Early morning Surprise

[boneaddict]

low light but thought youd enjoy seeing him

[Watimberghost]

Cool buck!

[hunting4sanity]

As always, great photo and I really appreciate you sharing so much here on the forum.

[jackson7]

absolutely beautiful. appreciate your work. thank you

[grundy53]

Awesome!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[7mmfan]

Neck is almost wider than his body! Love it!

[WapitiTalk1]

Ya, I guess he’s ok    As always Bone, thanks. Will he make the calendar?

[boneaddict]

Thank you guys.  I appreciate it.

I dont think so Wapiti.   He isnt big enough this year.  I'm not sure if he even made it into the top 30 this fall sizewise nor is it the best photo.  I have one similiar in size that I like the photo. There is a chance that its the same buck but I doubt it. It was filmed in the same region but a long ways away.

[7mmfan]

Maybe this is a question for down the road a couple weeks, but in general, how were buck numbers compared to say 2016/17/18? It seems like you struggled to find quality animals for a few years and then this year there were plenty. Do you think the quality forage from a long wet spring/cooler summer has anything to do with the overall quality of the animals you're seeing?

Also, were you seeing any numbers of 1.5-3.5 year old deer? The fawn loss of 2016, and then supposed fawn loss winter 2018 definitely showed in the animals we saw in Idaho this year. A few very nice bucks, but definitely lacking in the spike-2/3 point phase. Going to be tough the next couple years over there looking for quality animals.

[boneaddict]

Deer numbers are way down.  (Seemingly everywhere)

I think hunting season might have been an epic failure for most. 

I am seeing lots of return bucks (old), and last years 3.5 year olds had a decent survival rate.  Next year might be epic.   They seemed to have good growth. Some people are saying this is a drought year.  I’m seeing more water than I have for several years.  There are areas that often hold huge amounts of deer that are completely vacant, so patterns are changing.  Predators I guess, or water attracting them elsewhere?  I think tag holders are freaking a bit and settling for meat bucks in the fear of not notching their “oil” tag. 

I feel I’ve been very successful this year but might be attributed a bit to focusing on other areas. 

Even photography areas seem to be effected.  All but Colorado.  Those guys are banging it out of the park.  I’ve never been there, but sure seeing some great shots from there. 

[jjhunter]

Deer numbers are way down.  (Seemingly everywhere)

I think hunting season might have been an epic failure for most. 

I am seeing lots of return bucks (old), and last years 3.5 year olds had a decent survival rate.  Next year might be epic.   They seemed to have good growth. Some people are saying this is a drought year.  I’m seeing more water than I have for several years.  There are areas that often hold huge amounts of deer that are completely vacant, so patterns are changing.  Predators I guess, or water attracting them elsewhere?  I think tag holders are freaking a bit and settling for meat bucks in the fear of not notching their “oil” tag. 

I feel I’ve been very successful this year but might be attributed a bit to focusing on other areas. 

Even photography areas seem to be effected.  All but Colorado.  Those guys are banging it out of the park.  I’ve never been there, but sure seeing some great shots from there.

Lot of those bucks from CO are urban area bucks.  Giant deer that live in yards and parks.