Back in early July Danny sent this picture of a big 10-pointer that showed up on his hunting property. “Hopefully he hangs around for a few more months,” Danny wrote. I said it will be to fun to track this buck and see if Danny gets a crack at him.
Update from Danny:
Mike, here is what the 10-point has turned into. WOW! I snapped this photo with my phone from my picture viewer. Unfortunately all the pics I got of him last week were between 12:00 am and 5:15 am. I’m hoping he goes back to evening activity by the time our September bow opener comes around. This picture is 20 yards from one of my stands!
Beautiful buck, the symmetry of that rack is striking, right out to the upturned beams. Virtually no deductions. Good luck Danny, keep us posted!
Danny wants to know what you guys think this buck will score?
[…] has been keeping us posted on a big 10-pointer roaming his hunting land. The […]
170-180. 6-8 inch g4’s and good brow’s = Booner!!
185 give or take a few. What a beauty.
That is one hell of a deer, I think he’ll gross mid-low 70’s. Hard to tell how long his beams are but I have him 50″. Good luck putting a tag on him… dandy!!
If he walked by me…..I don’t care how old he is…..I’d shoot……..
wow what a awesome 10pt! Id say gross 180s
Not a real great picture for inside spread, mass is above average, symmetry is awesome, I am going to guess he will go mid 170’s. Don’t know the region of the country, but just looking at this one picture I would ask is he the age Danny considers a harvestable trophy? Great buck, good luck hunting him.
Click on Mike’s link of the early July pic for a look at the width. Yes, I would consider this a harvestable trophy.
Thanks, Danny. I will look at the picture from July which better shows the spread. The reason I asked about harvestable age is that down in South Texas we try to harvest trophies starting at 6.5 years old. You are on to a beautiful buck, hope you are successful in bagging him. Look forward to photo of you posing with him!
The deer in our neck of the woods are lucky to reach 2 1/2. I think this deer is at least 4 1/2. I have been letting younger deer go around our property for the last 4-5 years. Only taking out the ones with bad genes or the occasional meat doe. We finally have a group of guys leasing the neighbor’s property that have agreed to an “8pt and wide as the ears” rule. Hopefully we start to get more and more of these bucks in the years to come. Previously the neighbors killed every deer that walked by regardless of the laws.
Danny, great point about short life span for bucks when everyone in the neighborhood is not on the same page. I totally understand your dilemna. The private land and leasing situation in Texas makes good hunting land come at a premium, but the value created puts a lot of pressure on folks to manage the wildlife resources more wisely. In parts of the state with historically skewered buck to doe ratios and an average harvest age of 18 months, antler restrictions imposed by TPWD has improved the buck to doe ratio, increased the harvest age of bucks and improved the quality of the bucks harvested. We also have lots of local wildlife management co-ops managed by groups of landowners that help to minimize the impacts of land fragmentation on the game populations. I hunted in Mississippi for years, and we always had problems associated with us passing on young bucks only to have them jump the fence onto the neighboring property and get shot on sight. Tough situation, I wish you luck working with your neighbors and bagging the ten pointer.
Who cares what he scores…SHOOT HIM DEAD!!!!!!!!!
But honestly, that’s a for sure B&C. Two keys give it away. 1) G-4s up to, or over 8″ on a typical 10 usually mean Booner, and 2) Long Brows. As if those aren’t enough, look at those crazy G2s and G3s. My guess it will gross high 180s…perhaps 190″.
What a great buck! My guess is that this buck will score between 168″-173″ give or take a few inches. If he is still coming in to your stand in the a.m. near season I suggest waiting until the wind is right and just going in to your stand 2 hours earlier than normal, that way even if you bust some deer out of the field they would have plenty of time to calm down. Best of luck Danny!
Maverick is right on. Great deer with a solid low 170 is my guess as well.
Checked my cameras Saturday. I had a few more pics of this guy. He was at this same stand at 6:00am on 8/8. I decided to move my cameras to try to find where he is during the evening hours. This stand location is almost impossible to hunt in the morning because you need to walk through open fields to get to it.
And the deer are typically in those fields in the morning hours before daylight.
Anyone want to give me an opinion of what this deer might score? I have my own guesstimate, but I’d like to see what others think.