The best of Summer...so far

Here is a little compilation of what the cams have been seeing so far this Summer.  We still have two bigguns' that have yet to pose for the camera. 

Don't mind the date on the original Cudde as I have been experiencing some technical difficulties with setting the time/date on it.

I'am impressed

Banner stuff

Nice

ORIGINAL: Dr. Trout

Yep could be a banner year...

Is this anywhere close to me ???

Thanks for sharing..

I hope you get some pics after the velvet is gone !!!

 
Eyeing up one of those spotted ones aren't you, after all you don't hunt bucks according to your posts.
 
Good luck harvesting one of those big ones Esox. 

Eyeing up one of those spotted ones aren't you, after all you don't hunt bucks according to your posts

Essox.. Is there a food plot within 1,000 yards maybe Dars would be interested

Essox..

send me the last two photos of that buck and I'll get them to Kip Adams of the QDMA..
He's pretty good at estmating age of buck from photos... he and a couple others do it in the QDMA magazine they put out every issue...


doctrout@windstream.net

Just my guess but he doesn't look much over 2 1/2.
Skinny neck, no grey on the face, no sag to the belly, pecker still stickin out in Aug.
But I am used to looking at farm land deer with plenty of food.

ORIGINAL: bingsbaits

Just my guess but he doesn't look much over 2 1/2.
Skinny neck, no grey on the face, no sag to the belly, pecker still stickin out in Aug.
But I am used to looking at farm land deer with plenty of food.

Not sure exactly where Esox hunts down here, but in the areas of northern & southern Allegheny CO. that I hunt, the deer are essentially farm land deer with lots of access to backyard gardens, fruit trees and tasty landscaping to supplement their corn and soybean intake. Tons of acorns, browse and edge habitat gets them through the winter when the crops are gone.

Essox-
 A lot may depend on the gene pool where you are seeing that Buck. Sometimes different places have Deer that are very different with antler growth. Have hunted where all the racks are skinny but long and places where they all seem to be thick and shorter.
  Aging is tough when just looking at the deer- Take a look a few months back at that deer that turned out to be (as I recall ) 10 or older. His face kinda told the story but his rack from any distance wasnt all that big- He was on the downslope and from yards off cold easily have been mistaken for a much younger animal.
  Other photos make it seem like you have typical average growth in your area as at lest one of those deer was smaller racked but much heavier ( even with the fuzz). My guess would be no less than two and three quarters (agree with the early fawning on him) but most likely three and a half- Say this cause his main beams are  very low compared to the more common higher beams on younger deer.

That Summer hair IMHO always makes them look scrawny-like to see him with Winter fur and a rut swollen neck- will be a different animal.
  See what you mean bout your area bucks being thicker and higher with those other photos- thats was the comparison I was making with this guy.

ORIGINAL: retired guy

Essox-
A lot may depend on the gene pool where you are seeing that Buck. Sometimes different places have Deer that are very different with antler growth. Have hunted where all the racks are skinny but long and places where they all seem to be thick and shorter.
Aging is tough when just looking at the deer- Take a look a few months back at that deer that turned out to be (as I recall ) 10 or older. His face kinda told the story but his rack from any distance wasnt all that big- He was on the downslope and from yards off cold easily have been mistaken for a much younger animal.
Other photos make it seem like you have typical average growth in your area as at lest one of those deer was smaller racked but much heavier ( even with the fuzz). My guess would be no less than two and three quarters (agree with the early fawning on him) but most likely three and a half- Say this cause his main beams are  very low compared to the more common higher beams on younger deer.

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Interesting comment about the height of the antlers RG. One the the back yard bucks from 2B last year. Any guesses on age ? Anyone ?

OA---WOW---GREAT Deer at any age.
   The Deer I usually see here in CT are bout 3 1/2   plus when I see a low wide rack of 8 or more with good tines.  Took a 6 1/2  8 pt a few years ago with horns similar to the first picture but with  shorter tines. Have a 9 pt 5 1/2 bout the same as the second photo and some other 4 1/2 and 5 1/2yr olds that are smaller but were the best in the areas I had to hunt.
     Got some nice guys too and have always had trouble aging them before the shot. Some Deer are simply big bodied and some are not.
    Sometimes your scouting says this is all your gonna get here -so be it.
When I see decent mass- and low wide horns I generally think-mature deer. I dont call 2 1/2 mature as yet. If those are only 2 1/2 Im commin out there to hunt.
     Deer like those dont generally get much bigger here in the East. So their age could be anyplace from 3 1/2 to a few years older. Again thats based on the type of Deer I hunt here at home.
      Thats one of the problems with hunting different areas-sometimes ya dont know what is GOOD and what isnt in that place. Hunted in the Catskills for a while and always passed 'young ones' then took a big bodied long spike once and the check in folks told me it was 3 1/2.--- Go figure----
    Gonna call #1 at bout 4 1/2  possibly plus a year or two and #2 at 3 1/2 to 4 1/2. #1 is certainly much wider than his ears and #2 is barely wider but  both look quite  big bodied too so I made em a bit older than a skinny but still prime. Then of course there is always the 'ground shrinkage' issue with the horns.

Thanks again Doc.  I am anxious to hear what he thinks.


OA, I would venture a guess that #1 is 4.5+ and #2 is 3.5.  Either way they are both awesome looking bucks!

     OA- Willing to bet you KNOW the ages of both Deer shown cause of harvest or having watched them grow -dont keep us in suspense if ya have the info.- am very interested in the herd quality in your area of PA.
    On the subject of genetics- - hunted a place for years where the Bucks had nice mass and good tines and stocky bodies. The horns never seemed to get much past 16 or 18 wide though. Always did tons of preseason scouting and generally knew what was the best in the area and they were usually  well within those guidelines even when shooting Deer well over 2 1/2 pretty commonly there- was a GREAT spot that is now a commercial development.
   A Cousins Farm bout 40 miles away had 3 1/2 year olds with much bigger wider racks by far but the weight was rarely like my place. I commonly shot mature bucks with a 16 to 18 spreads that weighed in between 150 and 190 (on a scale-gutted)- my cousins farm area generally had mature Deer bout 135/145
  Always amazed at the gene pool thing- makes it interesting - no different than people -take a look -some families are short and stocky and others are tall and lean.