Here's my quandary.

[BIKER13]

Keep thinking and some 14 year old will kill him with a 22 rifle in N Fulton county

 

[Bear44]

Keep thinking and some 14 year old will kill him with a 22 rifle in N Fulton county

You're not helping. LOL!

 

[Bear44]

If you REALLY want to see that big buck again during the season and have him present an easy shot, just go ahead and fill your 2 buck tags early.

That is a fundamental truth of the Cosmos.

 

[Comanche]

First world problems.

 

[Bear44]

First world problems.

LOL! No doubt! Before I got this property I would have been all over them, but now I'm trying to be very selective. I'm about 95% sure I'm going to let any of them on the trail cam walk this year.

 

[DinkyDau]

Another possibility is that daddy is here, but in sharp decline.
View attachment 1748334
This guy looks like he might be really old. You can't see it in this pic, but there seems to be a lot of grey on his muzzle. The thing is, if he is very old I would expect the antler main beams to be much closer to horizontal. I have always heard that as they get older the antlers flatten out, or is that just an old wive's tale?

Back has no sway, belly has no sag and not that much gray..Looks to be 3-3 1/2

 

[Comanche]

LOL! No doubt! Before I got this property I would have been all over them, but now I'm trying to be very selective. I'm about 95% sure I'm going to let any of them on the trail cam walk this year.

Yeah man I hear that!
It’s a good problem to have knowing you can be selective over which nicely antlered bucks you should harvest for the season.
I’m sure like many of us hunters you have been lucky just to get your eyes on just one nice buck during hunting season let alone actually get a shot off at one.
I hope you have a stellar deer season this year as it looks like it’s ramping up to be a good one for you if those big boys stick around.
They should if you lay down some deer candy for them.

I’d like to keep my batchelor groups around but it seems that all the nice bucks I saw in batchelor groups never showed their faces during hunting season for me.
I just don’t have it in me to lay out corn feeders but I’m not opposed to some treats.

Regardless Ive seen some of the best bucks cruising on public land deep in the mountains so that’s where I like to hunt the most.....on their turf plus it’s just wonderful being deep in the woods, up a tree with Mother Nature and all her beauty, no road noise or dogs barking.
Even if I don’t see a deer all day it’s the only place I truly feel at home.

 

[24on48hunting]

Their father, if alive, is probably laid up somewhere and only moves at night. Deer are mostly nocturnal, year round, and especially the mature deer. That's why rut is such a good opportunity when timed right. The mature animals can be caught slipping in the day.

Yep. That big boy may have a certain core area that he uses in the Spring/Summer and then moves on elsewhere when his antlers harden.
I had a really mature 8 point on camera every summer for a few years that was using my inlaw’s land during the Summer. Once his antlers hardened he moved off, vanishing until the next Spring.

 

[Comanche]

Yep. That big boy may have a certain core area that he uses in the Spring/Summer and then moves on elsewhere when his antlers harden.
I had a really mature 8 point on camera every summer for a few years that was using my inlaw’s land during the Summer. Once his antlers hardened he moved off, vanishing until the next Spring.

Same here many times over.

 

[Bear44]

Yep. That big boy may have a certain core area that he uses in the Spring/Summer and then moves on elsewhere when his antlers harden.
I had a really mature 8 point on camera every summer for a few years that was using my inlaw’s land during the Summer. Once his antlers hardened he moved off, vanishing until the next Spring.

I think that giant I saw last Feb is still in the general area, just not my area. I'm hoping that when the rut gets going he's going to travel a lot more and show up here. One concern I have is that, though I'm covered up with buck, there seems to be very few does using my area. You know what they say about finding the bucks during the rut. Find the does.