A good opening day.

[dooleysm]

I've never seen a deer with a rack like that, but I'd call it a spike if I ever did see one. Now I don't claim to be an expert on deer either, but I've done my share of hunting.

Does Indiana have a reputation for big deer? I don't know one way or the other, all I know is we have a TON of them, at least around me. You can't go out to the mailbox without getting run over by them. I didn't go hunting last year, but my dad and a buddy of mine killed 4 deer at our place in the span of about 5 total hours of hunting.

 

[George2615]

Nice pics George. Saturday was opening day here in northern NY (muzzleloader). I Didn't see a thing all day saturday but Sunday morning I was only in the woods 2 hours when this guy wandered into range. Of course we used the tractor to fetch him. I'm glad I have a tractor so I don't have to drag or lift them anymore. Now I have to wait till this saturday for rifle season to open to look for his big brothers, the 8 and 10 pt that are in the same are.

 

[texasjohn]

It's a spike deer....

 

[Captinjack]

I've heard spikes or "cow horns" to be called 11 pointers. LOL

 

[N80]

It's a spike deer....

Well, around here they call them cow horns. I think 'spike' is fine but most of what we call spikes are straight up, no curve. I do like 'eleven pointer' though.

And technically my son's bigger buck was a 7 pointer. He had a normal 4 point horn on the left and a funky 3 point horn on the right. But, at the base of the left horn there is a little atypical point about an inch long. So that makes 8!

We don't kill any record book or Boone and Crocket deere around here anymore, so we're pretty liberal with the 'points'. Anything 'pointy' gets counted!

As for Indiana deer, I don't know specifically how big they are. But I know Michigan has some monsters. They don't even look like the same species as ours. A nice mature 8 pointer around here will run about 170-180 pounds. Now and again we'll see or kill one that runs near 200 but its rare. About 20 years ago Dad killed one that was 240. That's freaky big for around here. I suspect in areas where baiting is legal and/or soy beans are grown, they'd be bigger. I think of most Texas deer as being small bodied but biiiiig horned.

Our biggest issue is probably too many deer and specifically too many does. Like I say, we have no QDM rules on my place. Shoot what you want. Most of us pass up smaller bucks just because we don't feel like shooting them. We need to be shooting more does. I've got tags and there are tons of doe days, its just that most of the time I just don't feel like fooling with skinning a doe. I'm going to try to shoot a few this year.

 

[N80]

I Didn't see a thing all day saturday but Sunday morning I was only in the woods 2 hours when this guy wandered into range.

Nice one. Congrats. So far I've only been once (the big opening day) and I didn't see a thing.

I'm going to go this Thursday afternoon though. And I'm going to sit right in the same stand that Dad and my son sat in. It just so happens that its on the only acorn producing tree on the place and its near water. Almost like shooting over bait.

 

[Bill Barrett]

Great story, I hope to get out soon. Shame about your dad, he looks healthy as a horse.

 

[EastTnFarmboy]

Very nice post and pictures. Thanks for reminding us of the important things in life. How important it is to keep the right priorities and perspective.

 

[N80]

Shame about your dad, he looks healthy as a horse.

Yep, physically he's in better shape than I am.

Dad and I went this afternoon and I got this 10 pointer sitting in the same stand he and my son had so much luck in. He weighed 175 pounds. This has been quite a season already. Like I've said before, when a spring frost wipes out most of the acorns and a drought dries up everything else, if you can find one tree with acorns its better than a pile of corn.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/4473/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

 

[redlevel]

That's another good'un. I hope y'all like venison! Congratulations.

Our gun season opens saturday. I am going to try it a time or two, but I'm having trouble getting a gun to my shoulder now. I would like to thin a few does and get some meat in the freezer. My family loves the meat, and our herd needs to be thinned.