One Smart Whitetail

[Herdbull]

We often challenge ourselves to take a mature deer. We tend to dream about big-racked bucks.  The following pictures are from the same buck that lives on or near our property that I would like to get close too during daylight. He does not have the biggest rack, and he may not look like it, but he is very smart and elusive. He injured his skull sometime before 3 1/2 years of age. I saw him in 2005 and passed him up in 2006, but was really surprised to see that his rack made a nice come back in 2007. I think he is 6 1/2 years old this year. He was active during the rut in pursuit of does, but has mainly gone nocturnal now. He is a testament to the uniqueness and toughness of whitetails. Ha!
Mike

2005 photo

[Herdbull]

2006 photo

[Herdbull]

2007 photo

[varmint]

Wow!

You think that was an injury from a car??

Amazing he's still going now,looks like a pretty bad injury,possibly brain trauma..........

He would definately be a trophy to be able to get a shot at.What a survivor!!

[Littlefeather]

Indeed a testament to the will to survive. I killed the doe last year with the broadhead inside her skull. The next week my wife shot a nice 10 point and when I did the Euro mount we realized that the face was distorted. Obviously hit by a car or something similar. They are incredible animals. Nice photos Mike! CK

[LV2HUNT]

That is neat, they are amazing animals.

[Tom Leemans]

Evidence that time heals all wounds.

[Ron LaClair]

Hey Mike, Thanks for the neat story and good luck on your quest. The fact that he's is still chasing does at his age after all he's been through is an inspiration to us old guys    

[Herdbull]

We named him "The Whitey Buck" after my youngest brother because he is so smart and handsome. Ha!

DTala  You are mostlikey correct.
But we have taken old bucks in the past (8 ½  - 9 ½) that you could not really tell age that well. In fact their antler were nearly the best they ever had and skin fit well etc. With so much food available and keeping numbers in check in some areas of Illinois, the deer don't stress as much as other parts of the country. I send a lot of teeth in to Matson's Lab in Montana for cementum analysis.
I judged him conservatively, but again some of the photos were taken in late december and body mass is less. I usually field judge buck's age by looking at the head and skull structure, but in this deer's case it is tough to go by when the pedicel and eye socket have been damaged. He may have had an infection or something during the growing season of 2006, because his antler appeared very dark and porous on the right side. I saw him in October and he did not have that side. Again your assesment is logical looking at these photos. Thank you for your input.

[Marty]

Mike,

A trophy indeed! Have you guys named him yet? I'd call him Gene due his age and cunning ways,but Gene has a bigger rack and a bum knee.Got any bucks like that?

[Marty]

I was writing while you were posting. Late again!

[Izzy]

Hes a beaut, Id be more than honored to get a crack at him and equally rewarded if he duped me and died of old age.I wish you luck with him.

[John Scifres]

Nice pics.  Thanks for sharing.

[LV2HUNT]

Originally posted by herkimerhunter:
Hes a beaut, Id be more than honored to get a crack at him and equally rewarded if he duped me and died of old age.I wish you luck with him.

Well said.

[Herdbull]

Marty,
No we don't have any that round that we could call Gene, but can you guess why this one was called "Misser"?   Yep, right over its back! Ha!
Mike

[The Night Stalker]

Mike, I am playing the same nocturnal game with a big ten, Playing the wind all season, I have only seen him twice with one trail cam pic. I only have three days left.
Barry sent me a pic of a buck about three weeks ago that looks alot like the one above. I forgot his name though. I figued he would share with everyone if he gets him. He shared the same story I had. Right set up, wrong time. You just have to appreciate some bucks and their sense of survival or sixth sense. Tim in NC

[pete p]

wow, i had a similar experience with a northern mn deer eluded all of us including the timber wolves. i was always one step behind him. he was a stud at 5yr. i finally shot him when he was aged at 8.5yrs. his rack went down hill but that simple fact that he was so smart made him all the more a trophy.  that deer in your pic would make an awesome european....id like to see what type of bone growth that is on his skull

[Herdbull]

We look for sheds very heavily and if we find his remains some day it may help complete the story. That is part of the facination of whitetails. We can better follow the life of an individual animal easier than other big game like elk or moose. This becomes even more enjoyable for us who are blessed to be able to hunt, scout, and explore the same areas year after year.

[The Night Stalker]

Mike, the deer Barry sent me a pic of was named Starbuck. I keep waiting for him to post a pic of him on the ground.
I have photo albums going back 3-4 yrs. It really has made my hunting more enjoyable. Tim in NC

[Jeff Holchin]

Mike, I agree that you are blessed to be able to hunt, scout and explore the same areas over the years, and get to know individual whitetails by name.  No chance for that where I now live, but during my 6 years in Cincinnati I got to know several bucks very well.  My favorite was called "Spoontip", who provided me with great video footage, some shed antlers and memories.  In all those years of hunting hard during the 4 month season, I never saw him outside of his refuge ajacent to the properties I hunted during the season.  He was definitely 1 1/2 years old when I first saw him in '96 and 8 1/2 when I last saw him in 2003.  Besides his unique rack, he had a short "bob" tail and I can see from some current deer on this farm that he had spread his genes.  Thanks for sharing the photos.