Noticed alot of big bucks on here!

[The scout'n man]

Through the past week or so I have noticed quite a few of you guy's have some monster bucks on your property. Many of you (Velvet, Buckfever, hunterman1971, cornpile, and many more) have 3 or 4 wall hangers. I know to grow a big buck you need to let them grow I've been doing that and have been trying to thin the doe population. But still no luck with growing me a wall hanger. I have out food plots. and have put out mineral licks in the past but still no luck. Just wondering if there is something more. I plant clovers and oats. I should probably put out mineral more often. But still there seams like their should be more?

[tex]

Leave a portion of your lease or farm completely, absolutely, with-out-a doubt, off-limits. No chasing pics of bucks there, no walking through, etc. Maybe that would help.

[The scout'n man]

I do that Actualy I have quite a few spots like that on the 500+ acres I hunt!

[River Rat]

When's the last time you killed a Buck and how old was he?

[The scout'n man]

Its been so long I don't remember but back then I was young and dumb. I think it scored around 100, so I'd say 2 1/2. All I could see was a broad side shot of him so I had no idea of how wide he was I just seen the 8-10 tines on him so I took the 250+ yard shot and tracked him down I think he had a 13 in. tip to tip spread I was extatic at the time cause it was the biggest buck I'd killed but now I know I should have let him pass! But the next day I killed the young of the doe he was running with and then the next I killed the doe. I think that was 4 or 5 years ago.

[tex]

Read what GSP writes, see the sticky on Habitat Improvement, and start keeping a log of weight, age, lactation status, etc. Above all you may have to talk to your neighbors. 500 acres ain't much in the big scheme of things.

[The scout'n man]

Well most of the surounding farms are just that farms cattle farms with little timber which means no hunters. The farm I hunt also backs up to Rough creek. So I figure our land should be a wildlife haven. I know there are bucks on our land cause I have seen them in past years and no one has killed them. I know EHD hit pretty hard. But even before that the deer we have only push 130 maybe an occasional 140. We cull the broken tine ones so they won't enjure our dominant good gene bucks. but I think the problem is We usualy average a 1 buck per year kill with only a 1-2 doe kill. We need to thin our doe herd tremendously. Last year I seen and got pictures of 20-30 does and only had pictures of two bucks and seen one other. two were 4 pt.'s the other was a basket 8 pt. One 9 pt. that I didn't get to see was killed They said it was one of the nicest deer killed on the farm. it field dressed 180 lb.'s.

[redneck1377]

scout, when you refer to broken tines, are you talking about tines broken off in a fight

[The scout'n man]

Well I kileled a five point a few years back he had a perfect 8 pt. frame on one side but just a nub on the other with very little base so it looked like it just grew that way. Their was one killed last year that was a unicorn 1 pt. on one side that kinda webed at the top and the other side was knoked off at the base, the guy was meat hunting plus the deer probably needed to be culled anyway the way I seen it. Another 2pt. was seen at a distance couldn't tell what happened to it? on a neighboring farm a boy killed a 4 pt. one side was a browtine with a point comeing off like a typical 4 pt. the other side kinda came out the side of his head went out about 4 inches then shot up another 3 and had a poitn about the middle makeing him a weird looking 4 pt. Just weird racks all the way around. But wee do have some decent regular 6 and 8 points. but we rarely have a 10. I think 2 have been killed in the last 10 years.

[Shelbyhunter]

You need a lot of luck but also a lot of persistence to be in the stand on the right day and right time, but you need to stop killing broken tine bucks, let them get old and then decide.

[Shelbyhunter]

Well I kileled a five point a few years back he had a perfect 8 pt. frame on one side but just a nub on the other with very little base so it looked like it just grew that way. Their was one killed last year that was a unicorn 1 pt. on one side that kinda webed at the top and the other side was knoked off at the base, the guy was meat hunting plus the deer probably needed to be culled anyway the way I seen it. Another 2pt. was seen at a distance couldn't tell what happened to it? on a neighboring farm a boy killed a 4 pt. one side was a browtine with a point comeing off like a typical 4 pt. the other side kinda came out the side of his head went out about 4 inches then shot up another 3 and had a poitn about the middle makeing him a weird looking 4 pt. Just weird racks all the way around. But wee do have some decent regular 6 and 8 points. but we rarely have a 10. I think 2 have been killed in the last 10 years.

Again, let me reiterate, stop thinking in terms of points but in terms of age.

[The scout'n man]

The fivepoint was 2 1/2. The unicorn was the same or younger. And the other wierd 4 was last years deer, also there was a spike killed with it; they wre "attacking" the boy because he was wearing doe P walking across an open field, one was shot in the side of the neck the other broad side behing the shoulder(heart lung shot), he was a Known "Brown its down hunter"? Most of the deer we have are 2 1/2 or 3 1/2. For some reason we never have one get any older. with all the bucks seen and passed you would think we would finaly get an old buck but I guess they stay hid too! I'm not saying that we don't have nice deer it just we have very very few to compared to some other farms. But we have entirely too many does. I guess I just need to take a year off and doe hunt!

[AteUp]

Culling bucks absolutely does not work. Too many bucks breed does every year that one buck taken out doesn't make a difference. Plus, antlers aren't perfect for a variety of reasons, not just genetics.

[The scout'n man]

Well let me ask another question. How do youall decide which does to take out? do you take young or old? with or without young with them if you do take one with a little one how old does it have to be before you will take he. I've heard as long as they don't have spots on they will make it, is their anything to it?

