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Something does not seem right #7664789 11/17/19 10:58 PM
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tlk Offline OP
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I am seeing pictures of more and more bucks (4-5 in the last week) that are 200 plus inch bucks with crazy racks off of LF properties. Huge mass, crazy non typical racks. etc.

Problem is they are being taken in areas that have never grown deer like these or even close to them. My instincts tell me something is off with some of this.

Bucks escaping from a HF ranch or being let out from HF ranches? Again these are deer from around the Hill Country areas - I hate to be skeptical but it is really hard not to be. Am I missing something?


You can't fix stupid
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7664807 11/17/19 11:16 PM
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Several years ago I got a line on a bunch of free, high protein feed and seeds (like tons of it). I planted my ranch and put the quality feed to them rather than empty calorie corn. In 1 year, the hill country native deer on my place, that mature would gross score 105-115 on a good day, went to 140-150 stuff. I don't put as much stock in the genetics end of things now. It's as much about their diet as anything. I think this year was a good year for natural growth of vegetation and very little drought for most of the state.

Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7664828 11/17/19 11:45 PM
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tlk Offline OP
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I know that rain, feed and management improve the herd. Just seems strange it is almost overnight there are now 200 inch plus bucks being taken all over the Hill Country


You can't fix stupid
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7664852 11/18/19 12:08 AM
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don k Offline
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I agree. I have not seen any of the freaky antlered Bucks in this area. We do not have any HF ranches in this immediate area that import Deer. I have a LF neighbor that feeds protein pellets year around and cotton seed for a few months during late winter. On his place there has never been one of those type of Bucks taken. And he has never even had a 175 inch Buck taken. Hill Country Bucks at least here are not going to become 200 inch Bucks overnight whatever you feed them.

Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7664935 11/18/19 01:00 AM
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huntwest Offline
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I believe anytime you see any area with multiple Lf deer above 180 you are either dealing with liars or people that can’t score a deer.
Especially anywhere north of San Antonio. We hunt some of the best LF country in the area and any deer over 180 is an extremely rare occurrence.

Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7664945 11/18/19 01:04 AM
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My uncle shot a 200" LF deer south of San Antonio a couple days ago....I wont say where but they are out there....

EDIT: I will add that they have been managing this lease for years and have been watching this deer for a while....

Last edited by SnakeWrangler; 11/18/19 01:05 AM.

Originally Posted by Sneaky
I believe in science and I’m an insufferable [censored]
Originally Posted by beaversnipe
Actually, BBC is pretty damn good

"You Cannot Simultaneously Be Politically Correct And Intellectually Honest!"
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7664980 11/18/19 01:45 AM
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....it can't be that almost every big deer killed is photographed and shared on social media....

Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7665003 11/18/19 02:10 AM
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The genetics have always been there to have great deer in the Hill Country. Look back at the old bucks that are in B&C book from the Hill Country counties...there were a lot huge NT bucks that made the book. YO Ranch used to have a lot of big deer hanging in one of the buildings at the HQ that were all killed years ago before the HF. The difference today is that people are now managing deer more.....letting them age to mature ages, shooting does, culling buck numbers down and increasing protein/food plots. The key is giving the right deer age. When you get rainfall at the key times and in above average amounts you can get big deer that do not look normal. With the right genetics you have huge 4 yr bucks even.


Are idiots multiplying faster than normal people?[Linked Image]
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7665004 11/18/19 02:12 AM
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[quote][/quote]Everyone knows what's going on but just wants to pussyfoot around the answer. There is not honor in "hunting". Eventually the record books will have to implement DNA testing prior to admittance AND RIGHTLY SO!

Last edited by Chuckw; 11/18/19 02:13 AM.
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7665009 11/18/19 02:19 AM
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My advice to those skeptical about growing big deer through an optimal diet plan is to try it for themselves. I realize that it is easier said than done and it also takes time & money but the proof is in the pudding. Older deer are lazy and if you give them a reason to stay in a certain area by feeding them candy then they will stay. They will continue to eat and they will grow.

Managing the herd by killing off the bucks that don't show the promise of growing antlers with long tines and/or tines with mass is essential. You say these 200" deer have appeared overnight but I argue that is not the case. These deer were 170"-180" bucks last year but fewer people rave about racks that size. The "200" number is held in high regard but I can assure you that the LF ranches that are growing these deer didn't do it by accident and it didn't happen overnight. It takes a concerted, focused effort over a period of years to grow deer this big but it is do-able anywhere.


