I normally don't put out my trail cameras until mid to late summer, so I've never looked at bucks this time of year. However, I missed an opportunity at a nice one last fall, and was eager to see if he survived the winter, so I put my cams out a few weeks ago. My question is, what size would a good buck's antlers be at this time of year? I need some measuring stick to go by. Anyone have any pics showing antlers in May, with pics showing what the finished antler growth looked like in the fall? Cheers, Brian
I've seen some in the last couple of weeks between barely visible to about ear length. I doubt the size now is much of an indication of final size.
You aren't going to be able to tell much till mid June. Right now you'll be able to say what kind of mass he has at the bases (which presumably you already know this deer is mature and will have good or great mass). By early June their eyeguards are pretty much done so you will know what kind of brow tines he has. The width will be established by around June 20th. By early July you will know how many points of any substantial length they will have but they can still squeeze out some short (<2") tines that will not be evident yet. In late June/early July the most deceiving thing will be potential tine length. I've seen 2" tall G2's on 6/25 turn into 12 inchers by mid August. Since you are trying to identify a particular surviving buck you probably won't know for sure until late June or early July unless that buck has something telltale about his eyeguards or has some really distinctive features or NT points. Good luck. Hope you find him.
Thank you! This is the kind of info I was looking for. I watched this buck on camera last summer and fall, then never saw him during early ML and the first weekend of rifle season. Saturday of the second weekend, I shot another smaller buck, because I was running out of hunting time. Wouldn't you know it...the very next morning, target buck walks up in front of me and stands there for a full 5 minutes. All I could shoot was pictures and video. I was quite disgusted with myself. The first pic is of the buck last year. Second pic is of the largest I've seen so far since I put my camera out. Don't know yet if it's the same deer or not. Thanks again for the info.
Definitely not the same deer IMO. The deer you are looking for would have nearly twice the mass at his bases that this May buck is showing. The deer from last Fall was a 3 or 4 yr old deer which means that he is now a 4 or 5 yr old deer. This deer you have pictures of now looks to be only 2 or 3 yrs old. Secondly you can look at the eyeguards already and see a difference. This May buck has eyeguards that point toward each other whereas your buck from the Fall appears to have eyeguards that point straight up and maybe back a bit. It isn't a slam dunk but in my opinion there is almost zero chance that this is the same deer. No need to stress yet though as it is still awfully early. If he is still alive you will probably get him at that site before the Summer is up. What zone are you in?... i.e. Was there another week of gun season left when you saw him or just 2 days? Anyway I bet you get him again. Let us know. You have me interested now so hoping to see new pics of him here in the next few months.
Will do. I'm in Nelson county, which was Zone 1 last year. Didn't hunt the last week of the gun season because I went to Ohio the following weekend to hunt with my dad for a few days. I did hunt the late ML season, but on a different part of the property from where I saw him earlier. The property I hunt on is about 800 acres, and no one else that hunts it got him. Unless he wandered off the property after I saw him, he should still be around. I've got a pretty good idea of where his core area is/was.
Here's the sonofagun walking right up in front of me last fall. He got as close as that fallen log (15-20 yards) before he noticed me, then ran back about 5 yards and stood there broadside for a full 5 minutes trying to sort things out. SMH...
EarlyBird, I was looking thru some of my video clips last evening, and it appears I posted the wrong deer's pic previously. You are right, in that the shape of the rack doesn't look like last year's deer, at least so far. In another clip, taken at night, there is another buck with a different shaped rack, who bullies the first buck twice in a 60-second clip. This second buck is obviously the dominant buck of this group. The new buck is labelled "A" and the one I posted previously is labelled "B" in these two pics. As you can see, "A" eye guards are wider and point up/back, rather than in. And, his overall rack is bigger. Here is another pair of bucks whose antlers are very different from these two, but are very much like each other. Perhaps they are brothers, or at least have the same father. Anyway, it's fun watching their behavior, and I'm interested to see how they all turn out by the fall.
I don't think you have him yet. Those all look like 2 and 3 yr olds. Your buck's velvet bases should be just a little smaller than a coke can coming out of the head. You don't have a deer like that here.
I got him for sure, just this morning in fact. Positive it's the same deer. Several minutes of video, including some nice close ups of his rack.
Man that's awesome. That deer is definitely a stud. I'll take your word for it that this is him but it does look like it. You've got me pumped now to get my cameras out. I've only put out 2 cameras behind my house a couple weeks ago and haven't run them yet. I've got another 30 or so to put out and I was going to go put some out today but got caught up in a bunch of home projects and didn't get away. Maybe I can get some out tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing what this buck of yours turns into. I'm gonna guess he will be high 140's to low 150's by the time he's done.
