Some TRULY awesome deer. But not because of score, for all will PALE in comparison to their equal aged mid-western counterpart cousins. But the skill it takes to kill one of these mature bucks it where the rubber meets the road.
And there are PLENTY of these deer scattered ALL OVER Tennessee RIGHT NOW.
EVEN with a THREE BUCK LIMIT!!!
But as BSK and others have eluded to, when they hit 4.5, hunting them successfully is an ENTIRELY different matter for MOST hunters.
I have a couple of bucks I have been after for a couple years. My son saw one of them at 45 yards last season but that is a stretch for us with our bows, in hardwoods.
I have a good idea on him in early season, we will see.
Another buck is a spindly racked non-typical I have video of from 3 years runnin. I passed him two different times. If he shows up this year, I won't pass. But it is public land so we'll see.
THe best bucks I have killed (to me) are old, public land bucks. But the most impressive racks are 4.5 and younger public land mid-western bucks. And all but 1 of these is 3.5 or younger.
(the only exception is a huge 5.5 year old Tennessee Public Land buck a coon hunter told me about in '09)
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