Saturday, August 05, 2006
Watching The Deer Is Great Fun
I spent a good bit of time this evening watching deer. I stayed in my pickup truck, and probably drove 10 miles on the ranch roads.
It struck me that there are a bunch of deer this year. Does and fawns, both singles and twins, are common. I see them everywhere, but although it’s great fun to watch the young ones running back and forth and jumping like school kids, I’m checking out the bucks.
I sat in my truck with the motor off, and my Swarovski binoculars and spotting scope, which will allow me to zero in on bucks at along distance. The bucks are still in velvet, but later this month many of them will start rubbing it off.
Bachelor groups are common at this time of year, and it’s not uncommon to see four or five bucks of all sizes traveling together. Once in a great while I’ll see a group of big bucks together, but often a group will be made up of one dominant buck. All the other bucks in the group are smaller, and occasionally a small spike will be running with the big guys.
I spotted, at a very long distance, a very large buck. He came out of an alder run, and although other deer were nearby, I got the distinct feeling this old gent was a loner. He appeared to be either 10 or 12 pounds, and both antlers were well outside of his ears and the rack had tall tines.
I tried to sneak a bit closer with the truck, and even though I was at least a half-mile from this big bruiser, his head shot up when the engine started and he started shying toward an alder run. The last I saw of him was his rump disappearing into the tag alders.
There were plenty of sixes and eights, and a smattering of spikes and four-points, but I was looking for bucks with mass. You know the kind: all wide and tall, and at least 10 points.
Some bucks are difficult to tell if the angle isn’t quite right. You’ve got to have the right angle sometimes to see the brow tines, and a bucks head is almost always moving. I saw at least eight confirmed 10-pointers and perhaps two dozen very respectable 8-pointers, and there were many deer that I didn’t see.
There were two bucks—the one mentioned earlier—and another that may have been 12 points. If they aren’t 12s, they are close to it. Sometimes those bucks we think are 12 points may only be 11, and it’s hard to spot the missing tine on one side.
It was quite a spectacle. Watching deer is great fun, and this long-distance preseason scouting usually doesn’t bother most deer although that one big guy didn’t want any part of me and my truck.
Most deer are accustomed to vehicular movement on the ranch, but some of those big bucks that are 4 1/2, 5 1/2 or 6 1/2 years old, didn’t live to a ripe old age by being stupid.
It would be easy for people who don’t know better to believe that hunting one of these trophy bucks is a walk in the park. Those who believe that are sadly mistaken. There are 1,000 acres here, and the cover is abundant and lush.
Each year we spot bucks that we’ve never seen before, and those deer almost always are the biggest antlered bucks on the ranch. These deer are as wild and skittish as any deer outside the fence.
You see, I’ve planned this ranch to give the deer plenty of cover, and they utilize it very well. The big bucks make very few mistakes, and once they get to be 4 1/2 years old, they are a major challenge.
Shooting one with a bow requires some time equity. Hunters will have to put in plenty of time on stand to even see one, and that is what makes this hunting such a great experience.—The Whitetail Wizard