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Heck of a 2 1/2
- Thread starter BSK
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BSK
Well-Known Member
As I've stated before, we don't manage for mature bucks. It's family property managed and hunted for fun. The vast majority of hunters are tickled pink to kill an above average 2 1/2 year-old 8-point. Of the 106 bucks we've killed, the average score is only 88. It only takes a score of 113 to make the "All-time Top 20." And that's my goal each year: to kill a 3 1/2 year-old buck that makes the Top 20. To make the Top 10 All-time only takes a score topping 122.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Amazing 2½ year old...cant wait to see next years pics! Hope he makes it!!
i agree. i would try everything in my power to keep that guy breathing. he will be a legend at 5.5
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
That's the once in a lifetime kind of buck that has potential to hit record contention if allowed to reach old age free of major injury. I imagine that big typical killed near Crossville this year and potential new state record probably looked a whole lot like this deer at 2.5yrs.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Yes, the average buck is a 2 1/2 year-old. In fact, the "median" buck is 2 1/2 and grosses 94. There is one 2 1/2 in the Top 20 (116 4/8 8-point), but most are 3 1/2. Top 10 are a mix of 3 1/2, 4 1/2, and 5 1/2. Average of the Top 10 is 136 0/8. They range from 157 1/8 down to 122 6/8. The scary thing is, that 157 1/8 buck was only 3 1/2. Who knows what he would have scored at 5 1/2. Probably 170+.
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BSK
Well-Known Member
I sure hope he sticks around. I actually know where he summered last year because I caught him on camera in July along with all the other top bucks on the property. They all ran in the same bachelor group (9 bucks). In the past, they would have bedded along the edges of the bottomland ag fields and I wouldn't have seen them until near the rut. But this last summer they decided to bed in one of my 3-year-old timber cuts right on the edge of my property closest to the bottomlands. I just measured it on my GIS and it is a 600-yard walk from where they were bedding to the closest ag field.
No offense, but I hope none of you kill him next year and especially this year. When he is 4.5 I hope one of you do. Everyone is different and that is good, but you would be robbing yourself of a potential monster buck.
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BSK
Well-Known Member
I can accept that!
And we're pretty much done hunting for the year. Everybody got a buck and we try not to be too greedy, so we limit how many bucks we take. That's how we can kill 2 1/2s and still have a few mature bucks. On average, out of 40-odd bucks, we'll kill 3-4 a year. This year, it was 65 bucks, of which we killed 5.
I suspect as long as he's alive he will visit your property but it's hard to say how often or for how long or when. Every property and every buck is so different. But given the ample food and cover on your place I think you'll be seeing him around. The one thing I'd worry most about but we hardly talk about is an older, heavier bodied buck chasing him off.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Almost every scrape on my property is under a Beech tree! They love the low-hanging branches of a Beech, and I think the fact Beeches hold their leaves, hence holds more scent. I've watched does, and especially fawns, come and eat the dead leaves off a Beech licking branch, especially if a buck has just worked it.Interesting that his scrape is under a Beech tree.
DeerCamp
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What blows my mind about this is that I have killed 5 deer on a completely unmanaged 19 acre parcel with too much hunting pressure that are all 125" plus. These would apparently make the top 10 for your place, which I am confident is managed extremely well.
All in the last 10 years and not counting bucks from other properties.
Maybe I should complain less and count blessings more.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Oh, we HAVE much bigger bucks, just never see and kill them! We have at least one 140+ buck every year, and a 150+ about every other year. We just don't kill them!
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
With a drop! man what potential that deer has.
I cry about it every year. I hunt a couple farms that are ideal and indeed most generally kill at least one mature buck every year, but none have made it to 125". Biggest oldest bucks on the properties with very minimal pressure but they're just not big.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
How much property are you managing?I can accept that!
And we're pretty much done hunting for the year. Everybody got a buck and we try not to be too greedy, so we limit how many bucks we take. That's how we can kill 2 1/2s and still have a few mature bucks. On average, out of 40-odd bucks, we'll kill 3-4 a year. This year, it was 65 bucks, of which we killed 5.
**Edited to fix the stupid auto correct.**
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BSK
Well-Known Member
This is my personal property of 500 acres.
