2012 Trail Cam Thread

[mnviking28]

I am fortunate enough to have access to some pretty prime ground. We have a group of us that still hunt my grandparents farm. It is around a thousand acres. I am also going on the assumption that velvet is going to make him look bigger than he is. I am guessing he is around 135" and 4 1/2 years old. We have a bunch of pictures from last year of this same deer. He made a real nice jump this year. If he was to make it to 5 1/2, hopefully he could make the same type of jump. Like I said, don't think I would be able to hold off though as he would be my second biggest buck to date.

[Bear55]

Sounds like you got the ground, he should be a stud next year.

[slimngrizzly]

Thats a nice deer. Honestly if you have 1000 acres of prime ground, id assure there are a handful that size and bigger! If they arent there now, they will be! Good luck!

[mnviking28]

100% agree it is a nice deer and if I had him standing with a decent shot, I would have a heck of a time passing on him, and I would also say that it is probably one of the top 3 or 4 deer that we have around. Unfortunately, we seem to have the problem of letting them get this size, then they wander off the farm during the rut while they are chasing and the neighbors shoot them. We are the only ones around that are practicing QDM...the neighbors practice the other QDM (quantity rather than quality).

[InTheNorthwoods]

100% agree it is a nice deer and if I had him standing with a decent shot, I would have a heck of a time passing on him, and I would also say that it is probably one of the top 3 or 4 deer that we have around. Unfortunately, we seem to have the problem of letting them get this size, then they wander off the farm during the rut while they are chasing and the neighbors shoot them. We are the only ones around that are practicing QDM...the neighbors practice the other QDM (quantity rather than quality).

If you can't hold a couple of blossoming bucks over to maturity on 1,000 acres, there are things that you are doing to negatively impact the herd. It is inevitable that a few bucks will wander, but if you are practicing true QDM (which includes habitat improvement), you should be able to hold mature deer on your land long enough to evade the neighbors. We've been able to do it on far less land than 1,000 acres in the Bemidji area.

[mnviking28]

I actually hunt around Thief River Falls, and we plant food plots and do quite a bit of habitat stuff. But, as I stated before, when you have every neighbor around you shooting everything that has a rack, it makes it tough. We usually get one or two that we harvest every year that are that 135-140 range, but last year we had one that scored 150 that we had over a hundred pics of that was shot the first evening on a neighbors property. They disperse into areas with less bucks as there is less competition. If they have a choice of staying on our land and competing with a bunch of bucks or going to the neighbors land where there are no bucks, where do you think they are going to go? With the number of deer that we have around (contrary to the scarcity of deer that our DNR says we have), seems as if there is always a hot doe or one that is just about in estrus that they are chasing. Obviously they don't know or care what boundaries are. It is just the nature of the game, I guess. Just is frustration on my part. Goes back to it being hard to shoot a big buck if you shoot all the small ones.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I actually hunt around Thief River Falls, and we plant food plots and do quite a bit of habitat stuff. But, as I stated before, when you have every neighbor around you shooting everything that has a rack, it makes it tough. We usually get one or two that we harvest every year that are that 135-140 range, but last year we had one that scored 150 that we had over a hundred pics of that was shot the first evening on a neighbors property. They disperse into areas with less bucks as there is less competition. If they have a choice of staying on our land and competing with a bunch of bucks or going to the neighbors land where there are no bucks, where do you think they are going to go? With the number of deer that we have around (contrary to the scarcity of deer that our DNR says we have), seems as if there is always a hot doe or one that is just about in estrus that they are chasing. Obviously they don't know or care what boundaries are. It is just the nature of the game, I guess. Just is frustration on my part. Goes back to it being hard to shoot a big buck if you shoot all the small ones.

Like I said, you'll inevitably risk losing a few to neighbors, but the most dominant, mature bucks aren't going to leave unless pulled away by a hot doe. On a 1,000 acres (if contiguous), you should be lucky enough to hold a couple of the best deer on the land. This is usually done with sanctuary areas. If you're hunting most of the 1,000 acres, its more difficult, as there are no areas that the deer feel truly safe.

In the end, hunt for yourself. I can't tell you how many little bucks I've passed that ended up on someone's meat pole. But that's okay, I gave them a chance. If you shoot a small buck, you know it will never get big. At least you hunt an area sufficient in size where your actions can have a larger impact. In the end, it is supposed to be fun, don't let others get in the way of that.

