It's crunch time!

[SoonerMedic]

So, with many states being close to opening day, what do you do to prepare other than the obvious?

My tree stand will be in on the 8th or so, and I'm going to be setting it up at my folks' place to practice shooting from the air. I'm getting my gear gathered up and feeding regularly and getting minerals out. Scouting. Getting my bow tuned and getting ready to buy a new set of arrows. What else do you guys do to prepare for opening day?

These two guys are on my radar, but they will be a last resort as I want to let the bigger of the two walk so that I can work on getting him trophy worthy for next season. Given he doesn't walk the wrong lane this coming season!

 

[BigBore44]

Those deer are young. Let them both walk. Besides, once the rut starts, you have no idea what might come walking through the property. Here's two that I got a couple years ago on camera. On public land. I let both of them walk. I didn't want to. But I wanted to get those genetics into the population.

 

[SoonerMedic]

Those deer are young. Let them both walk. Besides, once the rut starts, you have no idea what might come walking through the property. Here's two that I got a couple years ago on camera. On public land. I let both of them walk. I didn't want to. But I wanted to get those genetics into the population.

The ONLY reason I would take the one that's high and tight is to take his genetics out of the loop. I don't know that he will be able to develop a desirable rack, even with another couple years on him. Plus, he's running around with that other young one who is obviously more broad and seemingly more genetically desirable. Plus, he's young and will probably be more tasty.

 

[SoonerMedic]

Those deer are young. Let them both walk. Besides, once the rut starts, you have no idea what might come walking through the property. Here's two that I got a couple years ago on camera. On public land. I let both of them walk. I didn't want to. But I wanted to get those genetics into the population.

Also, what WMA was this?? The buck in the background seemed like he will make for a nice take this coming season! They both looked like they were 8 points, not 6?

 

[BigBore44]

It wasn't designated WMA. It was just some public land behind some dealerships. It's only about 200 acres. They're both mainfraim 8's. Probably brothers. Across the highway is a big farm. Lots of beans and corn. They travel back and forth. There are some GREAT genetics on this property. The young deer are dumb and get shot. But the big boys are almost completely nocturnal. And they get in the thickest,nastiest stuff you can imagine. They usuallly don't run when you get close. It's like they know they can't be seen.

But back on topic. Tall doesn't mean bad genetics. I've seen some tall narrows that I wish I could have gotten a shot on. Really unique. To me it's all about mass not width.

 

[SoonerMedic]

But back on topic. Tall doesn't mean bad genetics. I've seen some tall narrows that I wish I could have gotten a shot on. Really unique. To me it's all about mass not width.

True. I think seeing them after they shed their velvet will tell much more about them. As well as seeing how much bulk they put on in the next 2-3 months.

 

[Patocazador]

First year spikes can turn into trophy bucks if they live long enough. However, it is folly to try to control genetics unless you have several thousand acres tied up and good genetics to begin with.
We tried it with an unfenced 6000 acre lease for 15 years and the bucks all topped out at 140 gross with very few 10 pointers.

 

[BigBore44]

True. I think seeing them after they shed their velvet will tell much more about them. As well as seeing how much bulk they put on in the next 2-3 months.

Only problem is they aren't really only enough to reach "critical mass" yet. They need to be at least 4 unless they are farm raised before they really show their older potential.

 

[SoonerMedic]

Only problem is they aren't really only enough to reach "critical mass" yet. They need to be at least 4 unless they are farm raised before they really show their older potential.

Fair enough. They aren't farm raised for sure! I just hope they're old and wise enough to last two more seasons. Time will definitely tell!

 

[BigBore44]

The problem is most bucks never reach their potential because most (not all) hunters see horns and shoot. And I admit, I was once one of those hunters. But I hunted meat, not horns. If I can find them, I've got some pics of deer taken off public land in northeast Oklahoma that reached that potential and are true trophies in almost anyone's book except maybe the Lakosky's or Kisky's from Iowa, who raise their deer. It will take me a day or two if I can find them.

Oklahoma is without a doubt the biggest sleeper state for big bucks there is. And we have some crazy genetics. Up to and including mooselike palmation. I see guys on tv hunting Oklahoma (western usually) and they're tickled pink to shoot a 130" deer. And even those are usually on ranches. But I'm talking about deer from the 160'-190's. On public land. No guides. No high fence. No imported genetics. There's a guy about 15 miles from my house that has a wall full of bucks he's killed off his pasture. Not one deer is under 140". And they range from 140"-187". He actually hunts out of an old abandoned house that sits on his property. The pasture is surrounded on 3 sides by Corp land. The bucks get pushed out by all the hunters flooding into the bottoms before daylight. And he just sits in his chair with his thermos of coffe and waits for legal shooting time.

But like I said, let those guys walk. Save them for late in the season. At least till after the rut (that's actually mid-late February up here) Make some mock scrapes on a few fence rows and put out a couple cameras. I bet you'll see some bucks truly worthy of being on your "Radar".

 

[Captcurt]

So, with many states being close to opening day, what do you do to prepare other than the obvious?

My tree stand will be in on the 8th or so, and I'm going to be setting it up at my folks' place to practice shooting from the air. I'm getting my gear gathered up and feeding regularly and getting minerals out. Scouting. Getting my bow tuned and getting ready to buy a new set of arrows. What else do you guys do to prepare for opening day?

These two guys are on my radar, but they will be a last resort as I want to let the bigger of the two walk so that I can work on getting him trophy worthy for next season. Given he doesn't walk the wrong lane this coming season!

Unless you have a large area (we're talking 1000 acres or more) with total control of the access, you will find it almost impossible to manage for trophies. With a buck's home range covering over a mile you can see that your next years trophy may cross over onto land that is not managed. Resulting in a well fed, decent deer for someone else. We tried to manage our property of 400 acres. Didn't work. We had food plot, feeders and mineral licks out year around. Passed up anything less than 8 pts as wide as their ears and in three years we had no change. Our neighbors were doing pretty good though.