carry a little luck. Haha great buck man I know it was well deserved.

I'm gonna hold you to it bud...now let me hunt your secret spot up north

Thank you sir

Congrats, been trying to keep up with your saga and it sounds like it paid off

Pics?

Congrats on a great bow kill bud.

Congrats!

Something finally payin off for ya.

Congrats, awesome buck Jack. Well done.

Great deer. Congrats

Congrats. He's a dandy.

Nice buck!!

Tdecker22, the Triple Decker, Ol TD, met me out there and gave me some schoolin on how to Cape a deer so we snapped a few more pics. Rough score of 135.

Thank you...he field dressed 130lbs on the nose.

Great buck bud!!! Hopefully I can drop one this weekend

Good luck sir! Go get'em!

Anytime bud

so i suppose this year is different, the big 9 is still hanging around, as late as a few nights ago. my buddy has been out a few times already looking for him but with no luck.

A little late on this one as it's hard to keep up with a lot of things on the forums, but congrats on a heck of a deer! Sorry I missed it!

I am late too, but congrats on the kill! Nice buck and one I would be thrilled to have done, as you are I am sure!

Glad to hear you were successful on the place with so much frustration the last couple of years on it.

The big 9 hit the ground yesterday, Neighbors wife got him...

Dang good deer

Nice

that looks really nice...

Wow 2 monster deer congrats to.both hunters