(Thought I would bring this old thread back up and remind everybody, when your out shed hunting, mushroom hunting or scouting don't forget to check your water spots)
I got off of work this morning and decided to check a couple cams on the way home. There's a slough that is about 3 ft down because of the drought that I decided to check out and glad I did.
Here is what I saw first.
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/A1AC89C5-72B5-44E1-95AA-CA393508866B-1506-000003298C4BB698.jpg)
I knew right away what it was but they were out there a ways and I didn't have any waders with me. I got a long branch and after a few try's they broke lose from there muddy grave and I pulled them to the shore.
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/423FAE3A-A22E-4F5F-B507-E156C689E4EF-1506-00000329B1C68DA5.jpg)
I called a state trooper friend to see about tags then hauled them out and to a car wash, They were a mess!
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/4555B714-9C3F-4F09-B362-7C4D0DFAB32D-1506-00000329E88D2F8F.jpg)
They cleaned up real nice!
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/l4.jpg)
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/l2-1.jpg)
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/l5.jpg)
Man they stink! Like a cross between decaying flesh and the worst marshy muck you could imagine. If this slough wasen't down like it was I never would have found them.
It's a main frame 12pt with two other broken tines and a 11pt. Both are very nice bucks and will go nicely with are collection. :)
I'm sorry to see them die that way but glad I found them.
Tracy
Love the color the slough put on those antlers.
Thats really cool! Beautiful slough patina...
Nice
Thats an awesome find! congrats. that would get cleaned up and go into my collection.
I hate to see 'em go out that way versus than by the tip of your arrow but I am glad you found them. God Bless
So cool!
What a find.
pretty cool find, kinda makes you think of the ones that will never be found.
That's a great find Tracy. I remember that smell My brother found a 215" buck right after the ice came off one spring in a local pond. That thing stunk for weeks.
bretto
Great story and pics. Thanks for sharing.
Very cool!!
Steve
Cool!!
John found oneunder water in a box culvert by his farm, hit by a car. Could see the road rash on one main beam.
Stink ain't the word for what it smells like!!
Wow that is prob one of the coolest thing I have seen as far as wildlife go. It's a shame they both had to pay the ultimate price
That's awesome and it sucks at the same time. Really neat find, I could deal with the smell if I found something like that!
WoW!!! That is incredible. I would leave them locked up just like that.
Thats one of those love-hate things.Love that you found them but hate to see that happen.Very cool find!!
Thanks for looking and I won't pull the apart, "They stay as they lay"
Brett I would like to see that rack sometime :bigsmyl:
Yea Kenny they can get pretty rank!
Tracy
QuoteOriginally posted by rainman:
Love the color the slough put on those antlers.
x2
QuoteOriginally posted by rainman:
Love the color the slough put on those antlers.
x2
That's cool.....sad but cool. Sorry they had to go that way but at least you found them and they did not go totally to waste.
Bisch
Wow, sad but real cool.
Very neat thing to find.....They paid the ultimate price. They deserve a special spot in your collection! Really cool! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Awesome find Tracy, hope the skulls hold the color...I think they look cool that way!
I've only heard a couple Blacktails ever getting locked together.
That's really a cool find Tracy! That muck turned them a really neat color.
Nice
Beautiful weather this morning for a walk in the woods.....
A true treasure.
Tracy,
Very Cool. Thanks for showing.had you been hunting these bucks last year ?
I like the color also!! :thumbsup:
A couple of real nice Bucks there,.. too bad they went as they did,.. but a great find for sure.
That will make a real conversation piece.
Wow Tracy.....that's incredible!
I agree Ron, When they were wet from the washing they really looked good. I plan on varnishing them and trying to keep the color.
Tom, It's a new place for us so everything is new to us but were seeing some other good bucks there. :D
You know, They probably drowned pretty quick because of the deep water and didn't have the longer death like some of them do. Like said, very sad but a part of nature few of us ever get to see.
Thanks for looking!
Tracy
Tracy, thanks for sharing such a rare find :thumbsup:
Great find.....that will be a neat display. Just hope PETA and the Humane Society don't try and blame hunters for these two bucks dying from an inhumane death because someone didn't shoot one of them first.
Cool find but sad. Must be a horrible way to die.
Very cool buddy! There's a lesson there for the young guys in our midst.
:D
That's a sad way to go, but i'm glad you found em.
Great find!
Rare find !!
I found a set a year or two ago, they're on a shelf in my living room.
I agree with everyone else who has said how beautiful that patina looks on those skulls.
