We had seen this old buck a few times and she finally decided to take him. 16½" inside spread 8 point, but unusually short tines.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0279%7E0.JPG)
Pat's 8 point.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0289%7E0.JPG)
A few of her antlers from the last couple of years.
Nice buck! Looks like she's gotten some nice ones over the years.
Heck of a nice buck MM. 8)
Nice!
good job! 8)
Cant beat that
Very nice! and a good hunter.
Mrs. Magicman is no greenhorn! Those are nice bucks, and she takes a good picture after it's over as well ;)
Yes she does! I'm not overly fond of deer meat, but around here the butchers make these things that taste just like slim jims, and they are wonderful. Deer bologna is good, too. Are you going to do up something like that with your meat?
Our Daughter and SIL got it. They will steak and roast the loins, jerky some, and grind the rest. With three children, it won't last long.
I used to process several deer a year, but no more. Venison was really our mainstay with meat when we had three teenagers at home. There are several pictures of antlers in my Gallery. That antler ball is not sheds. I just had to figure out a way of keeping them so I sawed them apart and started wiring them together.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0666%7E0.JPG)
That is quite a collection of Antlers.
Mrs. MM appears to be a great hunter. :)
Nice deer harvest by the Mrs. :)
I also notice a lifetime supply of antlers hanging in that shed if a fella was interested in turning a lathe. Cough! ;D :D :D
Magic you should cut that old sawmill up for knife blades, deer antler handles, and go in business. No overhead. Overnight millionaire. No really that is pretty danG neat
You could make Metalspinner happy with those antlers :).
Way to go Mrs MM!
Now tell the truth, did she say "your not taking a picture of me without at least letting me comb my hair".
:D :D I've heard that before. Thankfully in this case, we are not required to wear a hat.
Our antler size has increased greatly since the mid 90's when we decided to quit shooting small bucks. We went a couple of years without even taking a buck. Does only. We can legally take 3 bucks per year and could easily do so, but we try to limit ourselves to only one.
I have about 200 acres on my South end that is off limits to hunting. That provides a "sanctuary" for the deer.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/pluslease2%5B1%5D.JPG)
The area inside of the red and below the brown spot in the center is the "sanctuary".
Good plan!
Your plan looks like it's working pretty well :)
Can't help think that those deer are trotting and bounding from one woodlot to the other outside the "sanctuary". But, maybe many of your neighbors have the same philosophy of management. :)
You are absolutely right. They are not fenced in, and can move freely about. My neighbors to the West have been on a "Big Buck" program for years. The North neighbor is trying to duplicate my efforts.
Sure, some get shot that we pass up, but some make it. If we shoot it, it doesn't make it. The increased antler size proves that our efforts are worthwhile.
You can see the dates on some of these. This represents my "one buck per year" for 12 years, plus a few of Pat's.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0663.JPG)
The small six point on the far left is my first buck.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0664%7E0.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0665%7E0.JPG)
Every buck was at least 3½ years old. The oldest was 7½. My signature picture buck was 3½ and was taken in 2007.
Do you plant anything for them in that area?
Around here, since we have so few deer, the hunters believe that taking big bucks only just leaves the runt male deer. I couldn't tell you that is a result, I don't hunt and I still see nice buck deer once in awhile, but most are nocturnal before they come into fields or near roads. I see a lot of spike horns to. So that being said, I can't rubber stamp the hunter's claim. I do know that trophy deer hunting in my grandfather's day did not cause the herd to decline or degrade all them years. Removing winter habitat sure did, big time. ::) We have buck only hunting here and special doe tags in areas with more deer. Some areas have no deer hunting at all. The lakeside deer trails are vanishing and you couldn't walk in them now anyway. The timber was left along there and mostly falls down when everything is cut up to within 100-150 feet of a lake or brook.
Raider Bill, those brown spots on the map and a few more are planted with Oats and Wheat in the Fall. Some Rye Grass in the more wooded areas. Crop failure this year due to Fall army worms. It was just so hot and dry.
I own inside of the red and lease the yellow.
SD, you are very correct. Trophy hunting only is bad management. I really didn't realize that this thread was going there, but that's fine. I'm happy to discuss it. Yes, we take out several "management" bucks each year. Stuff that just isn't right. Here are some examples:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0551.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0541.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0592.JPG)
In this last picture, the two on the left belong to one deer, and the two on the right belong to another. All of these deer clearly needed to be removed from the herd.
Aside from the racks what are wrong with those bucks?
Is a genetic trait that passes on?
On my property I'm trying to get the proper feed planted giving them something else to eat besides whatever it is they eat in the wild around there.
I planted a few acres of fescue grass and some clover so far. bought the wheat seed but didn't get it down in time.
I guess genetics but then I'm not a Biologist. I assume that they were brothers. The right antler was messed up on one and the left on the other. I had tried to get them the year before when they were spikes. They were messed up then.
Congratulations to your lady on the nice buck! Speaking of trophy bucks, I've found that large bucks will seek out certain isolated areas each year. Those bucks harvested are most always replaced with another big buck. Why, I do not understand. One conservation agent also notice this particular area always held a big buck, "must be some pretty does in there too," he said!
We've just returned from Mississippi, started counting dead deer on I-55 l[as well as road-kill dogs] knew we were missing several not visible so, we just began counting circling buzzards. :D
If you so read this far Magic man, I do take interest in types of shrubs and other fauna along the fields and hiways, we noticed one particular shrub more common south of Grenada, Ms. to Jackson; description... shrub up six to ten feet or so, a rounded top, pea green small willow-like leaves[ I think] and some specimens seemed to have white blooms or fuzz in the tops, an attractive species but most seen were along the fences or in un-managed fields; know what it is?
Might be the dreaded chinese tallow.
Nope, not tallow and I have it also. If the saw jobs will hold off I'll be back at the Cabin next week and will take a picture for someone to identify. Yes, it shows up in un-managed fields and that cotton like fuzz will clog the tractor's radiator. :-\
Is it woody? I was also thinking milkweed if it's a weed.
Donk, the stem (or trunk) will get to 2"-4", so I wouldn't classify it as a weed. I really need to actually take a picture of one to classify it.
I hate to say it, but without a picture and relying on memory, which is a very scary thing, I'm thinking Eastern Baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia L.).
After I take a picture, I'll either verify this or eat my words. ;D
(Did I say that I needed a picture ??? )
Can't imagine a bush with fuzzy fruit. ;D
Yes, it sounds like Baccharis. Also called sea myrtle. It is the only arborescent species in the sunflower family (Compositae). It has a dandelion-like fluff. It is kin to dandelion since both are in the same family.
That's what I was thinking of to, something in the aster family. We have a tall white lettuce here that has a bigger head than a dandelion, grows 5 feet tall and big ball of fluff for fruit.
I thought Baccaris was a salt marsh shrub. You guys farming salt flats? ;)
It is all over the place in the Coastal Plain.
Yep, that looks like what we saw, another name is 'Groundsel tree' common in salt marshes. :P
The beach line has changed over the millenia, and many many ago, the beach line came through Columbia, SC to Augusta, GA to Macon, GA to Columbus, GA to Montgomery, AL, etc. on to Texas. The groundsel trees are remnants from that old habitat from the late Cretaceous Period.