2018 Deer Season

Infidel 762

Moderator
Staff member
Rattled in grandpa opening morning of muzzleloader;



My dad harvested one of our other hit list bucks. This is the man who lifted me over fences and put me up in trees with a single shot 30-30. Decades later and still doing our thing. Doing our thing in one of the few remaining vestiges of America's fading frontiers.



My dad hit his deer low, right around sunset. Heavy blood trail with chunks of stomach matter, decided not to push and possibly jump him. Went back out at first light and picked up the trail. We found spots where he would bed down and the ground was all scratched up. We found him in a group of cedar trees, hollowed out by coyotes. It appears the coyotes found alive and started eating on him, think that all the tore up ground was him kicking at coyote. I bet the coyotes would fill their stomachs , run off and regurgitate it for later and then return to eat again.

Rifle season, spent hours just sitting in stands. And then just like that; caught a glimpse of this buck walking down an old pipeline right of way. I grunted at him a couple times and he turned on a dime, worked his way into 60 or 70 yards.



All said and done I was worn down from the rut...



Oklahoma 2018
 
Nice mass, Jeremy.
thumbup.gif
Looks like he's been courting the ladies. When does your rut begin up there. First rut usually Christmas week down here.

He was an old fellow; how old you think he was?

Regards,
Clarence
 
Originally Posted By: GCAmazing buck! Iron sights, muzzleloader?

Yep it is a muzzleloader, it has the fiber optic beads on the sights.
 
Originally Posted By: hm1996When does your rut begin up there. First rut usually Christmas week down here.

He was an old fellow; how old you think he was?


Originally Posted By: CinchWow that's an awesome buck! Any more pics?

Clarence, our rut starts around November 7th and goes till about thanksgiving.

Here are a couple pics of him from previous seasons. In the pic from 2016 I believe he is at least 4.5 years old. I think he is at least 6.5 or 7.5 years old now. He has always been a slick 9 point, I have passed him up a few times in previous years. This year he got palmated and put on a little trash. I rattled him in with the black rack, I did not pass him up this time.







 
I was thinking he had been fighting based on broken tines and swollen neck in original picture, but he had a very large neck in the trail cam pics in Oct. and late December as well.

Interesting buck!

Regards,
Clarence
 
I think a lot of the neck swelling is built up muscle from constantly rubbing their forehead glands, scent communication. Like the does estrous cycles, the bucks have testosterone cycles that activate higher levels of scent secretion before and during the rut.
 
Could be. Have seen them leaving scent from those glands but never thought about building muscles from that activity. (I had always attributed to fighting the brush.) "Grandpa" seems to have been quite active for an extended period, for sure!
thumbup.gif


Regards,
Clarence
 
Thx for the congrats and kind words.

Originally Posted By: hm1996Could be. Have seen them leaving scent from those glands but never thought about building muscles from that activity. (I had always attributed to fighting the brush.) "Grandpa" seems to have been quite active for an extended period, for sure!
thumbup.gif


I don't know for certain why their necks swell in the fall, it could be a combination of things. I know some loose a lot of weight during the rut. Some deer look thick and heavy in early October and then you get pics of them in mid December and they look run down with busted up racks.

One hunt last year I watched grandpa and a young buck following a doe. Grandpa would lower his ears and posture up, it would run the younger buck off. The young buck would run off a little ways and then try and come back and grandpa would always get between him and the doe. The doe was just milling around and payed hardy any attention to them. It was a cool encounter and I would be a liar if I said I did not get him in the crosshairs and contemplate shooting him.
 
Two really fine ole timer bucks right there. Time spent with your Dad can never be enough. Cherish it. I would give everything I own for one more day with my Dad.
 
Back
Top