That will be a heck of a conversation piece
for you. rat'
Nice color indeed! Great find and story, Tracy. Good thing I guess, that trad-gang does'nt have "smellivision". Whew!
Thats a good find!
Awesome buddy!
Neat!!! A buddy of mine found two bucks locked together years ago. One was still alive so he finished him off. Mother nature can be cruel!!
Everytime I see these all I can think is "What a shame". Great find though.
Nice find but it's a shame you want be able to hunt them this year.
Great find. Excellent photos.
That is awesome!!
God Bless,
Nathan
QuoteOriginally posted by turkey522:
Nice find but it's a shame you want be able to hunt them this year.
True, but it's likely their sons are out there, somewhere! :rolleyes:
That's a great find. My cousin has a set of locked bucks that came from his parents place. A conversation piece for sure.
Too bad they had to go that way. Nice find, thanks for sharing!
Nice find. It's true, not many woodland critters die of old age. Jeff
What Charlie Lamb said !!
What a way to go out. Nice find!
Cool ! Great find. That's similar to how they recently discovered the prehistoric bones and so forth in CO. as well.
Very cool!
QuoteOriginally posted by Chromebuck:
Beautiful slough patina...
:laughing:
Very nice find! And, they could just as easily have died on down the road from a car or disease.
That's a pretty cool find Tracy.. :thumbsup:
QuoteOriginally posted by Charlie Lamb:
Very cool buddy! There's a lesson there for the young guys in our midst.
:D
Come on Mr. Lamb... I think this is somehow about women, but I'm scratchin my head...
:coffee:
Cool beams!
Natures euro mount,I hope you played the lottery that night.A wash tub of hot water and borax should help with the smell, and a fer bottles of peroxide as well.Congrats on a very cool find.
I decented them today with a peroxide and baking soda mixture that works on most everything including skunk spray and it worked great.
The racks dryed a yellow/grey color that I wasn't to fond of and I wanted them dark like I found them so I did a little painting tonight and they came out looking pretty good.
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/DE4FD0D3-1ACF-46F7-905C-517CD0BAE197-1506-000004AB197EAFD8.jpg)
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/187A4B90-1725-45FF-A55F-5BA255C6C68D-1506-000004AA9E9F7EE4.jpg)
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/62E8F927-04F3-4AB0-B4DD-10E8465F2AD9-1506-000004AA7610059D.jpg)
The dryed pretty fast sitting in the 100f sun yesterday so tomorrow I'm heading to the saw mill and see if I can get a nice piece of wood to mount them on.
Thanks for looking!
Tracy
Looks good - post up the mounted pic!
I would love to fine a set like that. Very suprised how nice they cleaned up. Great find.
Nice work buddy!!
Thats awesome...looks great!
Your coloring looks great.If they were mine,I'd put them on an octagon,pedestal base with artificial water,covered with duckweed etc.Not as deep as the original water,but maybe 1".
Thanks Jim and I wish I had your talent to complete that. Good Idea!
Wish you were closer :D
Tracy
That is really cool.You could get really creative displaying that.I would love to have that in my cabin.After the smell is gone ofcourse.Great find. :notworthy:
Look good !!
Buddy, you did a great job coloring them...they look just like bronze...cool!
Nice job.
those look pretty neet!
QuoteOriginally posted by K.S.TRAPPER:
Thanks Jim and I wish I had your talent to complete that. Good Idea!
Wish you were closer :D
Tracy
I do to.That could be pretty fancy.
:thumbsup:
Great story and pics.
I cant stop looking at this thread, those bucks are just AWESOME!!!!!
Awesome job of preserving those two!
Bisch
Way Cool!
AWESOME find,
Todd
What a great find! Thanks for sharing with us. Can't wait to see them mounted on your wood of choice.
-Jeremy :coffee:
Too cool Tracy. What a find.
Tracy, that is really a nice find. Great job too.
I know maggots do a nice job of cleaning skulls. Put some in a box with the skull, or leave them for the blow flies to find and lay their eggs. They will do the dirty work, after you wash of the pond muck of course. Good idea to leave the box outside, away from any building. Here is an interesting article.
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/homehort/pest/calliphoridae.htm
Yeah great find, congrats!!!
What did you use for paint?
Thanks
Very cool...would make a great pedestal mount.
Incredible find Great story.
What a great find!!
Thanks for sharing! Great find. Nature is unforgiving!
Well, that's a cool find! Kinda creepy in a way... See'n a couple skulls sticking out of a slough like that. :D
Jason
Wow! Those are fantastic.
Very nice! :thumbsup:
Really cool! Looks great!
Good luck shed hunting this spring!!!
Tracy