big buck | Buck Manager

Female Bowhunter Bags 19 Point Buck

Growing big bucks is all about age, genetics, and nutrition, but when it comes to producing mature bucks year after year nothing in white-tailed deer management is as important as harvesting bucks at the proper rate. So what is the proper harvest rate for bucks? The general rule of thumb is to harvest no more than 20% of the buck herd throughout all age classes in a given year. This includes young, middle-aged, and old cull bucks as well as mature trophy bucks.

The white-tailed buck pictured above was shot on the evening of November 7, 2009 by bowhunter Joyce Ooten. She was hunting on her 23 acre Grayson County property when she arrowed the 19 point buck standing at 20 yards. Of course, the mature buck did not spend its entire life on Joyce’s 23 acres, but did I mention that her property is next door to the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)? And Hagerman NWR provides solid white-tailed deer habitat. Continue reading “Female Bowhunter Bags 19 Point Buck”

Game Warden Bags Big Non-Typical Buck

Each fall, deer hunters think of cool, brisk mornings and dream of big whitetail bucks running through the woods. Although every hunter wants to bag a monster buck, I don’t have to tell you that they are not exactly behind every tree. Especially when it comes to huge non-typical East Texas bucks. But like I always say, hunting is hunting and you just never know what will step out. Well, what stepped out for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Kaufman County Game Warden Eric Minter was a big 27 point non-typical white-tailed buck. Not bad. Particulary since this is his first buck with a bow!

That’s because this past Monday (10/19/09) the Kaufman County warden found himself as the lucky hunter staring down the buck of a lifetime from his treestand hung 20 feet high in a creek bottom filled with acorn dropping white oaks. When all was said and done, it was Minter putting his own tag on a whopper 27 point non-typical buck. While there is no firm green score number on the multi-tined monster whitetail yet, photos from the buck would lead one to believe that this deer will score well above the 200-inch mark as non-typical. Well over. Continue reading “Game Warden Bags Big Non-Typical Buck”

Sudden Impact is a Huge Whitetail!

Deer management involves manipulating the habitat and animals found on a property to improve body condition, increase fawning rates, and enhance antler quality of a white-tailed deer herd. Overall, deer management has been fueled by the desire for healthier bucks with larger antlers. And although herd management works well, it does not work over night–it takes years of work and selective deer harvest.

A spin-off of deer management has been the selective pen-breeding of deer which has resulted in the commercial white-tailed deer breeding industry. Love it or hate it, this has allowed line-breeding and the rapid concentration of genes supporting abnormally-large antler growth.

Here enters the deer known as Sudden Impact. Not only is he a big buck, he is an absolutely, insanely, monstrous whitetail buck! After glancing at his antlers, you are probably thinking that this buck has reached maturity and has grown its biggest rack ever. Wrong. The video above features Sudden Impact at only 2 years of age in 2008! Yes, at 2 1/2 years old his shed antlers scored an eye-raising 406 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches.

This buck is already the largest pen-raised whitetail ever and he looks to blow through that mark later this year. There is no doubt that he is impressive, but would you really want to shoot him?

Not Quite a World Record Whitetail Buck

This is not real new, but this big buck photo is finding its way around the white-tailed deer hunting community. This massive buck was taken by Roger Jarvis in Boone County in northern Missouri. It was originally thought to be a new world record, but it only scored 316 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches. Only. But the buck is not a wild-grown deer. The Missouri Department of Conservation said that this buck was purchased from a breeder and released in a high-fenced ranch. Of course, deer harvested within high-fenced ranches are not eligible to be recorded in Boone and Crockett record books.

In case you didn’t know, the current world record non-typical white-tailed buck was found dead in Missouri, in St. Louis County, in 1981. The big deer was entered into the Boone and Crockett record bok by the Missouri Department of Conservation on behalf of the citizens of Missouri. That buck, called the Missouri Monarch, scored 333 7/8 inches. It is pictured below on the right. And yes, I am looking for a lease in Missouri!

Bowhunter Bags a Big Illinois Buck

The deer hunting season is well underway around the country and from time to time I like to post some of the big bucks taken by hunters. The photos today come from a lucky Illinois bowhunter that bagged this big non-typical white-tailed buck. The mid-west is known for big-bodied bucks that sport huge racks. It is important to note that Northern deer get much larger than whitetails at southern latitudes, primarily because they need the body mass to make it through the harsh winter they receive each year.

These big-bodied bucks often develop monster antlers. Why is this? Well, all mammals get larger as you head north — it’s just a scientific fact. But the amazing thing about bucks in general is that many of the minerals used to grow antlers is taken directly from their bones. More bone mass means the potential for more antler mass. So the take home message here is that big healthy bucks have the potential to grow large, massive antlers — regardless of latitude.

Any guesses on the score?