I've seen anywhere from 4 to 2 bucks hanging out in the yard pretty regularly over the last 2 weeks. All with nice looking racks. They look young and have velvet on the antler. I haven't been able to get a decent picture of them yet. I hope this is a good sign for the upcoming hunting season!
They will split up soon. They run in bachelor groups in the summer. Sounds like their core area is nearby. Scout now, hang a stand or 2, and hope they don't travel too far during their search for the ladies.
Can't hunt in my yard, an acre, due to stupid twp rules. I thought about it but the last thing I need is a deer with an arrow through it running onto a neighbor's property. Too many bleeding hearts in this area.
I don't think I could live in an area like that! The first year I moved into my current I saw a doe with two 1.5 year olds in my yard eating crap apples every day when I'd get home from work and get the mail. It was about the time I decided to carry a cross-bow in my truck (it was bow season) that they stopped coming around! But before that they'd sit and munch 25 yards away from my while I was walking from my truck to the mailbox.
Saw six on Saturday running across a hayfield. The leader might be something this year. The rest were small.
The bucks here typically begin to lose velvet about the first week into September. After mid September it is rare to see one with velvet but it does happen occasionally. The growing season is almost done now because soon they will begin the hardening process. Then they will rub. The earliest we've seen rubs has been around September 4 but usually don't see them until after the 6th or 7th.
This is one I'd like to get but not sure he is still around. That is my blind in the background. This picture was taken while I was away from home a couple years ago.
I guess you don't see my smiling face in the blind!!? You can see him on my wall. Looks like an older fella, 4 or so in that photo. Would not be surprised if he is still on the hoof, but too smart to be seen in the daylight.
You nailed it myway....they get old and they lose their stupid except for a few days a year when they are thinking with .....um........the wrong head. If that pic is 2 years old here's what I think. He's 4.5 minimum in that pic. He'd be 6.5 this fall. If he's alive, I'd looooooooove to see that thing today.
I'd love to see him again too!!! Especially at the time that picture was taken. As you can see, he was moving in daylight. Earlier in the season I had dumped a trailer load of apples right near that spot but they were mostly gone by then. I expect he was following doe scent to get there. The year before I saw one just about 60 yards ahead of where he is but could not get a shot. Then he turned around and went back in thicker stuff while I cried. Never saw him again.
I had 10 in my yard at the same time this year. I thought that was a fair number and then a few more joined from the other side of the house. I've got one side with no windows so there may have been more. For some reason they love the grass over the septic drain field; they loved it even before the septic was installed, so it isn't the free nitrogen fertilizer. Anyway, that's on the blind side so I don't know how many may have been there. The good news is two windows in the barn loft just happen to overlook the drain field!