"The world is littered with the bodies of people that tried to stick it to ole J.R."

J.R. Ewing, 1981
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: stxranchman] #7665077 11/18/19 02:59 AM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman
The genetics have always been there to have great deer in the Hill Country. Look back at the old bucks that are in B&C book from the Hill Country counties...there were a lot huge NT bucks that made the book. YO Ranch used to have a lot of big deer hanging in one of the buildings at the HQ that were all killed years ago before the HF. The difference today is that people are now managing deer more.....letting them age to mature ages, shooting does, culling buck numbers down and increasing protein/food plots. The key is giving the right deer age. When you get rainfall at the key times and in above average amounts you can get big deer that do not look normal. With the right genetics you have huge 4 yr bucks even.


Yep!

Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7669060 11/21/19 08:52 PM
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I think people are just getting looser lipped about things these days chasing all of the facebook fame and whatnot


~Dustin



"Life's complicated, man, like a dang ol' Rubik's cube, man. Talkin' 'bout blue and red, man. Dang ol' get one side, dang ol' messed up th' other side, man."

-Boomhauer
Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7669295 11/22/19 01:31 AM
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I agree with most of the above, however, I think some of these funky, large racks could be to better genetics from high fence escapees. I've seen a couple killed this year near the Paluxy that were absolute beasts. Free range. Quite a few high fences around here. Our property shares a boundary with one. I've seen these 200" deer you speak of.


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Re: Something does not seem right [Re: wsjaxIV] #7669436 11/22/19 05:46 AM
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Originally Posted by wsjaxIV
My advice to those skeptical about growing big deer through an optimal diet plan is to try it for themselves. I realize that it is easier said than done and it also takes time & money but the proof is in the pudding. Older deer are lazy and if you give them a reason to stay in a certain area by feeding them candy then they will stay. They will continue to eat and they will grow.

Managing the herd by killing off the bucks that don't show the promise of growing antlers with long tines and/or tines with mass is essential. You say these 200" deer have appeared overnight but I argue that is not the case. These deer were 170"-180" bucks last year but fewer people rave about racks that size. The "200" number is held in high regard but I can assure you that the LF ranches that are growing these deer didn't do it by accident and it didn't happen overnight. It takes a concerted, focused effort over a period of years to grow deer this big but it is do-able anywhere.


I agree totally with the statement above. Management practices have improved greatly through research and are widely available through seminars, books, magazine articles and forums like this. Land owners as well as hunters now have a better understanding of what it takes to grow this type of deer. When I was growing up in the Hill Country, if it had horns it was taken. The occasional 130 deer was a monster with community bragging rights. Now they get passed regularly as well as 150 to 170 class bucks. He'll be better next year is the comment I hear from land owners and hunters. He will be better next year with the right nutrition and age. To raise large deer, culls have to be removed to eliminate the undesirable genetics. Ranchers now manage their deer herd like they have managed their livestock herds for years. Better bulls for breeding result in higher weaning weights in a shorter period of time. Better bucks breed the desirable genes for the next generation. The formula was always there but was not applied as it is now. It takes years to overcome bad management practices but once applied, the results are amazing and make the unbelievable a more common occurrence. Even in a low fence environment, groups of land owners have formed management areas to promote these practices and have seen remarkable results. In the old days, drought and screw worms trimmed the deer herd back to carrying capacity. Screw worms are no longer a problem but drought still is. Supplemental feeding has helped during droughts but carrying capacity of the land has not. Does need to be removed to balance the carrying capacity unless you have unlimited resources to feed them also. Ratios must be maintained to achieve the desired results. I look at the old photographs of the hunters and what they killed on the ranch years ago. Not a trophy in the bunch but the grins on those guys faces and the pride they took in their hunting skills to get that buck has not changed. This generation of hunters have not changed in the love of the hunt but the expectations of a trophy buck have changed.

Re: Something does not seem right [Re: tlk] #7669472 11/22/19 11:23 AM
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There is a lot of scoring “fluff” on the internet. A lot.


Originally Posted by Russ79
I learned long ago you can't reason someone out of something they don't reason themselves into.


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