Made it back out tonight. Does were out early. Saw the first one around 445. By 530 or so they were all out in the field and meandering around. Had a mature doe which looked like her fur on the hind quarters was roughed up. Seems early. Figured she was just scratching her back on some branches or something. Around 630 I spotted a "decent buck" come out. Winds were out of the SW and he came from a thicket just on the other side of standing corn which was SW of me. Pulled up the binoculars and was on the fence. As he got closer there was no doubt he was more than a "decent buck." I tried to age him on the hoof and was struggling. He looked grey in the face but his body didn't look horribly old. I was thinking 3-4yr old but the grey threw me off. As he walked through the picked bean field approaching me I could see he was really wide. This is a rarity in our area as most of our bucks are 14-17" wide. My widest ever was around 18" so this dude had my attention. My initial thoughts were: Short brow tines. Crazy heavy mass. Super wide. Not ridiculously tall g2s and g3s but pretty decent. My quick score on the hoof as he approached was 130-135" but I wasn't worried about adding. I just looked at him and estimated. I'm not making a TV show. I did almost pull out my video camera but common sense said don't worry about it. This is a 130+" 8pt. Go into kill mode! He got to 35yds and I kept ranging. He was slowing down as if he was begging me to shoot him. He stopped at 31yds with no obstructions keeping me from shooting. I dropped my range finder, hooked my release, drew, focused, and released. I knew instantly it hit where I wanted it to! (Sort of makes up for missing the coyote last week.) He took off the last 20yds through the field and headed into the woods SE of me. I heard him crash! Then I heard him making some more commotion on the ground. He hadn't gone 50-75yds. Heart shot! Never did find the broadhead. The arrow was broken off right at the end. Since I am shooting a 60lb bow now I am guessing it hit the opposite shoulder and wedged in. I'll need to be careful skinning. The arrow had worked it's way back out through the entry hole. The Slick Tricks did their job again. I wanted to use some "Rage" broadheads someone gave me but I will only shoot them out of the crossbow or my 70lb bow. So thankful for this "Old Man."
I need to go through trail camera pics. I believe this deer is a deer I called "Old Man". I have pics back to 2010-2011. It is quite possible he is the son of "The Old Man." If not, this puts him in the 8-10yr old range. I don't think I had any pics last year and have NEVER found one of his sheds. I thought he must have died. IF this is Old Man, he was killed in an area he was known to frequent. I have only seen him one time on the hoof when my son was the trigger man 2-3yrs ago. He was chasing off young bucks and following some does. Same property.
I did some very quick and rough scores. I think he will be close to 150" as an 8pt with 3" brow tines! 5" bases, 24" main beams, and a 22" spread help. Most of his inches were mass, main beams, and spread. I don't care where he ends up. As stated, I was willing to shoot him with my initial size up score of 130-135.
I need to go through trail camera pics. I believe this deer is a deer I called "Old Man". I have pics back to 2010-2011. It is quite possible he is the son of "The Old Man." If not, this puts him in the 8-10yr old range. I don't think I had any pics last year and have NEVER found one of his sheds. I thought he must have died. IF this is Old Man, he was killed in an area he was known to frequent. I have only seen him one time on the hoof when my son was the trigger man 2-3yrs ago. He was chasing off young bucks and following some does. Same property.
I did some very quick and rough scores. I think he will be close to 150" as an 8pt with 3" brow tines! 5" bases, 24" main beams, and a 22" spread help. Most of his inches were mass, main beams, and spread. I don't care where he ends up. As stated, I was willing to shoot him with my initial size up score of 130-135.
