Dardys, can you please post up some of your trailcam pics of the 18" wide 4 points?  I would be very interested in seeing them.
 
Thanks.

Eyes I'll stand corrected but didn't DarDys say the batteries failed in his field cam so he didn't get any recent pictures or was that another thread?

I have seen some of his pics in the past thou and they're quite nice..🤗

eyesandgillz
Dardys, can you please post up some of your trailcam pics of the 18" wide 4 points?  I would be very interested in seeing them.
 
Thanks.

Eyes,

With all the posts on this subject, there may have been some confusion. I have (or should I write “had” because I don’t bother keeping photos of deer I’m not interested in shooting) trail cam photos of recent 4-points that have been around for 3 years (that’s as long as I have had cameras up). None of them are the 18” wide one. Sorry. The biggest one is probably 12-14 wide and doesn’t start curving until well above the ears.

As for the 18” wide one, I physically saw it 20 years or so ago (this property belonged to my wife’s grandfather then) at a distance of about 10 yards while training dogs. I could not believe it was only a 4-point, but we had a stare down at that distance for more than a minute. He had been bedded in some waist high warm season grasses and only stood up when I got that close. I’m sure he would have remained there if he didn’t get pinned between the dogs and myself.

One would be amazed at how often deer do this — bed and stay in what we think are open fields. I’ve bounced numerous bucks, some real monsters, while hunting or guiding for pheasants.

Deer hunting a pheasant preserve I guided on from a ground blind, I watched, all day long (dawn to dark), a group of 15-20 deer doing just this in the pheasant hunting cover. They were bedded on a hillside about 400 yards away.

I knew there was more than one deer there because about every half hour or so, the deer bedded just below the apex of the hill where it had the best view would get up and move down into a dip in the terrain and another deer would replace it on sentry duty.

This continued until there was a shot on the neighboring property and 10 minutes later, a buck on the run from that direction crashed through the area where the deer were bedded. It kept going in the direction it was headed, but then, and only then, did the whole herd show itself by scattering in all directions like pool balls on a break.

This has been an interesting thread ... I have hunted the same area now for 30 years , it was my aunt and uncles property now my Cuz . It’s about 60 acres With adjoining about 100 acre farm . I started hunting this land when my son started hunting at 13 he will be 43 in Dec. I have used the same 2 tree stands and 2 ground shanty’s . I have one stand covering crabapple trees in corner of one field and one shanty covering other end of the field. The other shanty and stand are deeper into a thicket just off another field.. I guess what I’m saying is we have taken very nice bucks over the years a few which are on my walls and other years nothing but as us old timers call scrubs ... yes at 68 I’m an old timer .... and slowing down some but still love be out in the woods. This year nothing to brag about on my camera so far ., last year there was a awesome 8 point out there but only saw him on camera at night never while I was hunting passed a few smaller bucks up because I wanted one more nice wall hanger but didn’t happen settled for a doe ... didn’t hear of anybody getting him but he seems to be gone So good luck out there I’ll probably wait another week or so to hit it ... love the bow season anymore ..got a nice 8pt couple years ago with Xbow and a few doe with compound ... I had good years and bad years but have always enjoyed being out there.

pssstt Mopars..... can I have your groundblind when you're done with it. Now that's the kinda huntin I'm talkin' bout.

Sweet. 🤗

lol BTDT ... well the one shanty or groundblind as you call it it made out of railroad ties and has a wood stove in it ... but sure it’s yours when I’m done .... the other one down in thicket is 15 ft in the air and also has a little propane Heater in it also... if I get lucky not much dragging anymore I can drive right down to them ...

I want the one made of railroad ties.... that thing is super cool and I bet if those walls could talk, we'd hear some dam good "hunting" stories.

Good luck this season Steve and successful or not, I'm all ears when it comes to real "hunting" stories.


BTW I'm sitting in Sioux Falls SD, at this writing, and it's piszing like a cow raining on a flat rock. What..... wait, stupid white line fever.😩

I am amazed at the size of Bucks being shot in recent years in the areas of Venango and Clarion Counties that I hunt. the group of about 10 guys I hunt with shot 6 bucks last season 8 pts and better none of which were less than 15" spread. Only one going into the 20" width but most 17-18" spreads. Some real nice bucks shot by others. Trail cam photos are coming in with some monsters for this year.
  I am not advocating that AR is the only factor leading to this as posted ground, less hunters, permanent stands, warmer boots, and lazy hunters are all factors. I am 68 years old and in Buck rifle season my wife hardly sees me. I hunt some posted ground that is hunted by quite a few others and public land. One property I own surrounded by public land gave up three good bucks all 17" and better. One stand on that property a friend hunted every day of rifle season and shot the 23 buck he saw on last day. It was a dandy buck. He was perched within 20 feet of Game lands. Another hunter stopped after hours and said he saw that buck earlier in the day but didn't get a shot.
  I hunt hard and so do most of my group although some are first day and weekend hunters. This year in rifle season I only saw 5 bucks and shot the 5th a 17 inch 10 pt on first Saturday. Having the whole season to hunt I have no problem shooting a buck every year. I almost always pass on a legal buck first day and another first Saturday. One first day I watched 4 bucks feed for 30 minutes first morning with three legal.
   Most guys hunt the same stands and have 2 hr lunch ( great time of day to kill buck). I have killed lots of good bucks at lunch time. All dem hunters heading back for lunch then heading back to their stands. All the permanent stands around with heaters the deer are not getting pushed around like years ago. And as all us older nimrods will remember boots have come a long way. On a 20deg day you couldn't  sit for longer than a couple of hrs. That kept those deer on their feet.
  

Sat with my son(14yr old) this am, had a great start to the season. Saw 8 does, about a 16 inch 8 pt that stayed out about 50 yds, and then at 8:15 a 3 pt that made the mistake of coming to within 12 yds of our stand. He connected with a quartering away heart shot, 60 yd recovery. While waiting in the stand a 5 pt came down the same trail as the 3 pt.

Buddy set up about 800 yds away saw 7 doe. Was at the processor at about one. He said it was none stop all morning. There were 6 bucks hung or waiting to be that we could see, all were nice bucks in the 17-20 inch spread range. One was a bruiser 10 pt.

Congrats to your Son , Moses love seeing the Kids filling tags and you getting to share the special moment with him. My grandson was out this a.m. but I haven’t heard anything from him yet and of course he’s 23 . I need to put a little bit more fish in my freezer so it’ll probably be another week or so before I start hitting it, congrats again to your son and good luck to you.