Texas Hill Country Buck
- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated Dec 17, 2008 at 3:51 pm by
.
-
Posts
-
Here are a few picks from this past weekend. This buck frequents the greenbelt in the subdivision behind my in law’s house. Even though there are houses around, they have lots of undeveloped land with a nice deer heard and some large bucks. It is still difficult to get close enough to get a good picture, and you have to hide and use some stealth. But nothing compared to what John B. has to go through in all that snow out in the wilds of Canada!
Those are incredible shots. How close were you when you took them?
Not near as impressive as John’s, but I had recent encounter out on my grandparent’s place in central Texas. My dad and I were leaving the blind when we spotted what looked like a bush in the field to our left. We stopped to investigate and I had my D40x with me:
I’m not much of a deer hunter, but I’d heard the larger ones will bed down in the open field in heavy grass to keep an eye on their surroundings. Sure enough, he jumped up and took off after a couple of minutes:
(My apologies for the quality – had to crop them down, and I’m not in the same league as the talent I’ve seen on this board.)
After seeing the photos (and getting the business from my grandfather), my pops was re-evaluating why he didn’t take the shot.
We saw this one the next day – I hope he makes it until next year:
On a side note, I really enjoy all the shots on this site. I feel like I’ve learned quite a bit. Thanks guys.
Wes
Wes….what you guys lack in trout water….you make up for in quality deer habitat.
Wes and John….Thanks for sharing.
nice guys 🙂
Trust me. If you start “hunting” elusive game like WTs with your camera it is seriously addicting. The “challenge” is you will is rather large. There are alot of days I’ve come home with nothing, there are alot of days I see nice Bucks but cant get close enough..either the winds wrong, or theres no cover, or theres cover but too much dead fall and Im crackinling and popping worse than rice krispies.
But on those days some luck and perserverance pay off, its an incredible rush…no mater how good or not they turn out.
Wes…can I come visit 🙂
Seriously, Im so hooked after this fall I’m thinking about hiring an outfitter in Kansas or Iowa next fall…Wts show after WT show after WT show those tow states have “alot” of Big bucks.Wes –
I was using my 75-300mm f/4 – 5.6, which on my 1.6x crop sensor body makes it more like a 120mm – 480mm. These pictures were all at 480mm and f5.6, ISO 200. Anyway, I was hiding behind a brick column on the back porch of the house, and using the column as a tripod to steady the lens. I’m going to have to guess that it was around 20 – 25 yards away. There is another huge 8 point that has thick antlers that I am waiting to see again. In the spring, it is fun to hunt for thier sheds. I found the left shed of the buck pictured last spring. He is a 10 point, although you may not be able to see it due to the angles in some of the pictures.
The buck you jumped in the field is really nice….nice mass in his antlers and looks like a 12 point?! The buck at the feeder is nice too.
As someone who’s hunted in Maine/NH all his life, I just can’t get over the size of the racks on these deer you guys are seeing.
I’ve shot forkhorns that dressed out at 170, while some of these racked bucks you guys are posting don’t look like they’re much over 130-140.
Just amazing how different the same species can be within its range.
The buck I posted pictures of is probably a 5 year old deer. This is the third fall I have seen him, and he had big antlers back then. He has the sway back, “cow hips”, pot belly, and Roman nose of a mature deer, but the bodies do not tend to get as big as northern deer here in Central Texas (I suspect this due to the fact that it is mostly scrubby ranchland, not farms with bean/cornfields or lush forest, etc.) He looks a lot more sleek and fat this year….last winter he was looking scrawny and old and I was wondering if I would see him again this year. On some managed hunting ranches in South Texas they do get large bodies, but they have all the food and protein they need there.
CORRECTION: Actually, I was just looking over the photo from last year vs. this year, and it may not be the same deer (as far as I know, kickers don’t move around drasticaly from year to year, right?)….very close and definitely the same genes, but there also appear to be other differences in the way the tines are structured. Both have the crab pincer on the front left antler as you look at the deer, but the little kicker on right G2 is different.
On the buck from last year, there is a kicker on the top of the right G2, but on the pictures I posted above from this year (and others I did not post), that kicker is not there. Instead, it has a small kicker pointing backwards at the base of the G2 and main beam (which you can’t see in the photos I posted above). Whether it is the same deer or not, this year’s deer appears to be about 5 1/2 – 6 1/2?
Last year:
This year:
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.