Finally back.....Had a great weekend scouting. It is a really weird year....everything is so late. There is feed everywhere and the deer are really dispersed. They are usually pretty predictable this time of year but a lot of water, feed, and standing grain made it a little tougher the last couple of days. Antler growth looks really good, though. I saw a bunch of 22-25" muley bucks (and a ton of smaller three, twos....) The best muley I found was about a 25" 4x4 (155") kind of buck.
Found some elk but didn't see any bulls. It is any elk so I will have something to hunt. I am pretty sure there are some bulls around somewhere.
The whitetails were out of control. I could not believe the bucks I saw around our place. Saturday was overcast in the morning and then the sun came out around noon. I headed up the road to buddy's range to shoot my muzzleloader and saw a little whitetail buck. I backed up and about 100 yards away came the big 4x4 whitey that has been hanging around the house the last two years. He was big last year, but this year is absolutely enormous. 24-25" wide, really tall and heavy. Not a scoring machine, but you would be hard pressed to kill a more impressive (wall appeal) 4x4 whitey! I saw a bunch of nice 18-20" whitey bucks and a gorgeous 5x6 (19-20") with 4 tines over 10". He was a solid 160+. I am a complete idiot with the camera so I only got pictures of one.....I need to figure this picture thing out because I am definitely NOT good at it?
This buck lives on ridge within sight of my parents house. There a so many bucks like him running around - should be a good year. Here are a couple of pics.