[Wobbler]

I am trying to get a wolf pic up. When I get time I will work on it.

[Bear55]

I actually hunt around Thief River Falls, and we plant food plots and do quite a bit of habitat stuff. But, as I stated before, when you have every neighbor around you shooting everything that has a rack, it makes it tough. We usually get one or two that we harvest every year that are that 135-140 range, but last year we had one that scored 150 that we had over a hundred pics of that was shot the first evening on a neighbors property. They disperse into areas with less bucks as there is less competition. If they have a choice of staying on our land and competing with a bunch of bucks or going to the neighbors land where there are no bucks, where do you think they are going to go? With the number of deer that we have around (contrary to the scarcity of deer that our DNR says we have), seems as if there is always a hot doe or one that is just about in estrus that they are chasing. Obviously they don't know or care what boundaries are. It is just the nature of the game, I guess. Just is frustration on my part. Goes back to it being hard to shoot a big buck if you shoot all the small ones.

Your going to lose buck to the neighbors, just a fact of life. Best you can do is keep improving your property, control your pressure because that might be pushing them next door and most important try and get your tag on them bow season before the rifles come out.

If the neighbors do tag a few nice buck it might not be a bad thing, I know a few guys who have seen the light after they shot a nice one, it can change ones perspective.

Also remmeber if could be worse, I hunt public land and 3-4 of us let them go and the other 50-60 hunters in the are mow them down. I'm just happy to have 2-3 mature bucks to hunt in the 5-6 square miles I call home during the rut.

[Wobbler]

Nice pics keep them coming!

[slimngrizzly]

I thought this was a nice picture of this decent little guy!

[Laska]

What size... 150's? 13pts... Got this guy on somewhat of a pattern including his home area now its just a matter of time... Ive been thinking he's 4 or 5?

[slimngrizzly]

Nice Laska! Hes gotta be close to 150 gross anyways with that many points? Is that him in the last pic as well? I see he has the same burr points... he sure isnt a real big frame though. 150 or not hes trophy!

[Wobbler]

[img:center]http://

2012 152 by Wobbler32, on Flickr

I have some really nice pictures of bucks but thought I would share this picture in one of our food plots. How many wolves do you see? If you look really close there is 2! Happy Hunting.

[certified jumbo]

cool pic wobbler, i must be blind cause i can't see 2.

[ozzie]

me neither

[Bear55]

Nose sticking out, far left of pic. Doesn't look like much but I think it's a wolf following his buddie.

[ozzie]

that is stretching it I think...haha I wondered the same thing but no way I could say that it was anything really.

[Wobbler]

It is a wide open food plot and if you look at the shadow on the ground it is something. I would be 90% sure it is another wolf.

[Bear55]

I was just going to mention the shadow too, pressure sure it is a wolf head/nose. If you haven't clicked on it to blow it up that helps.

[Laska]

Nice Laska! Hes gotta be close to 150 gross anyways with that many points? Is that him in the last pic as well? I see he has the same burr points... he sure isnt a real big frame though. 150 or not hes trophy!

Yeah all 3 are him, wish he was wider but beggars cant be choosers and thats a nice rack to hang a quiver of arrows

[fr0sty]

It helps click the pic on open it full screen. Hint, it's just a nose poking in...

[Bear55]

pressure sure

Yaaa that was suppose to be pretty sure, darn keyboard!

[james_walleye]

The big 10

6x6

[hunter322]

got these two on cam. same stand i shot my two biggest out of the last two years.

[matchset]

That 10 is a hoss!

[slimngrizzly]

That 10 is a hoss!

X2 Perfect for wrapping the tag around James! Good luck!

[titelines]

Not a great image, but it works. I've got two of these guys hanging around.

[Bear55]

No camera on me at the time but I saw some hanging velvet this weekend, hard horns will be here soon!

[Islandlaker]

This is the biggest deer antler wise I have ever got on camera. Unfortunatly where I hunt is public land and most of the people that hunt it shoot any buck they can. So it is rare to have a mature buck live in the area. Occasionly during the rut we will see a mature buck chasing a doe. We also have tons of wolves running around. How old do you guys think this buck is? 3 1/2?