[tex]

Every one you see. For a year.

[A.K.A. GROUSEGUNNER]

like tex said. Killing a doe with little ones is actually doing you a favor if she's got button bucks that you'd like to keep around.

[rcb216]

We have a 16 inch 8 point limit that we use and the farms around us do also(for the most part), and we have really had a jump in quality deer the last two years, we are seeing 8 deer this year on camera that would go 130 some maybe more, but the best thing you can do is shove the calcium to them and LET THE SMALL DEER WALK they have to get the age on them to be 150 class, I read somewhere that in ky a 150 class deer is 1 in 16,000, so the odds are against use from the start, if the quote is true. I have heard of people seeing monster deer then having them show them to me and the would be lucky to get 110 out of them. Three things make a 150+ class deer.
1. Food
2. Genetics
3. AGE

[stevenvalleyagain]

sounds to me like you do have neighbors shooting the little bucks.Unless you get about 5 times the acreage or a 10 foot fence, you are gonna have to get cooperation from the naighbors and let the little bucks walk...even the ones with funky looking tines.

We had a buck with a messed up rack on a farm that we hunted for years. He was shot in the shoulder early one season.We never saw him again that year.But there he was the next year with antlers on one side only, the other was just a spike. His rack was also smaller on that side the next year. He now hangs on my friends wall as a pefectly symmetrical 12 pointer with great width and pretty long tines.Moral of the story is that those "cull bucks" may not be cull bucks at all. Just hammer the does and let all the bucks walk for this season.

[Luckybuck]

I try to hold out for one of two things:

1) A buck bigger than what I have previously killed.

2) A buck that I WILL get mounted because of its uniqueness or very high number of tines.

I have killed enough deer to be patient and only take what is in my opinion(for me only) a good buck. Several years ago a lady was checking in a basket racked 8 pointer and was so excited that she was just shaking looking at it. I bragged on her and told her it was a great buck and a very good accomplishment. After I checked mine in she asked me if she could see mine and I told her it was over in the back of the truck and her jaw dropped. It was a very good mature buck with a 19inch inside spread and had 8 very good tines and long beams. She said why didn't you say you killed a monster when you got here and I just told her that I don't play the comparison game and that it was what I was happy with and that she looked a lot more happy and excited about hers and I did not want to spoil the moment. Then I went over to look at her deer and brag on her some more.

[GSPonGrouse]

Culling bucks absolutely does not work. Too many bucks breed does every year that one buck taken out doesn't make a difference. Plus, antlers aren't perfect for a variety of reasons, not just genetics.
They covered that last week on QDMA-TV. I have argued for a long time now that in Ky it made no sense with a 1 buck per hunter state management program(which I love) to even try.
AGE, AGE, AGE 1. 2. & 3. the most important factors for a trophy whitetail here in Ky.

[rcb216]

I try to hold out for one of two things:

1) A buck bigger than what I have previously killed.

2) A buck that I WILL get mounted because of its uniqueness or very high number of tines.

I have killed enough deer to be patient and only take what is in my opinion(for me only) a good buck. Several years ago a lady was checking in a basket racked 8 pointer and was so excited that she was just shaking looking at it. I bragged on her and told her it was a great buck and a very good accomplishment. After I checked mine in she asked me if she could see mine and I told her it was over in the back of the truck and her jaw dropped. It was a very good mature buck with a 19inch inside spread and had 8 very good tines and long beams. She said why didn't you say you killed a monster when you got here and I just told her that I don't play the comparison game and that it was what I was happy with and that she looked a lot more happy and excited about hers and I did not want to spoil the moment. Then I went over to look at her deer and brag on her some more.


I feel about the same way, well spoken.

[12 pointer]

I feel about the same way, well spoken.

and you are right. That's what it is all about!

[The scout'n man]

well I have seen nice bucks for the last two or three years just not anything I felt to be a trophy to me. I do agree with you. I was just wondering how do I get the trophys to grow and to grow a little faster I guess you could say. And I am just astonished by the buck to doe ratio around here. so far I have gotten pics of 10 different does and not even the first buck. I can clearly see I need to clean out the does this year. but for the bucks that I do have the largest I have seen around here the for probably the last 5 years the largest one might score 120. That is low for KY.

[islandspeck]

AGE!!! I assume you are hunting in a zone 1 county based on how many does you say you have. Don't cull anything, I repeat...don't cull anything. You can't tell if a deer can produce 150 inches until he is 4 years old for the most part. Of course there are occasions when one will do it at three, but your deer are not living long enough to do it regardless. My advice would be to tell the people hunting with you not to shoot unless they will mount it, otherwise throw their buck tag away and shoot every doe you see this year. good luck- if it makes you feel better, there hasn't been a buck killed on our place the past 3 years.

[The scout'n man]

actualy I'm hunting zone 2. On the Breckinridge/Ohio county line. Not far from Rough River.

[str8 shot]

id say you do have shooters on your place but your just not seeing them,just like on our farm...in the last 5 years or so weve practiced qdm and finally last year 2 shooter bucks came off our farm(1 being mine:D)but every year we see those 120inch deer everywere and the next year it just seems like there gone,but there not...1.take chances and get in areas were you dont think he will be...2.keep on huntin them doe's,eventually a shooter will follow the right one...3.hunt the very outside of your farm,almost on the fenceline of your neighbors just to see if the deer are using there place and not yours,thats how i got mine last year and i called him over the fence...but like i said in #1,just take chances,thats what im going to start doing more often;)